I have a calendar program that calculates the elapsed time from a concurrent event until the focus event.

For example, while I was 19, I went to disneyland. If the trip to disneyland happened on 1Jun2008, the calculation would tell me that I had been 19 for 0 years, 2 months, 13 days. This works fine. However, when I try to add other events that happened during that same time period (the year that I was 19) the events are displayed in a portal but the elapsed time only calculates for the first line item. Any ideas why.

I have attached an image with a different example. In this example you see the title, start date, and end date. On the right are the events that are concurrent to this event "Senior Prom". The event, Senior Prom, happened while I was Age: 18, a Senior in High School, living in the house in Dugway. The context items are each on a line in a portal, as is the elapsed time calculation to the right. It is only calculating the elapsed time for the first context item. Why?

Are you sure the fields in the portal are from the correct relationship?

...I had been 19 for 0 years, 2 months, 13 days

You don't want to go down the X years, Y months and Z days route. A month is anywhere from 28 to 31 days, and a year is 365 or 366 days.

If you went to Disneyland on 1 March 1999, how many days, months and years should 1 April 2000 be?

Thank you for pointing that out. I had a similar concern since number of days is the only accurate time interval that I can determine (it is always 24 hours, well, plus a little)

However, these time measurements need only be approximates as they only serve to give context to the event.

For example, when you arrive late to a movie or play, it is helpful for you to know how far into it you are. When you go to see a soccer match, you frequently look at the score board to see how far into the game you are. Why, it gives you context. In a related calculation, knowing the remaining time also helps to give context to a game.

From a historical perspective, if you are researching anything that has already happened, (that has a start and end date) such as world war 2, it is helpful to know that the US bombing of Hiroshima occurred precisely 567 days after Pearl Harbor was attacked, or 776 days after World War 2 began, and also to know that the bombing of Hiroshima occurred precisely 115 days before the end of the war. (these dates are in no way accurate)

With that said, for accuracy (in this approximation) I would stick with stating the number of days and also restating in terms of years. (442 days or 1.21 years)

If I can PM you I'd be happy to send you a sample of the database that I am working on . I'm sure you'd see the solution immediately.

I have attached a sample of this solution that I am working on in the following thread:

http://fmforums.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/215067/

Edited June 2, 201015 yr by Guest