Missing Fields in Formula Editor

[paqguy]

I've never seen this happen before ...

Creating a new formula, some fields from one of my tables are not available to be inserted into my formula (they aren't displayed in the field explorer under the appropriate table). They ARE displayed in the report field explorer, but not in the formula editor.

Any ideas?? paqguy - Shaun Beane

 

[basil3legs]

Are they memo fields? If so, you can't put them in formulae, hence they are missing from the list. This is the same for various other types of field as well, blob, pictures etc.

 

[synapsevampire]

The workaround is to chop those fields into 254 length fields either on the database side, or using SQL Expressions.

-k

http://www.informeddatadecisions.com

kai@informeddatadecisions.com

 

[beekku]

hi ,
i have the same problem with crystal reports .Actually i have a memo field which contain chr data which will have maximum 1728 chrs.now i have to split this field and display it in the reports.For that i was planning to use formulas and get the substrings using mid function, but i am not able to get the blob field in the formula editor.
please help

 

[basil3legs]

I had a similar problem and had to cut the memo into strings before Crystal got it's hands on it, as suggested by synapsevampire. Fortunately, the memos weren't that important so I just took the first 255 characters.

Crystal don't seem too good at supporting memos. I had to recreate a whole invoice page from a FoxPro table which was already stored in a memo, as Crystal wouldn't see it at all. This was sorted out in a later update, but I still have problems with Memos in Paradox databases as I can only see them at all if I set up an ODBC link which is no good when the database isn't on the report server!! I emailed them about this and finally got a reply today, over a month later, asking what drivers I was using and that was it!

 

[beekku]

so does that mean none of the existing versions of crystal reports support memo fields in formula? I cannot break up the memo field and pass it to the report before printing,because there are multiple details and for each detail this memo field will have different value, which can be resolved only at print time.
Does any one know if we can access the details records before the report prints and pass separate params to each detail (!) .I don't think it is possible but, if any one out there can help ,pls let me know.
thnks

 

[dgillz]

beekku-

that is correct. You cannot use memo fields in formulas. Software Training and Support for Macola, Crystal Reports and Goldmine
251-621-8972
dgilsdorf@mchsi.com

 

[Ngolem]

"Creating a new formula, some fields from one of my tables are not available to be inserted into my formula "

Are they formula fields or database fields?

If they are database fields then the only ones I can think of are "Memo" fields and that situation has been discussed perviously.

But if they are formula fields...you cannot use formulas with time evaluation functions in summary formulas so this won't be available to you.

You have to give more details on what formulas are/are not available and what type of formula are you trying to create. Jim Broadbent

 

[rosemaryl]

Dear Pagguy:

As stated above, you generally cannot use memo fields in formulas. However, you can use memo fields in formulas that check for a null value, but you must manually type the table.fieldname. This is helpful if you want to suppress a field or report section if the value of the memo is null.

Isnull({Mytable.mymemofield}) is a valid formula


Beeku

Now, regarding your issue about splitting your fields. As SynapseVampire noted you can use SQL expressions to split the memo field into more manageable chunks.

Since the chunks must be broken into 254 characters I am not sure I understand your issue. You have a maximum of 1728 charters which would equal 7 "Chunks". You could place these chunks in your report and they will display whatever data is retrieved for that portion. Also once you have broken them into chunks, you can then use those fields in formulas.

Try creating a SQL expression for the first 254 characters of your memo field to get a feel for how this will work.

If you have more questions or I am not understanding your question correctly, please advise.

Hope this was helpful,

ro

If Rosemary Lieberman
rosemary@microflo.com,

http://www.microflo.com

Microflo provides expert consulting on MagicTSD and Crystal Reports.

 

[dgillz]

FYI-

In case anyone missed it, Crv9 addresses this issue and you can use memo fileds in formulas. Software Training and Support for Macola, Crystal Reports and Goldmine
251-621-8972
dgilsdorf@mchsi.com