Creation Time Weirdness

[gatzkerob]

I noticed some more weird behavior when using "creation time" in Filemaker Pro 11. I currently have a field set up to display creation time. When in browse mode I see a time stamp in the form hh:mm:ss am/pm. First of all the time is wrong - it displays only the wrong hour followed by zeros. Each new record I create, the hour increases. Second of all, when I click inside the field, it displays the correct time but in 24 hour format "hhmmss".

Anyone know what may be causing this?

[Vaughan]

Check the field type (ie, date, time, timestamp, number, text) and check what is being auto-entered into it.

[gatzkerob]

Check the field type (ie, date, time, timestamp, number, text) and check what is being auto-entered into it.

I'm using "Current Time" but for some reason Filemaker is appending ":00:00" to it (visible after removing data formatting). I'm not using any scripts anywhere in the DB so I don't know where it's coming from.

[comment]

Can you post a file showing the problem?

[gatzkerob]

Can you post a file showing the problem?

Just tried sending you a PM with the file link, but got a message saying you're not allowed to receive. Do you have a preferred FREE file upload location?

[comment]

Best to zip your file and attach it here.

[Lee Smith]

You need to attach the files to a post back to this thread

[gatzkerob]

Best to zip your file and attach it here.

I guess I was looking for the file attachment button in the wrong place

I've stripped the file of all its records, fields and tables, leaving just the guilty field.

Click on the "New Record" button and you'll see "0000" being appended to the end of "CreationTime".

If you change the data formatting to 12 hour format, you will see that each new record created increments the hours.

Clients_Copy.fp7.zip

[comment]

Hm. I don't know how you managed to get to this state. I suggest you do following:

1. Make sure your OS time format is set to "hh:mm:ss" - NOT "hhmmss".

2. Save a copy of your file as clone (no records).

3. Set the format of the field to "hh:mm:ss". Make sure the Separator Symbol is set to a colon.

[gatzkerob]

Hm. I don't know how you managed to get to this state. I suggest you do following:

1. Make sure your OS time format is set to "hh:mm:ss" - NOT "hhmmss".

2. Save a copy of your file as clone (no records).

3. Set the format of the field to "hh:mm:ss". Make sure the Separator Symbol is set to a colon.

My OS is not set to "hh:mm:ss" BUT, that doesn't explain why new databases work correctly. I've created new databases since the error and they work fine. Also, I've tried using the colon in the "Data Formatting" tab and it doesn't seem to fix it. The only thing I can think may be causing the problem is that I store the DB on an external hard drive which "sleeps" sometimes. Perhaps the file is corrupted from the drive sleeping before saving changes. I'll do some googling to see if this is the issue.

[comment]

Perhaps the file is corrupted

That's the first thing I checked, but recovering the file reports no problems found and the recovered file behaves the same way.

I've tried using the colon in the "Data Formatting" tab and it doesn't seem to fix it.

No, it doesn't - not by itself.

[gatzkerob]

Well, I ended up deleting and replacing the DB then setting my system's time back to default. Seems to be working fine now. A poster from another forum gave the following advice:

Databases permanently inherit the date and time formats with which they were created. That probably applies to those created under the auspices of corrupted preferences. You have to create a new empty clone. (File menu ——> Save As (Empty Clone). The clone will take on the date and time formats you're running with now. As need be, you can import into it.

I read it too late, but it'll be useful for future projects :)