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[aviateur]

I want to clean up the multiple separators used within the [Artist] field by, first, listing the occurrences in a view of a 'search list' pane of columns. I have not had any success with this one, in particular, the semicolon. What is the search criteria for the delimiter, semicolon?

I have been "spinning my wheels" in the Expression Language 'rabbit hole' for quite some time. When I attempt to create a specific search on a specific field like [Artist], I am unable to determine the required syntax. I have tried the standard rule of 'Artist | contains | ;'. That doesn't work. I have tried the following expression in the Smartlist rules data as isequal([Artist],/;,8) with the thought that the forward slash escape character would be necessary for the literal interpretation of the semicolon. That doesn't work. I have tried many variations but the fact is the [Artist] field is a list data type and not a string. I'm sure the solution is simple. I just haven't stumbled upon it quite yet.

Thanks,
Lawrence

[mark_h]

Paste this into the search window, or a smartlist CUSTOM field

[=isequal([artist]&datatype=[string],;,8)]=1

[marko]

[=isequal([artist,0],;,8)]=1

should also work. The zero instructs the expression engine to examine the raw field data rather than the formatted field data.

[aviateur]

Mark and Marko, Hi:

Thanks for the solutions. They both worked. I didn't understand that the enclosing brackets were necessary. I knew something was wrong each time I entered a CUSTOM expression in the IMPORT/EXPORT area, it was dismantled and assembled across multiple CUSTOM expressions. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction and for the insight into the expression language. As others have discovered, it a painful process. Thankfully, there are mates like you that step up.

In addition, I came up with another alternative to solve my quest. Within the  'Search List' view, I established a column called 'Within Artist' based on an expression which highlights ARTIST groups, 1 or 2+, by LISTCOUNT within the ARTIST field. As a bonus, LISTCOUNT displays exists for all the types of 'Artist Delimiters' being tracked. The pictures below are window snaps of the navigation, expressions, and results. Note, the 2+ LISTCOUNT for ";" (the semicolon solution you provided) matches the the 2+ LISTCOUNT for 'All Artists Delimiters'. This is proof that your solutions are consistent with the LISTCOUNT results found in the 'Within Artist' column.

Thanks again for your replies and your help.

Cheers,
Lawrence