Today Calculated Field not Updating in FMPro (Pre 7)

I'm an experienced FMPro programmer but recently have been bitten by a couple of issues I can't figure out. Here's one: I have a calculated field that contains today's date. I understand that this field apparently will not update except when the dbase is opened, but the database is shut down every night. The field works fine until I place things on a server. Then the field apparently does not update itself...ever. I can't just refer to the date because I need the date to build a relational link. So, how do I solve this? Can I force a recalculation somehow, or must I do a replace somehow? Any thoughts? I'd certainly like to hear them. Chuck Boody -- Chuck Boody x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups x-- Access to over 1 Terabyte per Day - $8.95/Month x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD

Chuck Boody wrote: > I'm an experienced FMPro programmer but recently have been bitten by a > couple of issues I can't figure out. Here's one: > > I have a calculated field that contains today's date. I understand > that this field apparently will not update except when the dbase is > opened, but the database is shut down every night. The field works > fine until I place things on a server. Then the field apparently does > not update itself...ever. > > I can't just refer to the date because I need the date to build a > relational link. So, how do I solve this? Can I force a recalculation > somehow, or must I do a replace somehow? > "Today" is no longer supported. It sort of still works (it was like that in previous versions too. Use Get(CurrentDate) instead.

Kevin Hayes wrote: > "Today" is no longer supported. It sort of still works (it was like that > in previous versions too. Use Get(CurrentDate) instead. > Sorry, you said "pre-7" - that should be Status(CurrentDate).

It will update itself if you restart the server each night. But when you get to 7, the Today function does not even exist. To get around this, you can schedule a routine to run each night that updates a regular text field in all the records with the current date. Chuck Boody wrote: > I'm an experienced FMPro programmer but recently have been bitten by a > couple of issues I can't figure out. Here's one: > > I have a calculated field that contains today's date. I understand > that this field apparently will not update except when the dbase is > opened, but the database is shut down every night. The field works > fine until I place things on a server. Then the field apparently does > not update itself...ever. > > I can't just refer to the date because I need the date to build a > relational link. So, how do I solve this? Can I force a recalculation > somehow, or must I do a replace somehow? > > Any thoughts? I'd certainly like to hear them. > > > Chuck Boody > -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Howard Schlossberg (818) 883-2846 FM Pro Solutions Los Angeles, California FileMaker 7 Certified Developer Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance

Have you tried using an EVENTS plug-in. You can set it that it runs at a specific time or any time increment. This way you can have a script run that updates the date without the application having to be shut down. Paul "Chuck Boody" <musicmaker@mysite.com> wrote in message news:240920041131126766%musicmaker@mysite.com... > I'm an experienced FMPro programmer but recently have been bitten by a > couple of issues I can't figure out. Here's one: > > I have a calculated field that contains today's date. I understand > that this field apparently will not update except when the dbase is > opened, but the database is shut down every night. The field works > fine until I place things on a server. Then the field apparently does > not update itself...ever. > > I can't just refer to the date because I need the date to build a > relational link. So, how do I solve this? Can I force a recalculation > somehow, or must I do a replace somehow? > > Any thoughts? I'd certainly like to hear them. > > > Chuck Boody > > -- > Chuck Boody > > > x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com > x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups > x-- Access to over 1 Terabyte per Day - $8.95/Month > x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD >

In article <A6-dnRpk9erUwsncRVn-uw@rogers.com>, Paul <pzspam@rogers.com> wrote: > Have you tried using an EVENTS plug-in. You can set it that it runs at a > specific time or any time increment. This way you can have a script run > that updates the date without the application having to be shut down. > > Paul > > > "Chuck Boody" <musicmaker@mysite.com> wrote in message > news:240920041131126766%musicmaker@mysite.com... > > I'm an experienced FMPro programmer but recently have been bitten by a > > couple of issues I can't figure out. Here's one: > > > > I have a calculated field that contains today's date. I understand > > that this field apparently will not update except when the dbase is > > opened, but the database is shut down every night. The field works > > fine until I place things on a server. Then the field apparently does > > not update itself...ever. > > > > I can't just refer to the date because I need the date to build a > > relational link. So, how do I solve this? Can I force a recalculation > > somehow, or must I do a replace somehow? > > > > Any thoughts? I'd certainly like to hear them. > > > > > > Chuck Boody > > > > -- > > Chuck Boody > > Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd like to avoid frching an update somehow and have it "just happen." I've tried using "Status(CurrentDate)" and we'll see how that works. I certainly will let the group know... Chuck Boody x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups x-- Access to over 1 Terabyte per Day - $8.95/Month x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD

