bobrossi56
asked on
"Find" tool malfunction in FMPro 8.5
Good Afternoon,
I have a database that I created in FMPro 8.5 Advanced. In it I am using 4 finds which all seemed to be functioning correctly. Because of how the person who is entering data was putting in the information, I changed how one of the drop downs lists each item in its list. Since I have done that I am unable to do any finds for that list with the exception of (2) of the items in the drop down. All of the characters are an exact match, and I have tried to delete the drop down list and recreate it, and type character by character in the find. Nothing working. Box pops up saying that I need to Modify my Search.
Any ideas?
I have a database that I created in FMPro 8.5 Advanced. In it I am using 4 finds which all seemed to be functioning correctly. Because of how the person who is entering data was putting in the information, I changed how one of the drop downs lists each item in its list. Since I have done that I am unable to do any finds for that list with the exception of (2) of the items in the drop down. All of the characters are an exact match, and I have tried to delete the drop down list and recreate it, and type character by character in the find. Nothing working. Box pops up saying that I need to Modify my Search.
Any ideas?
Will Loving
Well, it's kind of a long shot, but I would check the field type and see if it's set correctly, presumably to Text. If it's set to number, you might not get what you expect when you do a Find.
What do you mean when you say you changed "how one of the drop downs lists each item in its list?" What in particular did you change?
I would put a second copy of the same field on the layout (or on a test layout) and format without a pop-up or anything, just as editable text.
This will help you to see exactly what is in the field on each record.
Remember the default searching in FileMaker is from the start of each word (without using wildcards etc.) For example If the text in the field is TheWidget then searching for Widget will not work.
It may also help to go click in the (plain editable) field and choose Insert > From Index... which will list all the things that have been entered in all the records. This may show you that some entries are slightly different to others perhaps.
This will help you to see exactly what is in the field on each record.
Remember the default searching in FileMaker is from the start of each word (without using wildcards etc.) For example If the text in the field is TheWidget then searching for Widget will not work.
It may also help to go click in the (plain editable) field and choose Insert > From Index... which will list all the things that have been entered in all the records. This may show you that some entries are slightly different to others perhaps.
ASKER
To explain better, I changed the the actual word that was input. In other words I initially setup the field as Mill #1, Mill#2, etc. Once the user started entering data I noticed he was using fuller names of mills such as Bonding Mill #1, Rolling Mill #2, etc. All I did was redefine what was in the Value List.
I have tried both other answers to no avail. I am still able to Find two different Values from the list, but none of the others. I did notice some entries slightly different by inserting From Index, but even those entered correctly still come up with "Modify Search Results".
I have tried both other answers to no avail. I am still able to Find two different Values from the list, but none of the others. I did notice some entries slightly different by inserting From Index, but even those entered correctly still come up with "Modify Search Results".
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Do you see your old entries when you use Insert-> From Index? (Mill #1, Mill #2, etc.) If you change the values in the value list, that won't change the old data - you have to replace those yourself. If you see the old ones in Insert->From Index that means you still have records using the old list items.
If this isn't your problem, you may have a corrupted index. Try this: go into Define Database, and find and click on the field that contains the mill data we're talking about and click on Options. In the Storage tab, change Indexing to "None." Then OK your way all the way back out to the main file (I generally tell people to then close and reopen the file, just to make absolutely sure they're out), and then go back into that Options page in Define Database and turn the index back on.
If this isn't your problem, you may have a corrupted index. Try this: go into Define Database, and find and click on the field that contains the mill data we're talking about and click on Options. In the Storage tab, change Indexing to "None." Then OK your way all the way back out to the main file (I generally tell people to then close and reopen the file, just to make absolutely sure they're out), and then go back into that Options page in Define Database and turn the index back on.
ASKER
The # symbol was the exact problem. Once we started doing finds without the # symbol everything was found cleanly. Thank you very much for the solution. I will be making a note to get rid of the # symbol throughout the database.
If getting rid of all of them is a problem, remember that you can simply surround the find criteria with double quotes, e.g.:
"Bonding Mill #1"
instead of:
Bonding Mill #1
"Bonding Mill #1"
instead of:
Bonding Mill #1