Work Around to use Memo Fields in Formulas

This information is also found at thread149-106985.

It is tedious and time-consuming, but a viable solution until Seagate supports the memo field.

To use this work around: you must have DML access (must be able to alter tables or create views) to your database.

You can read the full explanation of this solution at http://support.crystaldecisions.net ; In Knowledge base search for article ID C2007285 or try this link:
http://support.crystaldecisions.com/library/kbase/articles/c2007285.asp

The short explanation:
Background info:
When importing data into Crystal Reports (1) varchar and (2) field lengths greater than 254 are converted to memo fields.

The workaround:
Note: You can create a view or add the fields to the actual data base table structure.
1. In the database environment - (1) parse out the field into smaller parts(you can use substring), (2) use char to define the field (3) assign part to a "new" field in database.
2. Import the smaller "new" fields into Crystal Report.
3. In the crystal report environment - (1) concatenate and the "new" smaller fields into one large string which resembles the original field (2) trim empty spaces if necessary (3) use Crystal Report formulas as you like.

Additional suggestions: You can hide the text of the "new" field, which are being used in the formulas and display the original memo field on the actual report.