Err. FORCING an update in my note below. Sorry..... Chuck Boody In article <240920041330406817%musicmaker@mysite.com>, Chuck Boody <musicmaker@mysite.com> wrote: > In article <A6-dnRpk9erUwsncRVn-uw@rogers.com>, Paul > <pzspam@rogers.com> wrote: > > > Have you tried using an EVENTS plug-in. You can set it that it runs at a > > specific time or any time increment. This way you can have a script run > > that updates the date without the application having to be shut down. > > > > Paul > > > > > > "Chuck Boody" <musicmaker@mysite.com> wrote in message > > news:240920041131126766%musicmaker@mysite.com... > > > I'm an experienced FMPro programmer but recently have been bitten by a > > > couple of issues I can't figure out. Here's one: > > > > > > I have a calculated field that contains today's date. I understand > > > that this field apparently will not update except when the dbase is > > > opened, but the database is shut down every night. The field works > > > fine until I place things on a server. Then the field apparently does > > > not update itself...ever. > > > > > > I can't just refer to the date because I need the date to build a > > > relational link. So, how do I solve this? Can I force a recalculation > > > somehow, or must I do a replace somehow? > > > > > > Any thoughts? I'd certainly like to hear them. > > > > > > > > > Chuck Boody > > > > > > -- > > > Chuck Boody > > > > Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd like to avoid frching an update > somehow and have it "just happen." I've tried using > "Status(CurrentDate)" and we'll see how that works. I certainly will > let the group know... > > Chuck Boody > > > x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com > x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups > x-- Access to over 1 Terabyte per Day - $8.95/Month > x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD > x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups x-- Access to over 1 Terabyte per Day - $8.95/Month x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD

In article <240920041330406817%musicmaker@mysite.com>, Chuck Boody <musicmaker@mysite.com> wrote: > Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd like to avoid frching an update > somehow and have it "just happen." I've tried using > "Status(CurrentDate)" and we'll see how that works. I certainly will > let the group know... > > Chuck Boody The Today "function" is not really a function at all. It's basically an internal global field into which FileMaker stores the date when it first starts up. The stored date is never changed until you quit and restart Filemaker again. The Status(CurrentDate) function on the other hand is a proper function which reads the system date whenever it's used, and so is always showing the correct date ... assuming the computer has it set properly in the OS's preferences of course. Helpful Harry Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

In article <250920041259030382%helpful_harry@nom.de.plume.com>, Helpful Harry <helpful_harry@nom.de.plume.com> wrote: > In article <240920041330406817%musicmaker@mysite.com>, Chuck Boody > <musicmaker@mysite.com> wrote: > > > Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd like to avoid frching an update > > somehow and have it "just happen." I've tried using > > "Status(CurrentDate)" and we'll see how that works. I certainly will > > let the group know... > > > > Chuck Boody > > The Today "function" is not really a function at all. It's basically an > internal global field into which FileMaker stores the date when it > first starts up. The stored date is never changed until you quit and > restart Filemaker again. > > The Status(CurrentDate) function on the other hand is a proper function > which reads the system date whenever it's used, and so is always > showing the correct date ... assuming the computer has it set properly > in the OS's preferences of course. > > > > Helpful Harry > Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o) Learning is a good thing. Thanks. If one stops to think of it that makes good sense. Doubtless it is even buried somewhere in the FMPro documentation. This difference escaped me, and I think it is going to help me lots now that I understand it. Chuck Boody x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups x-- Access to over 1 Terabyte per Day - $8.95/Month x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD