Added new record..won't sort.

[Jonathan Levin]

Hi. I am making pretty good progress with TF. Watched some of the videos too. Here is my question. I Clicked the Add Record button and added a person first name in first name field and last name in last name field.

When I go to sort my record alphabetically, the newly created record is still the first record, even though the Last Name begins with a G.

Also, when I first set up my first “Document” in TF, I named it Test. I’ve spent so much time working with this that I want to call it something else without having to create a new document. This is the name that appears at te very top of the window with a TF icon to the left in case I’m not clear.

Thanks again.

JL

[Jonathan Levin]

OK. I figured out how to rename the document. I also see that if you go to New Document, you can open a DB in the finder and if I want to COPY that to burn to disk, it looks like I can do this too. Cool!

[Brendan]

There’s an Info button on the main Database Documents window that will let you rename a document.

You can also rename it in the Finder too, but if you do that, make sure that you close the document first. If you have it opened while you rename it, bad things can happen. A bit like pulling the rug out from underneath someone.

You should just use the Backup command in the File menu and save that somewhere then burn it to disk if you want.

[Brendan]

Oh, about the sorting, that won’t happen until you refresh the records list. So just click the refresh button at the bottom of the records list or switch to a different form and back. It will sort then.

[Jonathan Levin]

Thanks Brendan.

Sorting still not working. I created another new record test, and now that is at the top of the list and won’t sort no matter what view/refresh I do. In my forms sort and group settings, I have first sort to comapny and second sort last name.

If I reverse tha to sort first field to last name and second sort to company, the list including the two new entries do sort properly, but then my companies are all out of order. My two test records are Ornela Gjata and Jonathan Testa
Here are some screen shots:

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[Brendan]

It looks like it’s sorting correctly to me. Although you didn’t include the Company field in the screenshots, so I couldn’t really tell.

But the way sorting works is it’s a hierarchy. The records will first be sorted by the First Sort Field, then within that ordering, the records will be sorted by the Second Sort Field.

The only place that really shows up is if you have Last Name values that are identical.

For example:

Last Name   Company
=========   =======================
Duddridge   Tap Zapp Software Inc.
Jones       Adobe Inc.
Jones       Apple Inc.

So even though Adobe Inc. and Apple Inc. would normally come before Tap Zapp Software Inc., They appear after because Duddridge sorts before Jones and the Last Name field is the First Sort Field.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks,

Brendan

[Jonathan Levin]

Hi Brendan. Maybe these images will make more sense.

In the first screen grab, Records 1-4 are highlighted in blue. My test records. As you can see, those four records are sorted by Last Name. But if you see records 5-43, record 5 begins with A and ends with with record 43 end in the letter H Last name. I’ve blurred most of the last name for security.

These particular records are people that don’t have a “Company” associated with them i.e. friends, family, freelance, etc.

In the second screen shot, I scrolled down to 88-131. As you can see, the names without a company are sorted through letter Z, and then at record number 96 begins records of people that are with a company.

I can get everyones Last Name to sort including my test if I change Sort & Group settings 1st fieid sort Last name 2nd Field sort by Company, but then all my Companies are out of order.

So, what I’d like to happen is for it to sort Company, then Last Name like in my screen shots, but include those new entries. I also just did a test where a created a new record with a First N, Last N, AND added a company name, and that record sorted perfectly. So it is something with new records NOT having a company. Weird….gotta be something I’m (not) doing????

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[Brendan]

Hi Jonathan,

Ok, I think you’re right that when there’s no value for one of the sort fields it’s not sorting correctly. I’m investigating this now. It could be the difference between there being a value and there not being a value or if there was a value and then it was cleared at some point.

Thanks for reporting this issue.

[Brendan]

Hi Jonathan,

Ok, I’ve fixed the bug that caused this sorting issue. The issue was caused by the values that I was indexing. Sometimes a value was null and sometimes it was just the empty string "". Now I do a check on all the values I index and if it’s the empty string "", then I store a null value instead. So that way it will all sort properly now.

[Jonathan Levin]

Wow. Glad you were able to reproduce this. Will the fix appear in an update? For now I can work around this knowing it wasn’t just my imagination.

Thanks.
JL

[Brendan]

Yes, it will be in the 5.2 update I’m working on.

All you’ll need to do to correct it is change the First Sort Field to something else and then change it back. That’ll rebuild the index.

[Jonathan Levin]

Hmmm. That actually didn’t work either. I did first sort Cell Phone, second last name, and then went back to first sort Company, second Last name and same issue.

At this point I’ll just wait for the update. Thanks Brendan.

[Brendan]

Hi Jonathan,

My note about rebuilding the index by changing the First Sort Field to something else is only relevant for the 5.2 update. It’s not out yet.

[Jonathan Levin]

Hey Brendan.

I just updated to version 5.2.1 via Check for updates… menu (hadn’t done that in a while) I don’t know how long that has been out, but was that the update that was supposed to fix the sort issue? If so I am still having the same problem. If not, than I’ll wait for next update.

Thanks.

Jonathan

[Brendan]

Hmm… It should have been in the 5.2 update.

Could you please re-send me your document so I can check into it?

Did you switch the First Sort Field to something else and then switch it back? That’s what will cause the index to be rebuilt.

[Jonathan Levin]

Thanks Brendan. That worked!

[Brendan]

Hi Jonathan,

Excellent! I’m glad that worked for you. I was beginning to think I was losing my mind (which isn’t out of the realm of possibility) :)

[Wayne Whyte]

Wondering why I can’t see some of the information on my iPhone that’s on my Mac. I added a parts list (405 parts) on my Mac and I can see all the information, but when I go to my iPhone and open up that record I can only see the number 405 at the top no other info. I can do a search for the part number and it will show that I have one is stock but no other info. I would like to see the rest of the list about these parts…ie Part number, location, cost…

Thank you for your time

[Brendan]

Hi Wayne,

Is this somehow related to the sorting issue that Jonathan posted?

Thanks,

Brendan

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