* <para> in sentence structure

[TMG_refugee]

I'm pretty sure this has been discussed previously but I cannot seem to find the answer.

I want to in a sentence structure test to see if there is a note and then either put out a <br> or a <para> but the <br> or <para> does not seem to be resolved and is just text.

This is what I have tried and does not seem to work:
{=TextIf(Exists(%INDI.BIRT[1].NOTE2[1]%),'<para>','<br>')}

[ADC65]

It might be because of the angle brackets, which FH will see as part of an expression syntax. I'm not absolutely sure of the solution; have a look at the help here: https://www.family-historian.co.uk/help ... rmats.html

[tatewise]

=TextIf(...) and similar functions only accept text for the 2nd & 3rd parameters.
'<para>' and '<br>' are plain text strings, so are nothing to do with the formatting codes <para> and <br>.

I think you want to insert an unconditional <br> newline and then a conditional <br> newline if there is a Note so the two newlines are equivalent to a paragraph break.
So use <br><<br>{note}>

BTW: Another technique is to always start such Note fields with a blank newline then the {note} code will always include that newline in the displayed sentence.

[TMG_refugee]

Mike,

That is a great suggestion. I needed to modify slightly <<br>{note}><para> to get the spacing I wanted. This does not allow for this spacing if I don't want the note printed out.

Just for my edification is there a way to do a conditional statement like I had originally tried?

[tatewise]

Just for my edification is there a way to do a conditional statement like I had originally tried?

No, not to govern the <br> and <para> codes because (as I said) the =TextIf(...) function requires text parameters and the formatting codes <br> and <para> are NOT text.

Your {=TextIf(...)} conditional statement was valid but only for text parameters "<para>" and "<br>" that are not formatting codes.

[TMG_refugee]

Thanks Mike