Mike, Many thanks - that does the trick. A further question - I tried to extend the expression to deal with cases where there is a christening date but no birth date. When I tested the expression, it was "too long" - what is the maximum length of a text expression? Regards, John Liddle Backwell, North Somerset - "Where the cider apples grow" -----Original Message----- From: Beryl & Mike Tate [mailto:post@tatewise.co.uk] Sent: 01 March 2012 11:29 To: family-historian-users@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [FHU] Diagrams - indication of approximate dates Try this to eliminate the " - " =TextIf(Exists(%INDI.BIRT.DATE%) or Exists(%INDI.DEAT.DATE%),CombineText(TextIf(%INDI.BIRT.DATE:XDATETYPE% = "Approx",CombineText("c.",%INDI.BIRT.DATE:YEAR%,,),%INDI.BIRT.DATE:ABBREV4%) ," - ",TextIf(%INDI.DEAT.DATE:XDATETYPE% = "Approx",CombineText("c.",%INDI.DEAT.DATE:YEAR%,,),%INDI.DEAT.DATE:ABBREV4%) ,),) What it does is surround your expression with =TextIf(Exists(%INDI.BIRT.DATE%) or Exists(%INDI.DEAT.DATE%),{your expression},) Regards, Mike Tate

John, I have run into that limit too, but do not know exactly what it is. Also, in this case, you would need to include Baptism as well as Christening (unless you never use Baptism) and that would definitely be "too long". Mike Tate -----Original Message----- From: family-historian-users-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:family-historian-users-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of John Liddle Sent: 03 March 2012 21:58 To: family-historian-users@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [FHU] Diagrams - indication of approximate dates Mike, Many thanks - that does the trick. A further question - I tried to extend the expression to deal with cases where there is a christening date but no birth date. When I tested the expression, it was "too long" - what is the maximum length of a text expression? Regards, John Liddle Backwell, North Somerset - "Where the cider apples grow" -----Original Message----- From: Beryl & Mike Tate [mailto:post@tatewise.co.uk] Sent: 01 March 2012 11:29 To: family-historian-users@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [FHU] Diagrams - indication of approximate dates Try this to eliminate the " - " =TextIf(Exists(%INDI.BIRT.DATE%) or Exists(%INDI.DEAT.DATE%),CombineText(TextIf(%INDI.BIRT.DATE:XDATETYPE% = "Approx",CombineText("c.",%INDI.BIRT.DATE:YEAR%,,),%INDI.BIRT.DATE:ABBREV4%) ," - ",TextIf(%INDI.DEAT.DATE:XDATETYPE% = "Approx",CombineText("c.",%INDI.DEAT.DATE:YEAR%,,),%INDI.DEAT.DATE:ABBREV4%) ,),) What it does is surround your expression with =TextIf(Exists(%INDI.BIRT.DATE%) or Exists(%INDI.DEAT.DATE%),{your expression},) Regards, Mike Tate