How do I get this to work?

[ron G]

I am using FM 12 Adv v 3

 

 

There are 2 tables: 

   Members Form Ltr

 

and

 

Committees FormLtr 

They are related Members Form Ltr::KP_MemberID to Committees FormLtr::MemberID.fk

 

I produce a report based on Committees FormLtr and it works.  On that report I have a field called Committees FormLtr::LtrSelected.  It is a checkbox and when clicked gets the value 'Yes'.

 

I want to 'narrow down the list of members' to only those who have checked 'Yes'.  So, I open a window and put in a layout based on Committees FormLtr and when I do a 'find' I get this:

   

 

huh?  I checked the relationship.  Isn't it ok? 

Here is another weirdness, if I use Committees instead of the TOC Committees Form Ltr, my 'find' locates the 'yes' values but I still see ALL the Members....

 

What am I missing?

 

Perplexed

 

Ron

 

Also, after I 'find' the "Yes" values, how can I go into another layout based on Members Form Ltr and see just the members that were located with the find?

 

[LaRetta]

Hi Ron,

 

Your request is a bit unclear to me ... have you verified that the LAYOUT is based upon the correct table occurrence and that you are finding based upon that correct table occurrence if you are searching in a related table? 

 

If on Committees_ltr you do a find for Committees = 'yes', you can then GTRR to Members_ltr to only end up with found set of Members who are in Committees with yes checked.  I do not understand why you are opening another window and I would suspect that your errors derive from not understanding your perspective; it is missed easily.  Perspective is critical in FM ... where are you standing (IOW, what is the table occurrence the layout is based upon)?  Look at Layouts > Layout Setup > Show Records From. 

 

Understanding perspective for portals, scripts, calculations ('evaluate from context of' checkbox) all depend on knowing where you are in the graph.  It does not seem the case here since you are showing the table occurrences being referenced but this is a common mistake, even if NOT new to FM.  :^)

[ron G]

Hi LaRetta,  You are absolutely right.  It was a question of perspective and 'getting' where the data is being searched for (excuse the poor grammer).  I needed to duplicate the existing Committee report as Committee_FrmLtr and add the 'check box' to that report.  Of courdse the new Committee_frmLtr layout is based on Committee_frmLtr NOT Committee.  Click.  Boom...  It is so clear once you know. 

Here is another question.  I have a field called Account_Summary.  It is formatted on the initial layout as $111.23 .  But, when I put <<Accouont_summary>> on my text layouot it shows as 111.23.   I don't see a way to format a Merge Field on the  layout as Currency.  Is there a way to do this?  (If not, there must be a *lot* of ugly form letters being sent from FM)

Thanks.... Ron

 

Understanding perspective for portals, scripts, calculations ('evaluate from context of' checkbox) all depend on knowing where you are in the graph.  It does not seem the case here since you are showing the table occurrences being referenced but this is a common mistake, even if NOT new to FM.  :^)

[LaRetta]

You format the layout-level display of fields just like any other ... Inspector > Data > Data formatting and select the merge field then select number formatting.  Keep in mind that ALL numbers within the merge block will inherit the same number formatting. 

[ron G]

You format the layout-level display of fields just like any other ... Inspector > Data > Data formatting and select the merge field then select number formatting.  Keep in mind that ALL numbers within the merge block will inherit the same number formatting. 

 

I don't think 'I can get there from here.' 

I can not access the merge field in layout mode.

 

In Browse mode It is useless to highlight the merge field.

If I DO highlight a merge field, the Inspector is NOT present.

 

I can not access the merge fields in any mode....

 

 

This is probably because the content of the templates is stored in the templates database and simply displayed when needed.  There is not a separate layout for each 'merge letter'.

 

Besides, do I understand you when you say that ALL numeric fields  will get the format treatment of any changed numeric merge field?  Can I assume that does not mean 'date' fields would be affected? 

 

It is a moot point since I can't highlight a merge field to chnge it... 

[LaRetta]

Ah. I had just looked at the body of the form before ... this is one of Ray's demos (Merge Letter).   As I said, if you format a date a certain way then all dates in the merge block would inherit that format; same with numbers.  But this example isn't regular merge fields.  You could always contact Ray. :^)

[ron G]

Ah. I had just looked at the body of the form before ... this is one of Ray's demos (Merge Letter).   As I said, if you format a date a certain way then all dates in the merge block would inherit that format; same with numbers.  But this example isn't regular merge fields.  You could always contact Ray. :^)

I followed up with Ray Cologon and he was extremely helpful.   The function now works wonderfully!  (According to Ray, the FM calculation engine was reading the " mark as the  end of the calculation.  So, I needed to add an escape '' before each quote (") in the function ... {{Int(Contacts::Amount)& "." & Right(Int ....etc.   I could have 'fiddled' with it for months and not come up with that solution.  Thanks to Ray.  And, thanks to you for directing me to him.

 

If anyone wants to see some of Ray's 'demo' projects, (including a great Merge Letter demo, I strongly recommend Ray's site:

http://www.nightwingenterprises.com .