Update the calculation itself from a global field?

[ah]

My solution needs quite a few calculations, and sometimes they get really complex. It takes quite a lot of time to

1. Go into the Manage database 

2. Find correct field

3. Go to Options >> Calculated Value

4. Make a change

5. Save and go out of Manage database

6. See if it worked this time

7 Repeat X times until the result is satisfactory 

 

Is there any way to tell the calc field to update the actual calculation from a global field? A Get() function, maybe?

 

Something like 

MakeACalculationBasedOn (global_field)

 

 

[Lee Smith]

Why do you have the "Do not replace existing value of field (if any)" selected?

[comment]

Is there any way to tell the calc field to update the actual calculation from a global field?

 

No, but you can eliminate the need to do this repeatedly by perfecting your calculation in the Data Viewer:

http://www.filemaker.com/12help/html/fmpa_tools.24.4.html#1035402

[ah]

I mean the actual calculation expression, not the result of it.

I am simply wondering if there exists any technique to let the expression itself be dynamic, so that i might write functions etc in a text field that would then be automatically inserted into the calculation, as part of the calculation.

 

Imagine table with the following fields:

ID

name

description

textField (a text field)

calculationField (a calculation field)

 

In textField, I might write something like:

 

Left(table::name;4) & Case(notEmpty (table::description); table::description) 

 

In calculationField I would somehow (scripting or any other way) be able to make a calculation expression that was exactly what the field textField said.

So I might be able to change the expression in calculationField by changing the content of textField.

@ comment

I knew I had read something like this somewhere

 

Thanks

[comment]

You could also use a global text field for the expression, and a calculation field =

Evaluate ( gExpression )

to show the result. But that would work correctly only in the context of the same table.

[ah]

You could also use a global text field for the expression, and a calculation field =

Evaluate ( gExpression )

to show the result. But that would work correctly only in the context of the same table.

 

This seems to be what i am looking for! I will try to implement Evaluate ( "FieldToEvaluate1" ) into the calculation, and see if it works

Hopefully this means that I no longer have to make extremely long Case-statements to get the info I want

 

http://www.dwaynewright.com/filemaker-calculations/2007/9/16/filemaker-the-evaluate-function.html

 

EXAMPLE: Let's say we have a text field named Field To Evaluate and it has within it’s expression area Left("Bobby"; 3).

Evaluate (expression) is where we start and we enter the following variations in the expression area.

Evaluate ( "Field To Evaluate1" ) will return Left("Bobby"; 3).

Evaluate ( Field To Evaluate1 ) will return Bob.

[ah]

Evaluate() is exactly what I needed, and more than I hoped for!

 

Thank you so much Comment, you just saved me many hours of work