Reference > Functions reference > Text functions > Filter

Filter

Returns from textToFilter only those characters specified in filterText, in the order they were originally entered in textToFilter.

Format

Filter ( textToFilter ; filterText )

Parameters

textToFilter - any text expression or text field

filterText - the characters to preserve in the specified text

Data type returned

text

Originated in

FileMaker Pro 7.0

Description

If filterText doesn't have any characters, an empty string is returned. The Filter function is case sensitive.

Example 1

Filter ( "(408)555-1212" ; "0123456789" ) returns 4085551212.

Filter ( "AaBb" ; "AB" ) returns AB.

Example 2

The following example removes all text from the provided data, then formats the remaining numbers in the preferred phone number formatting:

Let ( 
   phone = filter ( theField ; "0123456789" ) ; 
   "(" & Left ( phone ; 3 ) & ")" & Middle ( phone ; 4 ; 3 ) & "-" & 
   Middle ( phone ; 7 ; 4 ) 
)

If theField contains Work: 408.555.1212 this calculation returns (408)555-1212.