I am using FileMaker Pro 6.  I can not figure out how to order fields
within and across records.  I will limit my question to the basics.

I have a database with records in the following form:

ProjectName	DateStep1	DateStep2 	DateStep3	DateStep4

I want to generate a list that orders the dates within and across
records so that I would end up with a list of the form:

ProjectB	DateStep2
ProjectA	DateStep1
ProjectA	DateStep2
ProjectC	DateStep2
ProjectB	DateStep3

I am not a full-time database programmer.  I just know enough to get
what I want from the data (most of the time).  I'm stumped on this
one.  Can someone point me in the right direction with a suggested
approach?  I really appreciate the help.

Thank you very much,
John Schomaker

You could use a separate, related data file to hold each of the Date 
fields.  Each record in this related file would hold the ProjectID, 
DateNumber and Date, as well as a calc field that is ProjectID & "_" & 
DateNumber.  You would need to define four relationships between the 
files, one for each date, based on the ProjectID and DateNumber.  It's 
complex, but the point is that the only way to sort by date and have a 
project appear in that list more than once is to print from a file that 
has more than one record per project.

if you only need to generate the occasional report for this, then here's 
an alternative method.  Add another 'Reporting' file that imports all 
projects and Date1, then all projects again with Date2, then all 
projects again with Date3, then all projects again with Date4.  Use this 
reports file to produce your sorted report.

John Schomaker wrote:
> I am using FileMaker Pro 6.  I can not figure out how to order fields
> within and across records.  I will limit my question to the basics.
> 
> I have a database with records in the following form:
> 
> ProjectName	DateStep1	DateStep2 	DateStep3	DateStep4
> 
> I want to generate a list that orders the dates within and across
> records so that I would end up with a list of the form:
> 
> ProjectB	DateStep2
> ProjectA	DateStep1
> ProjectA	DateStep2
> ProjectC	DateStep2
> ProjectB	DateStep3
> 
> I am not a full-time database programmer.  I just know enough to get
> what I want from the data (most of the time).  I'm stumped on this
> one.  Can someone point me in the right direction with a suggested
> approach?  I really appreciate the help.
> 
> Thank you very much,
> John Schomaker

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Howard Schlossberg              (818) 883-2846
FM Pro Solutions       Los Angeles, California

FileMaker 7 Certified Developer
Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance