Importing field with calculated value

[bdavid]

Hi all -

Simple question from a newbie (I hope). I am in the process of importing data from an existing database and one of the fields I use to track who entered the data for the record is automatically populated as a calculated value from Get(UserName). How do I prevent this from re-calculating and using my user name for all the records?

Thanks

[bcooney]

Three things:

1. You really shouldn't use Get (UserName) bcs that's the name entered in the FM prefs, and not necessarily the person who created the record. Use Get (AccountName) for any entry option such as Created or Modified.

2. You can import without the Auto-Entered option. It's a checkbox that displays during the import process.

3. Always make a backup before any import.

[bdavid]

Three things:

1. You really shouldn't use Get (UserName) bcs that's the name entered in the FM prefs, and not necessarily the person who created the record. Use Get (AccountName) for any entry option such as Created or Modified.

2. You can import without the Auto-Entered option. It's a checkbox that displays during the import process.

3. Always make a backup before any import.

Barbara - thanks for the tips! FYI - I used Get(UserName) since I merge this field in a few internal reports, and wanted their full name from their prefs. Maybe I'll re-think this..

Regarding the import, I already imported without the auto-entered option, but the field in the target DB re-calculated using my local UserName. Maybe I am doing something wrong, so I'll go back and check again. I have worked around this by changing the target field to text, getting the data in, and then changing it back to the calc.

On a related note, how would I move over the account info from the source DB? I can't seem to find any info on this and I don't really want to make my 22 users re-set their password.

Thanks!

Brian

[bcooney]

If you need a user's full name for a report, then I suggest a User table. In it you'd have their UserID, Account Name, PrivSet and Name_First and Name_Last and any other data you'd like to maintain about the user.

You have Get (UserName) as a text field with an entry option, correct? It almosts sounds as if you have it as a calc field..so it would always show the current Get (UserName) value.

You cannot move account info from one file to another. You can script recreate account names (by looping thru the user table), but passwords would always need to be reset, as they aren't stored anywhere. You might look into External Authentication, as then credentials are managed outside of FM.

[bdavid]

I like the idea of a user table - it will make my life easier going forward. Thanks.

The field using Get(UserName) is set up as a calc field with a text result (Auto-enter/don't replace existing value, if any) to capture the user name once at record creation. The user can't enter the field in Browse mode. I thought this was a good way to do this....suggestions?

I guess I don't understand about not being able to migrate the passwords - they must be stored somewhere in a hash table, but I guess that's not exposed to us mere mortals. Maybe in the future I will need to move to LDAP avoid the re-entering of passwords.