Reference > Functions reference > Logical functions > Lookup

Lookup

Returns the value specified in sourceField, using the relationships in the relationships graph.

Format

Lookup(sourceField{;failExpression})

Parameters

sourceField - the field from which the lookup value is taken.

failExpression - any expression.

Parameters in braces { } are optional.

Data type returned

text, number, date, time, timestamp, container

Originated in

FileMaker Pro 7.0

Description

The result of the optional failExpression is returned if the lookup fails.

For this function to access the contents of the source field, the tables containing the source field and calculation field need to be related. Calculations using the Lookup function won’t be forced to be unstored calculations.

Example 1

There are two tables, People and Company, in a database file containing the data shown below.

People table

CompanyID	Employee
100	John Smith
200	Peter Wong
300	Sally Anderson

Company table

CompanyID	CompanyName	Code
100	Apple	91234
100	Apple	82345
200	FileMaker	95054

The People and Company tables are related using the number field CompanyID. The calculation CompanyName = Lookup ( Company::CompanyName ; "Not found" ) defined in the People table will return Apple for the first record, FileMaker for the second record, and Not found for the third record.