MMBadger

Nope. In the main file (Programs) I enter a value into a Lodging Property field. This value is connected by a relationship where Lodging Property Name = Company Name in a second file (Vendors). I then take a relationship between Vendors and Vendor Contacts (another table in the Vendors file) to pull up contact names for the chosen property. These are entered into a portal (referencing a 2nd table in the Programs file) that tracks which contacts at the chosen Lodging Property are specific to the Program at hand (i.e. of 10 possible contacts, just 2 or 3 are typically knowledgeable about a given Program). The value list I'm using asks to pull only related values from the Vendors/Vendor Contacts relationship so that I only see Contacts for the specific property I've chosen, and not all contacts within the Vendor Contacts table. When I ask for only related, it won't pull up the value list after the first portal entry. When I ask for all, it "works", but is confusing because it pulls up every possible Vendor Contact from every possible Vendor! Hope that makes sense. It's tremendously frustrating, and I keep running into it without a fix! I'm beginning to think this is a FM7 bug...hopefully someone can prove me wrong!

I've done some further investigation, and the value list will open when you allow it to show all records, but when you ask the value list to show only related records, it won't open past the first portal row (this is when the value list is based on values in a field). Hoping someone can help me solve this! MMB

I have a portal on a layout that uses a pulldown menu to populate the first field of the record. Once one record is in, though, it won't allow me to use the pull down menu again...I have specified that the relationship can be used to create records, so it isn't that. Is this just a wierd FM7 quirk or am I doing something wrong?

I have a database that is essentially an address rolodex of all of the Vendors & Venues I use (event planning company). I have created a somewhat strange join table in the same file that will hopefully allow me to add a list of preferred caterers for each venue. (The caterer records come from the same Vendors & Venues table, so I only have 2 tables but three table occurrences). Looks like: Table One: Vendors and Venues, multiple fields Table Two: Caterer Join, fields Vendor ID and Caterer ID Relationships: V&V to Caterer Join; Caterer Join to 2nd occurrence of V&V that I've named Caterers (Unique ID = Vendor ID; Caterer ID = Unique ID). My issue is this: I can naturally get the Vendor ID field to populate in the join file, but I can't get the Caterer ID field to populate. I'm using the "No Numbers Popup" technique that uses a value list of Catering company names (from a calculation field in the Caterers TO), to populate that Caterer ID field. Caterer ID in the join table is set as an auto-enter calculation that should look up the Caterer ID from a third table occurrence of Vendors & Venues I've named "Caterer Name" (where there is a relationship between Unique ID in Caterers and Company Name in Cater Name). When I've used 3 tables for the join relationship, the 2nd field in the join file populates fine. Can anyone figure out where I'm going wrong? I've attached a PDF of the relationships graph as a visual aid (ignore the big text...don't know why it's there). V&VRelationships.pdf

Great - thanks for the info! MMB

So as I understand, it would be plausible to "host" the files on a dedicated computer and have others access the files from there - which would mean that Filemaker would have to be open at all times. I'm also guessing that the solution should be backed up elsewhere in case the hard drive of that computer fries itself at some random moment? Because I haven't had experience with FM Pro Server, could someone also explain when to use it instead of a standard copy (multi-user or not) of FM Pro? Many Thanks, Michelle

I've recently been having problems with established relationships - it has only been within the last couple of weeks, which is why I'm puzzled! I have a multi-file solution with about a dozen separate files, joined in various ways. Lately, Filemaker can't "find" files in a specified relationship, and when it asks you to open the file it claims that the file is "single user or the host can't be found on the network". All of the files are multi-user, and I currently don't have passwords on any of them as I'm still in the development stage. It has been happening specifically with about 4 of the files. The solution rests on a remote hard drive, which everyone in the company saves all work on/works on documents from - could this possibly be the issue? FileMaker Version: 6 Platform: Windows 2000

Many thanks, especially for the example files - this worked very well!

