I’ve just converted an FMP 5.0 (Mac OS 9) database to FMP 7.0 (OSX).
75 layouts; 655 fields.
I’ve hit a weird issue in a layout which shows beginning and end ‘times’ for a selection of events...
Fields are set up as type TIME; formatted as “hhmm”.
When I insert data in a record, say 09.30 the default 12.00 am appears instead. However if I only put 9 in, it returns 9.00 am – and if I put 20 in I get 8.00 pm; but 20.00 or 20. gets 12.00 am
Anything with minutes fails, when really the single digit hour input shouldn’t work.
I am getting an error message on opening the file, saying that the system settings and the file settings are different.
As this was pretty much the first db I began FMP-ing on back in version 3.0, the prospect of deconstructing it and reconstructing it again is a tad unappealing.
Anybody got any ideas?

Tim

Tim,

I imagein you are having a problem with your systems language setting not matching up with your application settings:

FileMaker has some useful help that I give them full credit for writing:

Opening files with foreign system formats
When you create database files, FileMaker Pro uses your computer's system formats to determine how dates, times, and numbers display and sort. If you open or share a database file created with different system formats, you can use your computer's system formats or match the formats used when the file was created.

When you use the current system settings, you can enter and view data in a format that's familiar to you. For example, if a database was created in Australia, where dates are usually written day-month-year, and you open it in the United States, where dates are usually written month-day-year, FileMaker Pro alerts you that the system formats are different. Use the current system settings to enter dates as month-day-year. Otherwise, dates should be entered as day-month-year.

To use your computer's system formats: Choose Format menu > Use System Formats. Use System Formats appears in the Format menu when you open a file on a computer with different system formats or when you change system formats from what they were since the file was last opened.

The Use System Formats command doesn't interfere with any date, time, and number formatting you may have specified in Layout mode.

Note You can also set a data entry file option that determines what should occur when the system formats in a file differ from the operating system. For more information, see Setting file options.

To change your system formats:

Windows 2000: Use the Regional Settings control panel or the Date and Time control panel and the Numbers control panel.

Windows XP: Use the Regional and Language Options control panel or the Date and Time control panel.

Mac OS: Use the International System Preference.


Click System's settings to use the new settings when you reopen the file.

This entry and morecan be found in their FileMaker help from within the application, I found this by searching for language.

Hope this helps.

Hiya Court,
John Sindelar has already convinced me of the benefits of the FMP online help and I’d already been through it and found the very item you quoted.
I’d also already tried using the system settings...
Input 14.30 = result 0.00
Switch to system settings
14.30 then becomes 0.00.14.3 (though reverts to 0.00).

I have tried to check and synchronise the system settings across the two machines I’m working across – but they look pretty much the same.

One other issue with this db is that it inevitably tells me it can’t find two external related file references. I repair them each and every time, but the repair isn’t permanent.

Tim

A couple quick things that may help...

a) I don't think FMP recognizes a period as a time separator for data entry regardless of the system formats. Try entering 9:30 instead of 9.30

b) I believe you need to fix your related items through Define File References rather than "in context" by simply navigating to the missing file when asked for it.

HTH,

John

John, Court...
I solved the ‘times’ issue – a problem of naivety...
I'd converted an FMP 5.0 doc, inclusive of records. As soon as I saved a cloned copy, the issue went away, and times entered appear properly (using a colon).

However, in the time it’s taken to post this reply and before I’d resolved the problem, I decided to start a ground-up re-write of the original db, hoping to take full advantage of some of the new features in 7.0 and a cleaned-up design.
Needless to say this has also contributed to my extensive (and recursive?) learning curve!

Here’s an outline of the current problem...

I have two tables pretty much within their own layouts.
Common to both tables is a date field.
I’ve created a script which asks for the start date and then creates a record, with that date, in both layouts and another script adds a fixed number of additional records to each layout, with the date increasing by 1 each record.
But what I want to do is create an additional step which requests the end date to be inserted, as well; the script would then loop through new record creation until it gets to the end date.

Layouts 1, 2 & 3
Fields: date (on layouts 1 & 2)
Count ( “ “ “ “)
End date – (layout 3)
End date calc (end date – date)

Script:
Go to Layout [ "Layout2" (Layout2) ]
Go to Record/Request/Page [ Last ]
Set Field [ Layout2::count; 1 ]
Loop Exit Loop If [ Layout2::count = Layout2::end date calc]
Set Field [ Layout2::count; Layout2::count + 1 ]
Perform Script [ "Second record creation" ]
End Loop

This is not quite a solution. As FMP loops through each new record, the end date calc reduces in number, whilst the count goes up; so the ‘end if’ arrives sooner than anticipated.

I’ve got a couple of workarounds if I’m forced to abandon this strategy, but I thought that maybe you guys would have an idea where I’m going wrong...

Tim
[/b]

I'm proud to say logic finally prevailed and I fixed the script - largely by glaring at it for a long time!

Tim