Clare

wow, thanks! i will give that a try next time i'm in at work, looks like fun cheers!

Something I have occasionally wondered is, is there a way for record data to affect its layout properties? As an example: in a portal that shows invoices owing, could it be set up so that any that are overdue stand out? So that the company name would go bold, or the portal row's background colour would go red? As an alternative to sorting them to go at the top or having a message appear, I mean. Anything like that? Thanks for any input!

thanks guys, yes it was to do with pointing to the wrong TO... i got caught up in worrying that two different text entry boxes for the same field had to use the field from the same table occurence in order to look at the same data. but of course you can access the data in a given field from any occurence of the same table, right (unless it's set otherwise)? so i could set the field TO to suit the portal and it's all good now. thanks again!!

Hi everyone, I have a question regarding strange field behaviour that I've seen a couple of times. I'm quite sure that it's a result of one of the many gaps in my filemaker knowledge and I won't go into detail because I'm certain someone will recognise the symptom... Basically, I when I fill out a field in a portal row it seems to fill out for *all* records, depending on which table occurence the field is directed to. Or just fills out the one field but where that record should show up in another portal (via a relationship based on the problematic field containing that value), a different record appears instead of the one that should. I'm a little shaky on which table occurence I should be using here, perhaps the problem lies with that. Wisdom appreciated! If no one can help and I can't figure it out I'll be more specific. Cheers!

Oh - and we're using 7.3 and have been for as long as I've been at Eco Voice, about 11 months.

Thankyou - here's a rundown of what I can recall. I'm at home at the moment, but I'll ask other staff before I send you the file tomorrow so we can tell you as much as possible. We have client card files set up, that display ad booking info and article submission info in portals. Around July, some records started failing to show up in these portals. At first it seemed to be any created after a certain point, but more recently the Ads Card File portal seemed to start working normally again (without anything being deliberately changed), while the Articles one isn't. I can't see a problem with the match fields. The ad / article records are created with a script from the Card Files, but I couldn't pinpoint a problem with the script either. Changing which TO the Articles card file is displaying records from, seems to make all relevant records show up in the portal, but much of the other info on the Articles Card File layout then does not display for *some* records. And while I was experimenting with the Articles Card File the other day, the Booking Form (also a layout using a portal) stopped working properly. I can only assume that I changed something that affected other relationships, I don't know what. I wonder, and have had it suggested, if maybe there are just too many relationships dependant on one another, so that problems can crop up easily. I have attached a screengrab of the relationships graph in case that gives any indication. A more recent problem seems to be that when staff are deleting records (specifically, People records that display in a portal on both the Ads and Articles card file records), they reappear later on (later that day usually). They are not deleting them from within portals, but while viewing the record itself, and always get the "Delete ENTIRE record?" message. I haven't had much of a chance to look into this one. Could it be to do with the portals' setting "Allow deletion of portal records"? I would have thought that only applied to deletion from WITHIN the portal, but maybe I am mistaken. I'm sure there are a couple of other problems that we have been ignoring due to lack of time... if you're still willing to have a look at the clone, I'll let you know when I email it. Thankyou, Breezer!

Hello FileMaker whizzes, Our database has been behaving strangely for a few months now, (see "Mysterious Portal Problem" and "Difficulty Deleting Records") and I have been unable to fix the problems. I'm still learning about FileMaker, and maybe it's just that I haven't got my head around some of the concepts wholly yet - but fixing problems is made harder as the database creator no longer works for us. Anyways, our clone file is too big to attach, even zipped up, and I was wondering if anyone who felt like a challenge (or possibly something really easy!) would be happy for me to email them the clone and take a look at it? We'd be very grateful for any clues. Otherwise it looks like I'm designing a new database for our business next week! It's not that I wouldn't find that really interesting, (I am a graphic designer and have found unexpected enjoyment in working with databases!) but we are a small business with limited time on our hands. If you're willing to look at our clone, thankyou, and I'll get it to you on Monday (it's currently 9am Sunday). Thankyou! PS: Can anyone suggest some good free written resources online for learning about FileMaker? Or good books? Cheers!

Hi again, another question: Lately, people have been saying that records they delete reappear later on. These are records that are displaying in a portal, but they are being deleted from their own layout. If the "allow deletion of portal records" box is not ticked, does that prevent them being deleted from within the portal only, of from anywhere? Again, in the hope of anyone's helpful insights into our woes, I have attached a screen grab of the relationships graph (clone file is too big to upload, even zipped up). I didn't design this database, and am still a learner - so it's proving very hard to go back and figure out problems. Really grateful for any help!

Hi Mark, thanks for your reply - however, placing the match field "ID contributor" from both the "host" (where the portal is placed) record and the "portal" (the records the portal is showing) record on the "portal" layout they show up exactly the same... unless I change which table the "portal" layout is showing records form, then SOME are different but not all. Does that make any sense? I'm sure confused. I've included a screen grab of the relationships graph, in case anyone is able to see any glaring errors in it. There are also problems happening with deleted records reappearing... but I'll start a new thread for that. Help appreciated! Thankyou!

Hi there, I'm new to the forums. We are having a few problems with portals in our database, and would be really grateful for anyone making any suggestions to help. Our clone file was too big to upload, even zipped up (I'll look into getting it smaller) so hopefully a description will do for now... We have portals set up to display (amongst other things) advertising bookings, each booking on a new record. A few months ago, *some" of the records stopped showing up in the portal. If you do a search in one of the portal fields, it finds the records, but they don't show up in the portal - the record with the portal on it dispays with an empty portal (or a portal with some records that you KNOW are there, missing). It seems to affect records made after a certain date, but I can't find any problem with the script used to create them. Also some have been known to start showing up again for a limited time... I've been told that it could be because there are too many relationships going on, but as I did not design the database and the person who did no longer works here, it makes it very hard to figure it out (I'm still a learner). Any ideas? I'm keen to hear any suggestions anyone has! Hope this is the right forum for such a question; if not please redirect me. Thankyou very much.