[Solved] Combining data from 2 fields into a 3rd field

[JRachel973]

I am putting together an address book where I have a field "First Name", another field "Last Name", and a 3rd field "Full Name". How do I format the "Full Name" field so when I enter the "First Name" and the "Last Name", it automatically shows the contents of the "First Name" and "Last Name" together in the "Full Name" field? Like this:
"First Name": John (entered)
"Last Name": Doe (entered)
"Full Name": John Doe (automatically entered)

I'm sure this must have been discussed somewhere, but I've searched for days and couldn't find anything. I'm pretty new at this, so any help would be appreciated

Tagged as solved - floris v, moderator

[floris_v]

You don't. You can use any kind of control, but the text is simply composed of the First name and Last Name fields with a space in between.
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[JRachel973]

Ok, something is amiss here. Here's what's going on:

1) The Address Table contains the 3 fields: FirstName, LastName, & FullName. All fields have the field type "Text [VARCHAR]. "Entry Required" FirstName and LastName are set to "Yes" FullName is set to "No". There are no "Default Value" settings in all 3 fields. All 3 fields have a "Length" of 50.

2) In the form, all 3 fields are "text boxes". In the FirstName and Last Name Text Box, the Control...Properties:Text Box...Data tab...Data Field are linked to the same fields in the table. In the LastName Data field I typed in the FirstName (space) LastName fields, closed the Properties window, and saved the Form. When I opened the Form, the FullName Text Box was empty. After several trials I realized that only ONE table field can be entered in the Data field (they are listed in the adjacent drop-down selection). So, when I entered the field "FirstName", its corresponding data appeared. The same held true when entering the "LastName" field; but not when both were entered.

Obviously I'm doing something wrong. Am I missing the obvious?

[dacm]

That's true. You cannot bind a Form Control like a Text Box to more than one Data field. However, you can achieve your objective:

(1) Eliminate the FULLNAME field in your table. It's not necessary, and simply redundant.
(2) Base your Form on an 'SQL command' or 'Query' that includes (as a minimum) the record ID (primary key field), FIRSTNAME, LASTNAME, and a pseudo field generated with SQL Concatentation and with the alias FULLNAME. In this case the Form would be based on the following Form Properties > Data (tab) > Content type > SQL command > Content:


Code:

SELECT "ID", "FIRSTNAME", "LASTNAME", "FIRSTNAME" || ' ' || "LASTNAME" AS "FULLNAME" FROM "CONTACTS"


(3) Save the record to see the FULLNAME in the dedicated Text Box.

Here's a quick demo of the above steps/concepts:
Contacts_fullname_demo.odb or mirror: Contacts_fullname_demo.odb
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[JRachel973]

Ok! Got it! The form works perfectly. Thanks for all your help.

[Billyray]

Don't forget to "edit" the first post in this thread, and add "[SOLVED]" to the Title.
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