Can I format a field used in a Calculated field

[Phoenixenv]

Hi everyone,
i have just spent hours trying trying to work out if i can Format a field(s) on the way into a Calculated field.

I want a calculated field for flora/fauna species names that is formatted correctly for use in reports, but i dont always need it formatted the way it is in a report, for example:
Dictyota friabilis is fine when just working up drafts, calculating number etc, but when presenting a species list in a report for example, each name must be formatted like this: Dictyota friabilis

However it gets slightly complicated with informal species names such as: Peplidium sp. Tanami (P.K. Latz 11904), notice that the Genus name is italicized and the species names is not in this case.I have a field that tells me that "sp. Tanami (P.K. Latz 11904)" is informal so i can use an IIF statement to ensure that informal species names are not italicized.

Although i haven't tried yet, i am sure i could easily get the result i want using a control in a form/report, but these are large datasets, and often i just want to grab the data from a query, all my staff find it easier that using reports, plus i would have to create dozens of reports based on those queries, so i would prefer to simply use a calculated field that takes 'Genus' and italicises it, then formal species names and italicses them, leaving informal species names un-italicized.

I have tried creating a calculated field, setting it to Rich text and using html tages: <I>Genus</I> for example, but with no luck.

Can anyone help? Is this possible?

[ranman256]

in the query, select the the calculated field,
format box will show in properties

[John_G]

plus i would have to create dozens of reports based on those queries,

No, not necessarily. You can always open a report using Docmd.OpenReport with a "WHERE" to select which records are displayed. You can also change the record source of the report "on-the-fly" if you need to.

Another option would be to create a "search" form which sets the parameters for the records to be displayed, then displays the list in a subform formatted as a continuous form or datasheet. Conditional formatting on the species field can be used to get the results you are looking for.