Using only the first character of the field content

[Anders66]

Hi

Being quite new to Filemaker and trying on a pretty limited time to make me a support database , now I have a couple questions.

 

 

We have a number of products in which the article is described as follows CL25-11, CL25-12 , CL25-21, CL25-22, CL35-11, CL35-12 and more.

When creating the post you state exactly as above since the last 2 digits are important in a future support case..

 

Now I want to create a spareparts list based only on the first 4 letters in the field, like this CL25 , CL35 etc .

With a conditional value list and check-boxes I want to select the spareparts for CL25 , CL35 etc, a spare part can sometimes fit several products.

 

its working but now it adds all combinations in the field which becomes a hassle.

How do I do so that I do not get all the combinations but only CL25 and CL35 etc?

 

Another question .

The parts are then displayed in a portal for the chosen model , such CL25 . Now I would like to be able to choose that part and the number needed and when pressing a button named “add part” i want to create a separate notes list of my choices that may look like this :

 

2014-02-25 Front glass Left 1 pcs

2014-02-25 Front glass Right 1pcs

 

 

This list is then included in my support database for a specific serialnumber and will only work as a reminder for me to know which parts are sent, when its sent and how many of them, this will be an accumulated list for that products serialnumber

 

Is always hard to explain how I imagined the feature but I hope someone out there has any suggestions on how I can resolve this.

 

Maybe a sample. 

Grateful for help /

Anders66

[comment]

This part is not clear:

 

its working but now it adds all combinations in the field which becomes a hassle.

 

If you want to have a checkbox that uses a value list of CL25, CL35 etc. you will first need a field that will contain only the first, generic part of the product's code. Define a calculation field in the Products table (result is Text) =

Left ( ProductCode ; 4 )

Then define a value list based on this field and apply it to the checkbox field in the SpareParts table (assuming that's a separate table). A conditional value list is not required for this.

 

 

I didn't understand your second question.