keyword search on all fields

keyword search on all fields

am 14.09.2007 16:36:40 von Ed Marmon

i'm looking at moving over from a regular contact manager like Act!. I put
together a flat file database. If I need to do a keyword search on all my
fields for a certain word or words, how is that done in FM? Thanks

Re: keyword search on all fields

am 14.09.2007 21:46:17 von Christoph Bouthillier

"Ed Marmon" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:Xns99AB6BF12F8F0edmarmailcom@69.28.186.158...
> i'm looking at moving over from a regular contact manager like Act!. I put
> together a flat file database. If I need to do a keyword search on all my
> fields for a certain word or words, how is that done in FM? Thanks
---

Ed,

Easy. Create a concatenated calc field with all the wanted searchable fields
in it, separated by spaces, such as

c.conc.for.searches = t.field1 & " " & t.field2 etc.

BUT be careful - in this way words like "power-sharing" will be a problem,
you will find "power" but not "sharing". So you need to add a substitute in
the formula:

substitute
(t.field1 & " " & t.field2; "-";" ")

in order to distill each searchable word.

Met vriendelijke groet / Mit freundlichen Gruessen / With kind regards
Christoph Bouthillier
p/o\s/t atsign ohnotekstotaaloh nocom
Leave out: \ / oh no
---

Re: keyword search on all fields

am 17.09.2007 21:06:24 von Ed Marmon

Drumroll for the dumb question: where do I put it? In my main layout, and
when I click on it, a search box will pop up? Or what? Sorry, just
starting out...

"Christoph Bouthillier" wrote in
news:9c0c5$46eae5f2$d4ba06cf$12146@news.speedlinq.nl:

>
>
> "Ed Marmon" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:Xns99AB6BF12F8F0edmarmailcom@69.28.186.158...
>> i'm looking at moving over from a regular contact manager like Act!.
>> I put together a flat file database. If I need to do a keyword
>> search on all my fields for a certain word or words, how is that done
>> in FM? Thanks
> ---
>
> Ed,
>
> Easy. Create a concatenated calc field with all the wanted searchable
> fields in it, separated by spaces, such as
>
> c.conc.for.searches = t.field1 & " " & t.field2 etc.
>
> BUT be careful - in this way words like "power-sharing" will be a
> problem, you will find "power" but not "sharing". So you need to add a
> substitute in the formula:
>
> substitute
> (t.field1 & " " & t.field2; "-";" ")
>
> in order to distill each searchable word.
>
> Met vriendelijke groet / Mit freundlichen Gruessen / With kind regards
> Christoph Bouthillier
> p/o\s/t atsign ohnotekstotaaloh nocom
> Leave out: \ / oh no
> ---
>
>
>

Re: keyword search on all fields

am 19.09.2007 13:08:25 von Sargasso

Ed Marmon wrote:
>i'm looking at moving over from a regular contact manager like Act!. I put
>together a flat file database. If I need to do a keyword search on all my
>fields for a certain word or words, how is that done in FM? Thanks

There is that magic function "Find" in the "Edit" menu, it allows you to search
all fields of the current recordset just like you would expect in a flat
solution.

Re: keyword search on all fields

am 19.09.2007 17:51:01 von Grip

On Sep 17, 9:06 pm, Ed Marmon wrote:
> Drumroll for the dumb question: where do I put it? In my main layout, and
> when I click on it, a search box will pop up? Or what? Sorry, just
> starting out...
>
> "Christoph Bouthillier" wrote innews:9c0c5$46eae5f2$d4ba06cf$12146@news.speedlinq.nl:
>
>
>
> > "Ed Marmon" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> >news:Xns99AB6BF12F8F0edmarmailcom@69.28.186.158...
> >> i'm looking at moving over from a regular contact manager like Act!.
> >> I put together a flat file database. If I need to do a keyword
> >> search on all my fields for a certain word or words, how is that done
> >> in FM? Thanks
> > ---
>
> > Ed,
>
> > Easy. Create a concatenated calc field with all the wanted searchable
> > fields in it, separated by spaces, such as
>
> > c.conc.for.searches = t.field1 & " " & t.field2 etc.
>
> > BUT be careful - in this way words like "power-sharing" will be a
> > problem, you will find "power" but not "sharing". So you need to add a
> > substitute in the formula:
>
> > substitute
> > (t.field1 & " " & t.field2; "-";" ")
>
> > in order to distill each searchable word.
>
> > Met vriendelijke groet / Mit freundlichen Gruessen / With kind regards
> > Christoph Bouthillier
> > p/o\s/t atsign ohnotekstotaaloh nocom
> > Leave out: \ / oh no
> > ---

The simplest thing would be to put a global field on your layout with
a button labeled "Search" next to it. Write a script and attach it to
the button. The script will look something like:

Enter Find Mode
Set Field[concatedField; globalField]
Perform Find

Re: keyword search on all fields

am 20.09.2007 18:51:27 von Ed Marmon

I like "magic"!

....Ubboy. I feel like Gilligan now, you have to hit me with skipper's
white hat... I'll take a look. Thanks!

Sargasso wrote in
news:46f10329$0$25239$dbd4d001@news.wanadoo.nl:

> Ed Marmon wrote:
>>i'm looking at moving over from a regular contact manager like Act!. I
>>put together a flat file database. If I need to do a keyword search
>>on all my fields for a certain word or words, how is that done in FM?
>>Thanks
>
> There is that magic function "Find" in the "Edit" menu, it allows you
> to search all fields of the current recordset just like you would
> expect in a flat solution.
>
>

Re: keyword search on all fields

am 23.09.2007 21:07:08 von d-42

On Sep 19, 4:08 am, Sargasso wrote:
> Ed Marmon wrote:
> >i'm looking at moving over from a regular contact manager like Act!. I put
> >together a flat file database. If I need to do a keyword search on all my
> >fields for a certain word or words, how is that done in FM? Thanks
>
> There is that magic function "Find" in the "Edit" menu, it allows you to search
> all fields of the current recordset just like you would expect in a flat
> solution.

Not quite. He wants to enter what he searching for -once- and have it
search all fields for it. To do that with a vanilla find, you'd have
to create a new request for each field you want to search and re-type
your word into a different field on each request.

That is going to feel like anything but magic after about 5
seconds. :)

Something with scripts, is the better way to go, whether you use
concatenated fields or script the creation of the multiple find
requests...

-cheers,
dave