>When phone numbers were imported into our ebase the area code and >telephone number were all put in the same field (HOME PHONE NUMBER etc). >I'm in the process of cleaning up the fields and would like to know if >there is an easy way to delete the area codes from the telephone number >string for a found set. For example for numbers entred "604 430-4332", i >would like to delete the "604_" and have "430-4332" remain. Likewise, >number entered (604) 430-4332, i'd like to delete the "(604)_".
There are a number of text functions which, together with the FileMaker Replace command, make it easy to manipulate text fields. For your examples, - find the set of records for which you want to revise the phone number - click the cursor into the phone number field - select the menu item Scripts>FMPro Replace Command - in the Replace dialog which appears, click the button for Calculated result. - A dialog will appear in which you can enter a calculation. In this case it would be, Right(Home Phone Number,8) to replace the text in Home Phone Number with the rightmost 8 characters. The complication arises because the phone numbers are apparently not entered consistently. If they all have a space or hyphen between the prefix and the last four numbers, you can probably use the calculation above. If any of them have an extension number such as x102 or ext. 102, you'll get an incorrect result for that record. The calculated replace is a very powerful technique. It's worth spending some time with the FileMaker manual to review the details. Powerful also means dangerous. Make a backup before you start. -- -- Dave Shaw H4 Consulting tel: 206-954-7526 fax: 206-625-1338 ------------------ Reminder to each recipient: To change your list account preferences, go to http://email.sparklist.com/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=support and enter the email address you used to subscribe to the ebase support list:: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- ebase - Relationship Management for Nonprofits, http://www.ebase.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------
