Open Forum

I am new to Past Perfect and am still learning the program.  We imported all of our old collection information into the program, and I am just now adding new records.  The issue I am having is that Past Perfect is not correctly numerically sorting our records.  I have done the Main Menu - Setup - System Parameters, and chosen to sort by Numeric sorting with "-" as my separator.   All of our old numbers that we imported, which have leading zeros (for ex. QM2002-02-003), come up in correct numeric order in the records, BUT, our new numbers that I am just now entering, which do not have leading zeros since we have decided to drop them, are not coming up in order.  So, what PP is doing is this order:

QM2019-1-1
QM2019-1-10
QM2019-1-11
QM2019-1-12
QM2019-1-13
QM2019-1-14
QM2019-1-15
QM2019-1-16
QM2019-1-17
QM2019-1-18
QM2019-1-19
QM2019-1-2
QM2019-1-20

Does anyone know how I can correct this?  Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Tammy
------------------------------

Original Message------

I am new to Past Perfect and am still learning the program.  We imported all of our old collection information into the program, and I am just now adding new records.  The issue I am having is that Past Perfect is not correctly numerically sorting our records.  I have done the Main Menu - Setup - System Parameters, and chosen to sort by Numeric sorting with "-" as my separator.   All of our old numbers that we imported, which have leading zeros (for ex. QM2002-02-003), come up in correct numeric order in the records, BUT, our new numbers that I am just now entering, which do not have leading zeros since we have decided to drop them, are not coming up in order.  So, what PP is doing is this order:

QM2019-1-1
QM2019-1-10
QM2019-1-11
QM2019-1-12
QM2019-1-13
QM2019-1-14
QM2019-1-15
QM2019-1-16
QM2019-1-17
QM2019-1-18
QM2019-1-19
QM2019-1-2
QM2019-1-20

Does anyone know how I can correct this?  Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Tammy
------------------------------

Thanks so much!  I appreciate you weighing in!

------------------------------
Tammy Snook
Park Manager
Yuma AZ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2019 07:45 AM
From: Vivian Zoë
Subject: Past Perfect Object ID Question

We use PPT.  I do not know how to correct your problem, since our imported Object ID numbers are highly idiosyncratic (possibly unique), but we have found, even though it can be time-consuming, the help desk is an excellent resource.  First, because they will literally stay on the phone with you for hours (which is why they may have to call you back and you may have to wait a couple of hours for that) and they will resolve your problem, even "taking over" your computer.  Second, because the problems you report DO make them consider how to correct glitches, bugs and issues irritating to users in future updates and upgrades!

GOOD LUCK!

Vivian F. Zoë, Director
Slater Memorial Museum
108 Crescent Street, Norwich CT 06360
860-425-5560 vox
860-885-0379 fax

"Inspiration is for amateurs - the rest of us just show up and get to work," Chuck Close, 2003

Please note:  The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments hereto is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the designated recipients.  If the reader/recipient of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this e-mail and all attachments hereto in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail or any of its attachments is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and destroy the original message received.  Thank You.

Original Message------

I am new to Past Perfect and am still learning the program.  We imported all of our old collection information into the program, and I am just now adding new records.  The issue I am having is that Past Perfect is not correctly numerically sorting our records.  I have done the Main Menu - Setup - System Parameters, and chosen to sort by Numeric sorting with "-" as my separator.   All of our old numbers that we imported, which have leading zeros (for ex. QM2002-02-003), come up in correct numeric order in the records, BUT, our new numbers that I am just now entering, which do not have leading zeros since we have decided to drop them, are not coming up in order.  So, what PP is doing is this order:

QM2019-1-1
QM2019-1-10
QM2019-1-11
QM2019-1-12
QM2019-1-13
QM2019-1-14
QM2019-1-15
QM2019-1-16
QM2019-1-17
QM2019-1-18
QM2019-1-19
QM2019-1-2
QM2019-1-20

Does anyone know how I can correct this?  Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Tammy
------------------------------

Hi Tammy, 
I have used Past Perfect for the last 16 years... and you have to use the zeros in order to get it to sort the way you want. The program sorts and arranges each number in the column vertically. So it looks at all the numbers in the ones column, then all the numbers in the tens column etc. I have never found a way around it and ended up having to add zeros in the last grouping of numbers.  So:
190.1.0001   instead of   190.1.1
190.1.0010   instead of   190.1.10
190.1.0100   instead of   190.1.100
Then it will sort the way you want.

------------------------------
Amy Folk
Manager of Collections
Southold Historical Society
Cutchogue NY
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-30-2019 12:20 PM
From: Tammy Snook
Subject: Past Perfect Object ID Question

Thanks so much!  I appreciate you weighing in!

