>I have the following code in a formula in a Crystal report:
>

>StringVar suspect_tube;
>If {tubestats.slist} <> "" then
>suspect_tube:=suspect_tube + CHR(13) + {tubestats.slist} else
>suspect_tube;
>

>
>The problem is that the field {tubestats.slist} is a memo field and when this formula runs, I get an error that you can't use a memo field in a Crystal formula. Is this true?

Unfortunately, this is true. You can print memos til the cows come home, but you can't use it in a formula.

>So to work around the error, I changed the field from MEMO to CHAR length 250. But now I get the error, Max length of a char field is 254 characters or Char field limit is 254 or is too long. I forget the exact error message, but I am pretty sure 254 chars is in the message.

You're right...you need to convert to character. However, EACH character string must be 254 characters. So if suspect_tube is greater than 4 characters, as soon as you add {tubestats.slist} to it, you're over the limit.

After frustrating myself *completely* with memo fields, I've finally figured out that I need to do all my memo calculations in VFP, then write that table out for Crystal to use. So build your memo field in VFP, and Crystal will happily print memos.

- della