"If field contains value X, then y"

[daanvdn]

Dear all,

 

I’m working with a database in which there are 3 fields, each of which may contain several values. For each field the list of values that may occur is unique, apart from one particular value, namely ‘unclear’. In concrete terms, this means the following:

 

Field 1 ( Position)

possible values: left, right, unclear, medial

 

Field 2 (Mood)

possible values: indicative, subjunctive, imperative, unclear

 

Field 3 (Tense)

possible values: present; preterite, unclear, perfect, pluperfect, future

 

In this database, I would like to create a (calculation) Field 4 (let’s call it ‘markedness’), which automatically generates a constant value X if Field 1, Field 2 or Field 3 contains the value ‘unclear’. In other words, I want X to appear in Field 4 if ‘unclear’ appears in any of the other fields. The problem is, that if Fields 1 to 3, contain more than one value, the order in which they occur, may vary. E.g. if Field 1 contains the values ‘left’ and ‘unclear’, the former need not have initial position in the record.

 

So I am wondering whether Filemaker Pro Advanced 8 has a function (or something else) which allows you to determine whether a record contains a particular value in a given field? I’ve tried the LeftValues / MiddleValues / RightValues functions, but the problem with these is that they require you to know the exact position of the value you’re looking for. And it’s precisely that which cannot be determined in advance.

 

If any of you might point me in the right direction, I would be very grateful,

 

Daan Van den Nest, Ghent University, Belgium

[Inky Phil]

Try patterncount

 

Phil

[daanvdn]

Thanks a lot, It worked !

 

Daan