------------------------------
Tammy Snook
Park Manager
Yuma AZ

Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2019 07:45 AM
From: Vivian Zoë
Subject: Past Perfect Object ID Question

We use PPT.  I do not know how to correct your problem, since our imported Object ID numbers are highly idiosyncratic (possibly unique), but we have found, even though it can be time-consuming, the help desk is an excellent resource.  First, because they will literally stay on the phone with you for hours (which is why they may have to call you back and you may have to wait a couple of hours for that) and they will resolve your problem, even "taking over" your computer.  Second, because the problems you report DO make them consider how to correct glitches, bugs and issues irritating to users in future updates and upgrades!

GOOD LUCK!

Vivian F. Zoë, Director
Slater Memorial Museum
108 Crescent Street, Norwich CT 06360
860-425-5560 vox
860-885-0379 fax

"Inspiration is for amateurs - the rest of us just show up and get to work," Chuck Close, 2003

Please note:  The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments hereto is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the designated recipients.  If the reader/recipient of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this e-mail and all attachments hereto in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail or any of its attachments is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and destroy the original message received.  Thank You.

Original Message------

I am new to Past Perfect and am still learning the program.  We imported all of our old collection information into the program, and I am just now adding new records.  The issue I am having is that Past Perfect is not correctly numerically sorting our records.  I have done the Main Menu - Setup - System Parameters, and chosen to sort by Numeric sorting with "-" as my separator.   All of our old numbers that we imported, which have leading zeros (for ex. QM2002-02-003), come up in correct numeric order in the records, BUT, our new numbers that I am just now entering, which do not have leading zeros since we have decided to drop them, are not coming up in order.  So, what PP is doing is this order:

QM2019-1-1
QM2019-1-10
QM2019-1-11
QM2019-1-12
QM2019-1-13
QM2019-1-14
QM2019-1-15
QM2019-1-16
QM2019-1-17
QM2019-1-18
QM2019-1-19
QM2019-1-2
QM2019-1-20

Does anyone know how I can correct this?  Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Tammy
------------------------------

Although it has not gotten a lot of use lately, there is a Google Group for PastPerfect users:

The goal of this group is to provide opportunities for users of PastPerfect to ask questions, share information, and provide insights from personal experience. It is not intended to replace or be used instead of the technical support or training offered by PastPerfect Software, which is available on their website: http://www.museumsoftware.com.

You can post to this Group by sending a message to past-perfect-users-google-group@googlegroups.com

You can read previous posts by going to: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!aboutgroup/past-perfect-users-google-group

Please contact Janice Klein at jkhm116@gmail.com if you have any questions.

------------------------------
Janice Klein


Tempe AZ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 09-02-2019 07:48 AM
From: Amy Folk
Subject: Past Perfect Object ID Question

Hi Tammy,
I have used Past Perfect for the last 16 years... and you have to use the zeros in order to get it to sort the way you want. The program sorts and arranges each number in the column vertically. So it looks at all the numbers in the ones column, then all the numbers in the tens column etc. I have never found a way around it and ended up having to add zeros in the last grouping of numbers.  So:
190.1.0001   instead of   190.1.1
190.1.0010   instead of   190.1.10
190.1.0100   instead of   190.1.100
Then it will sort the way you want.

------------------------------
Amy Folk
Manager of Collections
Southold Historical Society
Cutchogue NY

Original Message:
Sent: 08-30-2019 12:20 PM
From: Tammy Snook
Subject: Past Perfect Object ID Question

Thanks so much!  I appreciate you weighing in!

------------------------------
Tammy Snook
Park Manager
Yuma AZ

Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2019 07:45 AM
From: Vivian Zoë
Subject: Past Perfect Object ID Question

We use PPT.  I do not know how to correct your problem, since our imported Object ID numbers are highly idiosyncratic (possibly unique), but we have found, even though it can be time-consuming, the help desk is an excellent resource.  First, because they will literally stay on the phone with you for hours (which is why they may have to call you back and you may have to wait a couple of hours for that) and they will resolve your problem, even "taking over" your computer.  Second, because the problems you report DO make them consider how to correct glitches, bugs and issues irritating to users in future updates and upgrades!

GOOD LUCK!

Vivian F. Zoë, Director
Slater Memorial Museum
108 Crescent Street, Norwich CT 06360
860-425-5560 vox
860-885-0379 fax

"Inspiration is for amateurs - the rest of us just show up and get to work," Chuck Close, 2003

Please note:  The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments hereto is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the designated recipients.  If the reader/recipient of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this e-mail and all attachments hereto in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail or any of its attachments is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail and destroy the original message received.  Thank You.

