Very simple date range search not working as expected

[Noobie]

I'm doing a simple date range search on a report. I click Find, then click in the Creation Date field, which displays data in the MM/DD/YYYY format. I search for 3/1/2015…3/20/2015, and even though there are several records on 3/5/2015, it tells me no records match the search criteria. I assume I'm doing something stupid, but no idea what. 

 

I just tried searching for 3/4/2015…3/6/2015, and sure enough, all the 3/5/2015 records show up. Now I'm even more confused!

[comment]

A few checks you should perform before proceeding:

 

1. Is Creation Date a Date field?

 

2. Do you have invalid dates (search for ? in the field)?

 

3. Does your file actually use the M/D/Y date format? What do you see if you do:

Show Custom Dialog [ Get(CurrentDate) ]

4. Can you reproduce the problem in a brand new file?

[Noobie]

Sigh. I had it set to text. Sorry for the stupid question. It's still strange to me that it found it if I search for dates on either side. I double-checked all of my other fields and they're all correct, so I've got that going for me at least.

[Lee Smith]

Hi Noobie and welcome to the FMForums

Sigh. I had it set to text. Sorry for the stupid question.

There are no stupid questions!

 

In fact, I would venture to say that we all have "been there and done that”.  It’s one of the reasons to ask a question on a Forum like ours.

 

Once you have tried to figure things out, it’s only human nature to continue to look at things in the same manner, so a fresh pair of eyes, with or without experience, can usually see the problem.

 

Providing the information like you did, can go a long ways in our helping us help you. Full disclosure is the key, knowing what you are trying to accomplish, what you've already tried and what results, if any, you got, even if differs from what was expected.

 

Nice job of posting!

 

Lee

[comment]

 It's still strange to me that it found it if I search for dates on either side.

 

It's not strange at all, because in the Text domain "3/4/2015" is a word, "3/6/2015" is another word, and in alphabetical order "3/5/2015" comes between these two words. OTOH, when you search for 3/1/2015…3/20/2015, the string "3/5/2015" will not be found, because it comes after "3/20/2015".