Unique numbers in FMP

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2 total messages Started by John Boswell Wed, 27 Jan 1993 19:51

#686

Author: John Boswell
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 19:51

26 lines
1749 bytes

Hi,
	Could someone please give me some hints on how to do the following?
I have a library database to keep track of my books.  One of the fields
is a category field (science fiction, non fiction, biography, etc.).  One 
field is an auto-serial number (unique), and yet a third field is a calcula-
tion field that contains something like:  Upper(Left(category,3)) &"."& num
(where num is the autoserial field); this results in stuff like:
SCI.588  or BIO.212  etc.

My problem is, that I would like any books in a specific category to
go sequentially, i.e., SCI.400, SCI.401, SCI.401, etc.  As I have it
set up, if I enter a SCI book, then a Biography, then a SCI book, I'd get:
SCI.400, SCI.402  (since the biography would get BIO.401).  I can't set
up separate "autoserial" number fields for each category, since they
would ALL increment by 1 as soon as I create a NEW record.  Is there a
way for me to do what I'd like?

Thanks much in advance,
-John Boswell


--
****************************************************************************
Dr. John Boswell	boz@coos.dartmouth.edu (preferred address)	
Dept. of Medicine/GI MCN C2104	BOSWELJS@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu (alternate)	
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN  37232	615-343-4747

Re: Unique numbers in FMP

#691

Author: Brian Hughes
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 16:10

21 lines
1602 bytes

boz@coos.dartmouth.edu (John Boswell) writes:


>My problem is, that I would like any books in a specific category to
>go sequentially, i.e., SCI.400, SCI.401, SCI.401, etc.  As I have it
>set up, if I enter a SCI book, then a Biography, then a SCI book, I'd get:
>SCI.400, SCI.402  (since the biography would get BIO.401).  I can't set
>up separate "autoserial" number fields for each category, since they
>would ALL increment by 1 as soon as I create a NEW record.  Is there a
>way for me to do what I'd like?

    Well, I really don't think there is a way for you to get what you
want. The kind of thing that you want to do is usally accomplished, with
relational databases like 4D and Double Helix, but using a file that
contains your constants, like record numbers, which are accessed and
updated over the live relational link between the files. This is a
capability that FM Pro doesn't have. You might be able to simulate it
with Apple Events, but it would be a real nightmare.

-Hades
--

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