John Watkins In response to your query re source codes, this may be what you are looking for. It is a distillation from the listserv. Making a Source Code Short List Listserv Query- > This isn't so much a question as a request. If I understand right once >we apply a payment to a certain source code then that code can never be >deleted. I suppose that this means that it will always appear on the pop-up >menu(?) that comes up when you click on the blank space for source code. We >send out 1st, 2nd and 3rd renewals to our members, plus have new special >mailings from outside lists every other month or so. My problem is that >after a couple of years of using this system then I will have about 150 >source codes to choose from. When entering about fifty renewal responses >(payments) I like move through the payments as quick as possible. It is >already starting to slow me down, because I have to find the code from my >list of 57 source codes that I currently have. My request is that the next >version of ebase maybe have a way to hide the really old source codes so >that we don't have a huge list to scroll through when entering payments. >Does anyone out there have a solution for this that works for them? Or is >there currently a way to hide the codes that I don't know about. In the >long run, either way, I am still saving time over my old system by not having to keep up with all the renewals each time I enter them and then transfer that to Lotus for response tracking. I am sending another post that tells about what I have done to speed up my data entry for payments. Listserv Answer- There are several ways around this. Remember, value lists can be either custom entries (you give the list a name and then specify the different values making up the list) or their values can be drawn from one or two fields in a file. The source code value list currently being used when you enter a payment is an example of the latter; it's drawing its values from the records in the solicit_ file. The easiest way around the problem of getting a huge list is this: Create a new value list in the paymnts_ file named "Short SC List". Type in the specific source codes you want to appear in the list (remembering that, with custom values, you don't get the option of having descriptions that accompany your codes). Then, on the entry layout, attach this new value list to the source code field. A second option is to export all of your source codes to a new filemaker file named "SCShort_.fp3". This file would only have two fields: the source code and the description. Then, get into that file and delete those source codes that you don't want in your short list. Finally, back in paymnts_, create a new value list called "Short SC List", and have it draw its values from the fields in this new file instead of from the solicit_ file. The benefit here is that you get descriptions. The downside is it's an extra file that you have to open and maintain. A third way (and I won't get into a step-by-step on this one; you either know what I'm talking about or you shouldn't be doing it) is to create a text field in the solicit_ file named "DisplayInList" and stick it onto the source code entry screen. If the field has a "Y" in it, then you want the record to be in the short list. Next, create two calc'd text fields: SC4List and SCDesc4List. The calc for the SC4List is: If (DisplayInList = "Y", Source Code, "") The calc for SCDesc4List is: If (DisplayInList = "Y", Source Code Description, "") Finally, create a new value list in paymnts_ named "Short SC List", and have it draw its values from the these new fields in the solicit_ file. The benefits here are many: you get descriptions, maintenance is easy, the list is totally dynamic, etc. The downside is you need to know what you're doing in Filemaker to set it up. This method is basically the answer to your request that we'll probably implement in the next version of ebase. Gerry A Hodgson PLAN Vancouver Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] (604) 271 9877
