FileMaker Pro 4.1 Mac User's Guide

2-14 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Use a calculation field to calculate a result from values in other fields in
the current record (or from other related records, using a relationship).
Use a summary field to produce a result using values in more than one
record in the database.
Calculation fields
Summary fields
The values you calculate can come from all field types. You can produce
different values in a summary field, depending on whether you’re
browsing all or some of the records, whether records have been sorted,
and where you place the summary field on the layout.
The formula’s result can be text, number, date, time, or container. The
result of a calculation depends on the field type of the values it calculates
and whether the field type is calculation or summary.
A formula contains one or more parts arranged in a particular order
(called syntax) that determines the values to use and the operations to
perform to produce the result you want. The following sections explain
each formula part and its syntax.
Important In the United States, commas act as list separators in
functions, formulas, and calculations. In other countries, semicolons
might be used as list separators. The separator that is used depends on
the operating system your computer uses, as well as the one used when
the file was created.