Works 2000 DB: Problems When You Type a Function or Formula in a Database Field

When you type a function or formula in a Works database field in one of the programs listed at the beginning of this article, you may experience any of the following symptoms:

• The field containing the function or formula may be blank.
  
  
• The cells in the field containing the function or formula may be blank.
  
  
• Incorrect or inconsistent results may be displayed in the cells in the field containing the function or formula.
  
  
• The formula or function may calculate results in unexpected cells.

This behavior can occur if any of the following conditions are true:

• You type a function or formula in a cell instead of in a field.
  
  
• You type a function or formula in the cell of a blank record.
  
  
• You type an incorrect formula in a field.

To prevent this issue from occurring, only type a function or formula in a field in a Works database.

To type the function or formula, click the field in Form View, and then type the function or formula. When you type the function or formula in the field, the function or formula is applied to this field for all of the records in the database. When you type data in a new record, any value that is related to the function or formula in this field is calculated automatically.

NOTE: Do not type a function or formula in a cell in List View under the field name. In addition, no value is displayed in a field that contains a function or formula if the record is blank.

To type a function or formula in a Works database field:

1. Click the name of the field you want to contain a function or formula.
2. Type an EQUAL SIGN (=) followed by the function or formula. For example, type the following line
   =date(99,1,1)
   to enter the date, "January 1, 1999."
3. Press ENTER.

Although similarities exist between the functionality and appearance of the cells in a database and the cells in a spreadsheet, one important difference should be noted. In a spreadsheet, you can type a function or formula in any cell you want. In a database, you cannot.

In a database, a function or formula applies to a field and not to an individual cell. When you type a function or formula in the field of a database, that function or formula applies globally to all of the cells within that field.

If you type a function or formula in a cell, you change the entire field and all of the cells within it. However, Microsoft does not recommend that you type functions or formulas in this manner, because you can produce unexpected results. Only type a function or formula in a field.