Original Message------

I am new to Past Perfect and am still learning the program.  We imported all of our old collection information into the program, and I am just now adding new records.  The issue I am having is that Past Perfect is not correctly numerically sorting our records.  I have done the Main Menu - Setup - System Parameters, and chosen to sort by Numeric sorting with "-" as my separator.   All of our old numbers that we imported, which have leading zeros (for ex. QM2002-02-003), come up in correct numeric order in the records, BUT, our new numbers that I am just now entering, which do not have leading zeros since we have decided to drop them, are not coming up in order.  So, what PP is doing is this order:

QM2019-1-1
QM2019-1-10
QM2019-1-11
QM2019-1-12
QM2019-1-13
QM2019-1-14
QM2019-1-15
QM2019-1-16
QM2019-1-17
QM2019-1-18
QM2019-1-19
QM2019-1-2
QM2019-1-20

Does anyone know how I can correct this?  Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Tammy
------------------------------

Hi Tammy,

It's been a while since I've worked with PastPerfect, but my sense is that the only way to fix it is to continue using leading zeros. However, as others noted, you could call their help desk--they were always helpful when I called them with issues!

Good luck!

Megan
Special Collections Curator of Maps
Free Library of Philadelphia

------------------------------
Megan MacCall
Curator
Free Library of Philadelphia
Philadelphia PA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-22-2019 07:20 PM
From: Tammy Snook
Subject: Past Perfect Object ID Question

I am new to Past Perfect and am still learning the program.  We imported all of our old collection information into the program, and I am just now adding new records.  The issue I am having is that Past Perfect is not correctly numerically sorting our records.  I have done the Main Menu - Setup - System Parameters, and chosen to sort by Numeric sorting with "-" as my separator.   All of our old numbers that we imported, which have leading zeros (for ex. QM2002-02-003), come up in correct numeric order in the records, BUT, our new numbers that I am just now entering, which do not have leading zeros since we have decided to drop them, are not coming up in order.  So, what PP is doing is this order:

QM2019-1-1
QM2019-1-10
QM2019-1-11
QM2019-1-12
QM2019-1-13
QM2019-1-14
QM2019-1-15
QM2019-1-16
QM2019-1-17
QM2019-1-18
QM2019-1-19
QM2019-1-2
QM2019-1-20

Does anyone know how I can correct this?  Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Tammy
------------------------------

Original Message------

I am new to Past Perfect and am still learning the program.  We imported all of our old collection information into the program, and I am just now adding new records.  The issue I am having is that Past Perfect is not correctly numerically sorting our records.  I have done the Main Menu - Setup - System Parameters, and chosen to sort by Numeric sorting with "-" as my separator.   All of our old numbers that we imported, which have leading zeros (for ex. QM2002-02-003), come up in correct numeric order in the records, BUT, our new numbers that I am just now entering, which do not have leading zeros since we have decided to drop them, are not coming up in order.  So, what PP is doing is this order:

QM2019-1-1
QM2019-1-10
QM2019-1-11
QM2019-1-12
QM2019-1-13
QM2019-1-14
QM2019-1-15
QM2019-1-16
QM2019-1-17
QM2019-1-18
QM2019-1-19
QM2019-1-2
QM2019-1-20

Does anyone know how I can correct this?  Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Tammy
------------------------------

When we purchased PastPerfect 10 years ago, we knew the sorting issue would be a problem.  Therefore, all of our PastPerfect records have the leading zeros even though they are not always written that way on the objects (we are not going to renumber our entire collection or have mile long numbers on objects where they won't fit).  I'd call to find out if PastPerfect has resolved this issue and, if not, see if they can do a global update for you to insert leading zeros into the new records you've added.  Then, document how numbers are being treated on objects vs. in the database in your collections policy, PP manual or anywhere else that seems appropriate.  If you have purchased PP Support, they will go out of their way to help you as best they can.

Best of luck,
Dana

------------------------------
Dana Neitzel
Curator
San Mateo County Historical Association
Redwood City CA
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-22-2019 07:20 PM
From: Tammy Snook
Subject: Past Perfect Object ID Question

I am new to Past Perfect and am still learning the program.  We imported all of our old collection information into the program, and I am just now adding new records.  The issue I am having is that Past Perfect is not correctly numerically sorting our records.  I have done the Main Menu - Setup - System Parameters, and chosen to sort by Numeric sorting with "-" as my separator.   All of our old numbers that we imported, which have leading zeros (for ex. QM2002-02-003), come up in correct numeric order in the records, BUT, our new numbers that I am just now entering, which do not have leading zeros since we have decided to drop them, are not coming up in order.  So, what PP is doing is this order:

QM2019-1-1
QM2019-1-10
QM2019-1-11
QM2019-1-12
QM2019-1-13
QM2019-1-14
QM2019-1-15
QM2019-1-16
QM2019-1-17
QM2019-1-18
QM2019-1-19
QM2019-1-2
QM2019-1-20

Does anyone know how I can correct this?  Thanks so much!

------------------------------
Tammy
------------------------------