Getsummary

[msanseverino]

THIS IS FRUSTRATING! I have 3 files that are related by a common field: item number. The files are 1999 Sales, 2000 Sales, and 2000 projections. I creating reports that include sub summaries on the months JAN - DEC. I can easily use the Getsummary function on summary fields within the primary database. However, when I try to use the function on a related database summary field it does not work. The workaround is silly, and I hope that it is not the case, but as a test I created a calculated field in the primary database that pointed to JAN 1999 sales, then I created a summary of that field. I then used the getsummary function and it worked fine. It appears that you can only use the getsummary function on summary fields within the primary database only. This will of course make my primary database huge since I will have to create 36 fields for each database (1999 sales and 2000 sales) in the primary database (12 for the calculated fields in 1999 sales, 12 summaries of the calculated fields, and 12 getsummary functions) Please tell me that I am doing something wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Kurt Knippel]

quote:

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Originally posted by msanseverino:

THIS IS FRUSTRATING! I have 3 files that are related by a common field: item number. The files are 1999 Sales, 2000 Sales, and 2000 projections. I creating reports that include sub summaries on the months JAN - DEC. I can easily use the Getsummary function on summary fields within the primary database. However, when I try to use the function on a related database summary field it does not work. The workaround is silly, and I hope that it is not the case, but as a test I created a calculated field in the primary database that pointed to JAN 1999 sales, then I created a summary of that field. I then used the getsummary function and it worked fine. It appears that you can only use the getsummary function on summary fields within the primary database only. This will of course make my primary database huge since I will have to create 36 fields for each database (1999 sales and 2000 sales) in the primary database (12 for the calculated fields in 1999 sales, 12 summaries of the calculated fields, and 12 getsummary functions) Please tell me that I am doing something wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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First you are likely making this WAY too complicated.

You have seperate files for the SAME sales data, seperate only by the fact that some is from 1999, 2000 and 2000 Projections.

Get the data all into the same database. Then you can easily do this kind of reporting without duplicating any fields. You just need to sort by the date (or possibly the year), in order to seperate the different records.

You cannot reliably report with summaries on related databases. It will work in some limited cases, but only with great frustration and usually in only one skewed direction.

Bring the data together and you life will be easy.

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Kurt Knippel

Senior Filemaker Developer

http://www.database-resources.com

mailto:[email protected]

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