Thanks to all for your suggestions regarding tabs. I did not know
about the char(9) option, so that is very helpful.
Jonathan--I am going to play around with the Appearance tab settings,
so I can better understnd how they work, and how they affect what
happens when I use char(9).
Richard, I will let Filemaker know that a tab character would be
helpful.
I had been hoping there was something similar to the paragraph symbol.
Tim,
I have found Lists of concantenated information from multiple fields
very helpful in several situations.
In one case, I have Filemaker server sending autoemails to various
supervisory people with a list of employees and related info--
attendance issues, etc. Lists of concatenated info is much easier to
include in the email than anything else I could come up with. The
server does not support saving and sending pdf's. I could have the
server save and attach tab separated text files, but that entails
several more script steps then just including a list calculation in
the auto-generated email. Being able to add tabs to the calculated
fields will help make the information more readable.
I also use concatenated fields to bring inter-related information from
multiple tables over to a single portal field on an intranet. I find
it is a lot simpler than having multiple fields that have to be
aligned, spaced correctly and of the right size to show all the
information when it has widely varying lengths.
I am also working on a filemaker generated newsletter. I know others
suggest not using Filemaker for a newsletter, but my client asked me
to try to set up Filemaker to automatically generate a pdf newsletter,
since nearly all the info for their newsletter exists in various
Filemaker tables already. It makes some sense to just pull the
information into a newsletter file, rather than have it exported out
from multiple files and then compiled into a newsletter in some other
application (eg InDesign). So I am experimenting.
I have found that using calculated lists along with the merge text
method works pretty well for creating a decent looking layout that
includes info from varying numbers of records each month. A portal
would work if the number of records was consistent, but when it varies
from 5 to 20, the portal set up doesn't work well for this use. At
this point, this is an experiment, so I am still working out the
wrinkles. Being able to add tabs in the calculations that I am
combining with the List function will give me more options for making
the output cleaner and more readable.
Now if someone at Filemaker would figure out how to insert container
fields using the Merge text option.... : )
On Aug 31, 2011, at 3:20 PM, Tim Mansour wrote:
On 01/09/2011, at 2:26, Sue <[email protected]> wrote:
Does anyone know a way to include a tab in a concatenated text
calculation?
All you need to do is include a literal tab within quote marks (if
you're having trouble inserting a tab character just copy & paste from
a text document). You're right that spaces won't work unless you use a
fixed-width font (eg, Courier).
But my question is: why not just keep the fields separate on the
layout, with suitable sizing and spacing, rather than concatenating
text?
