Help

Finding, sorting, and replacing data
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 118
To find duplicate records except the first instance:
1. If you plan to delete the duplicate records that you find, make a backup copy of the file.
See Saving and copying files.
2. Identify a field that determines a unique entity in your file.
For example, in a Contacts database, the Last Name field is probably not a good choice,
because you might have several people with the same last name. Employee ID is a better
choice. You can also create a calculation field (returning a text result) that combines data in
several fields to make a unique identifier. An example
formula is First Name & Last Name
& Phone Number.
Note The field you choose should not be a repeating field.
3. Define a self-join relationship.
Use your chosen identifying field as the match field in both tables in the relationship. See
Creating relationships.
4. Create a new calculation field named Check Duplicate with the formula:
If(Count(<name of the table’s second occurrence>::<match field>) > 1;
“Duplicates”; “Unique”)
5. Click Show All in the status toolbar.
6. Perform a find for Duplicates in the Check Duplicates field.
All records with duplicates are marked Duplicates.
Once set up as above, this system will identify duplicate records automatically as they are created.
Finding records that match multiple criteria
You can narrow or broaden your search by using multiple criteria.
To find records that match multiple criteria:
1. Start a find request.
See Making a find request.
2. Decide whether you want records matching all or at least one set of criteria you specify.
• To find records matching all criteria specified (logical AND search):
Narrow your search by entering criteria in as many fields as needed to make your find
request specific.
Example
To find all people named Smith who work in Sales, type Smith in the Last Name field and
Sales in the Department field.
You can narrow a found set after you have created it. See Constraining (narrowing) a found
set.
• To find records matching at least one of the sets of criteria, but not necessarily all
(logical OR search):
Broaden your search by entering criteria in the first find request. Click New Request. Enter
the second (set of) criteria. Continue adding requests for each (set of) criteria.
Examples