Works: Random Numbers Appear in Blank Database Fields

Random data may appear in all blank fields in the Form View of your database. This may happen if the database contains a filter and a serialized field.

To Clear the Random Data From the Database File

You can clear the random data by exiting Works and re-opening the file. The data will not appear again until a filter is applied.

NOTE: This will clear the data even if you have saved the file.

There are several ways to permanently prevent the random data from reappearing:

• Move the serialized field so that it is the first field in the List View of your database.
  
  
• Change the Serialized field format from Serialized to General and manually enter serialized data.
  
  
• Fill the data down in List View.

For information about how to do this, see the "More Information" section of this article.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Move the Serialized Field to the First Field in List View

To Move the Serialized Field to the First Field in List View, do the following:

1. In List View, click the Serialized Field name to select the entire field.
2. Place your cursor over the Field Name of the selected field so that the word "drag" appears on the cursor.
3. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the Serialized Field to the left until the black line, indicating the field position, is to the left of the first field in the database then release the mouse button.

When you release the mouse button, the field should move to new location.

Changing the Serialized Field to General Format

Change the Serialized Field format by doing the following:

1. Click on the field name of the Serialized field to select it.
2. On the Format menu, click Field.
3. Click General in the Format section and click OK.

Fill Down Serialized Data in List View

You can Fill serialized data down a field column in a database by doing the following:

1. Enter the first number in the series in the first row of the field that you want to contain the serialized data.
   
   NOTE: You can format the number as 00001 by selecting the cell, choosing Field from the Format menu, and formatting the field as a 5 digit fixed number. The example in the appearance window is 01235.
2. Once you've entered the starting number, select the cell containing the number and highlight down the field column as far as you would like to fill the series.
3. On the Edit menu, click Fill Series.
4. Choose the Step By, number you want, and click OK.