Exploded Match Fields

An exploded match field is a type of multiple line match field in which the child match field used in the relationship is actually a calculated value of each character of the real child value you want to use. Yeah, I wrote that and I’m having trouble tracking that sentence means.

Let me take a shot at it from another direction. For example, say the word FileMaker in the child table is used in a separate calculation field and be broken down into something that looks like this ...

F
Fi
Fil
File
FileM
FileMa
FileMak
FileMake
FileMaker

So the real field we are using in the relationship is a divided version of the real matching information we want to use. This means the child match field is a multiple line match field. The idea is that you can begin typing in part of the information in the parent match field (say Fil) and still have a valid relation link to a whole word (such as FileMaker, File or Filler).

A multiple line or compound key field is an odd little thing in FileMaker but can be very useful in the design of many to many relationships. If a value that is separated by a carriage return in one key field matches a value in the other key field, the relationship is valid and referred to as a multiple line field. That is to say if the Parent key field contains

Red
Yellow

it will have a valid relationship to the Child Key field containing the value of Yellow.


Here are some links to other posts that might be of interest in regards to this topic...
EXAMPLE: Single Character Filter With All Option


====================== ADVERTISEMENT ==============================
For more information on InBizness Money including screen shots and tutorial movies, please visit http://www.dwaynewright.com/solutions.html
====================================