text entry in a number field

[Pete]

is it possible to force a text entry into a number field e.g

I have a Triathlon Results database where I enter the finish times etc, if
the competitor does not finish I would like to enter d.n.f instead of the
finish time which is in h:m:ss format.

I have tried doing the reverse and entering the finish times as text, which
is ok until I sort the results by ascending order which then gives me
incorrect results i.e 10:00 is less than 9:00

I also have a "Text Box" with the value =1 as a running sum over the group
to give me the finish positions in ascending order of the finish times
above. Is it possible to show an equals sign if the competitors have an
equal finish time e.g

1 Fred 1.00
2 Jim 1.15
3 Harry 1.16
= Tom 1.16
5 Bill 2.00

etc... etc...

cheers

Peter

 

[John Vinson]

is it possible to force a text entry into a number field e.g

No. Numbers ARE NUMBERS. They are not stored as text.

I have a Triathlon Results database where I enter the finish times etc, if
the competitor does not finish I would like to enter d.n.f instead of the
finish time which is in h:m:ss format.

I have tried doing the reverse and entering the finish times as text, which
is ok until I sort the results by ascending order which then gives me
incorrect results i.e 10:00 is less than 9:00

Try sorting by

IIF(IsDate([Finishtime]), TimeValue([finishtime]), #24:00:00#)

I also have a "Text Box" with the value =1 as a running sum over the group
to give me the finish positions in ascending order of the finish times
above. Is it possible to show an equals sign if the competitors have an
equal finish time e.g

1 Fred 1.00
2 Jim 1.15
3 Harry 1.16
= Tom 1.16
5 Bill 2.00

No way I can think of.