I have 3 DBs: A is Attendees, B is Activities, and C is an Attendee/Activity Join that allows me to see which activities an attendee has chosen and vice versa. I had to do a strange workaround in A (Attendees) because some of the overall attendees are actually guests of the primary attendees (i.e. someone brings their wife and children on a trip) - in essence, I use a script to tag the "Guest" record with the unique record ID of the primary attendee, allowing me to establish a relationship that shows each guest of attendee x, while still having a complete record for each individual in one file. My problem: both attendees and their guests participate in a number of activities (held in C). I would like to be able to print/export, etc., the Primary Attendee name, list all of his or her activities, and then print all of his or her Guest's names (same file relationship) with their activities (stored in the join file!) on the same form. I can't seem to figure out the way to do it, though my sense is that a simple solution would be to upgrade to 7...any other suggestions? Version: v6.x Platform: Windows 2000

I have 3 databases including a join file. A is a Vendors rolodex, B is a tariff of available Activities, and C is the join that allows all activities a vendor offers to be shown in A while all vendors who offer a particular activity are shown in B (via portal). Match fields are just a unique record ID (for each Vendor and each Activity) that are not useful for users to see. I'm stuck on the following: for each activity, I want the user to be able to enter multiple vendors by choosing from a value list that pulls all vendor names up from the Vendors file. I don't want them to be confused by the Unique ID, thus I don't want them to see it. How do I have them choose a Vendor Name from a list, and then have that entry (not necessarily a unique name!) then populate the "Unique Vendor ID" field that the join file depends upon? I would prefer to not have them click a button that activates a script to add the ID to the match field. I hope that makes sense. I know I could do a value list that displays both Unique Vendor ID with Vendor Name and then do the button thing, but I really don't want users to have to see the Unique ID at all as it's just a random number and will likely confuse them. Help? Version: v6.x Platform: Windows 2000

The client is definitely an ass (goes without saying in this situation!), but the real issue is that she can't seem to overcome her stupidity for long enough to wrap her brain around how to import/update information in 2 files at the same time (REGARDLESS OF HOW MANY TIMES I SHOW HER HOW TO DO IT!). i.e. she gets information from the agencies and wants to update the addresses and all of the contacts, but if the contacts are in a different database she can't do it. AND, she changes the way she gathers the info every time so I can't create a script for it! Prime example: rather than updating info based on a match field, she just imports all of the data and ends up with thousands of duplicates (not exaggerating) every 6 months or so...and we all know how easy it is to accurately find duplicates in Filemaker...especially when her data entry is a far cry from consistent! I thought about the Get Portal Row solution, but figured that it would also fail with this client - she would get frustrated at having to find and print multiple times (and definitely wouldn't remember how to do it, though that process is possibly scriptable, so tempting...). I'll think more about the Print Database solution, but I can just see her putting it in some random location/deleting it/corrupting it and then having to call me to fix it...which I would really rather not due, primarily because of the previously mentioned character assessment. Any other possibilities? Thanks, MMB

I'm updating a file for a client who _refuses_ to have a relational database (every bit of information must be in one or it's too complicated for her to figure out...believe me, I've wasted a lot of time and effort trying). The file is essentially a Roladex of travel agencies, where individual agents within each agency are listed across 4 repeating fields (first name, last name, job title, email address). Client insists that she must have a way to make address labels for each individual agent. I'm not sure how to do so without a second, related file (again, which she refuses to use!). Is there a way to set up a report that will take First Name/Last Name from each row of a repeating field? Or some other work around? I can't seem to do it. Thanks, MMB Version: v6.x Platform: Windows 2000

I'm answering my own question, as sometimes one must admit to one's own idiocy: click the "Summarize by" button in the export window and make sure there is, indeed, a check mark by the summary field before you export, Einstein! Thanks for reading...and refusing to save me from myself! MMB

I'm having difficulty getting information from a report I've constructed to display appropriately in a word doc. The report lists all of the vendors used for a client, along with contact info, etc. The same vendor is often used multiple times for different items, and the report shows the vendor information only one time (as it should!) because I've displayed all the pertinent information in just a subsummary section. The problem: when I export the info to a tab separated text file and then pull up the information in word, the vendors show up multiple times again, even though they displayed on the report correctly. The FM book says I can export just one record for each vendor if I include a summary field in the export. I created one that totaled the number of times each vendor was used, but when I export that number comes up multiple times as a grand total (not the number that appears in the report) displayed next to each vendor, and the vendor again appears multiple times! Second problem: when I export the data and then insert it in Word, the data runs together rather than displaying line by line as the report does. Is there any way to remedy this? HELP! Version: v6.x Platform: Windows 2000

Many thanks, the Case scenario works perfectly. In terms of the second question: not quite sure how to go about doing what you described, though I'm definitely interested in learning. Could you provide a quick how-to? Thanks again, MMB