teknetia

Hi Fenton, Sorry, I'm even more confused now. I have absolutely no idea how to follow his file or what you just said >_< I am a complete beginner with filemaker, so his layouts are really making me confused. I do not understand how all the layouts work together to create a single layout, nor how exactly all the calls work. The reason I am using a separate add area is for simplicity to my users (more comfortable this way than with a changing layout). Also, I do want it to reset to empty, so I assume I need to write some kind of script for this to run when the layout is opened? I'm sorry but I'm more confused after reading your article, although I'm pretty sure that it probably makes perfect sense to others here. Cheers Chris

I figure the easiest way to explain is with a screen cap of the layout that I'm working with so I have attached one (please excuse the crude black boxes, but it was easier than blurring/etc, although in retrospect I could have just created a blank record) This is pretty typical of the situation that I want to deal with throughout the database. In this example, I am looking at the contact manager. The CONTACTS table is the main table here, however the data in the 'Activity History' tab at the bottom is all drawn form a related database called HISTORY. I am not 100% sure why the first record is showing up in the 'Add/Edit Activity' area, it just appeared there when I added the fields. However it is useful to explain the point. As you can see, there is a list of records in the portal to the left. When a portal record is clicked on, I want the information to show up in the fields to the right. That way it can be edited and then saved. I also want the user to be able to begin typing in these fields and when they hit 'Add New Activity' it will add the new record to the HISTORY table, showing it in the portal and recording it. The delete option is the little red x next to the portal row. This one is working, just not the rest. Cheers! Chris P.S. Does anyone know how to make a text box transparent? I can't seem to remove the white that I added accidentally, not even by creating new text areas.

I have a set of fields that relate to a different table than the one the layout was made for (i.e. the dates fields are shown on the courses page). I want it so that you can enter details into that set of fields, hit ADD and it adds it to the DATES table (which then makes it show up in the portal of the courses table). So I need to work out how to make it all work. Cheers Chris

Hey, I've been taking a look at this and I can't seem to follow it. when I enter layout mode, there is no add button, so how do I work this out? Sorry, I'm a bit lost with this one. Cheers Chris

Hey, Thanks for that. I decided that if I was going to be staring at my database all day then both myself and my staff will have anice interface!! The desired user interaction is as so: 1) Entering new data (new records) into the dates table - The user will enter the data into the fields on the right - Click on 'Add New Date' which will then add the date to the Dates table and show it up in the Portal. 2) Editing existing records - The user will click on the date in the portal (either the entire record or an edit icon under the delete icon - not seen in this because there are no records) - The data will show up in the Add New Dates area and be editable. - If possible, I would like the Add New Date button to change to an Edit Record button, simply for UI simplicity - The date would be updated after button press Cheers!

Hi Guys, I have attached an image showing the interface that I want to use to add new dates to a related table (this is part of a larger layout of information from a different table). I am having two problems at the moment. 1) When you try to click on the fields in the "Add New Date" area, they are not selectable at all, stopping you from entering data. At the moment they point directly to their table (e.g. Dates::internal_id), should that be linked some other way to do this? 2) How do I learn about scripting the "Add New Date" button so that the details in the fields above are entered into the Dates table and then are displayed in the dates portal to the left? Also, how do I set a script on the portal lines that will cause all their details to show up either in the form to the right or in a separate window with in a form for editing notes and so on? I have seen this done in some demo files and will keep on trying to deconstruct those, but I have not really been able to understand them so far. Thanks very much ~Chris

Hi jstaphse, Yes, That's the button I want, but I only want it to show up if the user is in find more or looking at a found set and not at other times. Cheers Chris

Hi guys, I haven't quite figured this out yet, but I want to add one button to find mode that will return the user to the full record set. What is the best way to do this? I don't really want to create a completely separate layout if I can avoid that. I thought maybe some kind of conditional formatting? Cheers Chris

Thanks everyone for this help. I have my head around most of it now, still trying to get my head around the background thing, but I will work on that later! Thanks for all the assistance. ~Chris

Thank you so so much for this! I am pretty confident that I can follow these steps. I can see that I'm going to have to do some filemaker courses I think to get a better handle on this program! Thanks again for all the help and support, I promise to do the same when I am good enough at the program!

Hi Guys, This forum is so great! I get simple answers. I have a 500 page book to read, but sometimes I can't find the second I need fast enough! So thanks for all your help. Now, I'm sorry to be a complete idiot, but I'm still a little confused. I thought of using conditional formatting as well, but I couldn't see where to put the label. I can see you have set the conditional formatting to: is between "" and "" but where have you told it to show the label First Name (or Last Name) based on that? I also don't quite understand how the background comes though the white? And is it also possible to re-colour the borders? Sorry! I am a bit thick at following this. And I even have the file in front of me >is retarded< Cheers Chris

Hi Guys, I've been poking around in templates and google and what not trying to figure this one out but I just can't seem to get it right. I have a text box for entering first name and last name with a light grey label so that users enter text in the right spot. However, once they enter text, you can still see the label through it! Is there a better way to do this? either a way to make the box background go white when there is text in it or a different way to label *inside* a text box that will automatically disappear when there is text and reappear when there is none (but preferably not thing that will be entered in to the DB when the record is saved if a spot was left unfilled). Also, how do I set different colour settings for inputs so that when you are in a box it shows up in a different colour/border setup? Cheers guys ~Chris

Hey again, I can't get these portals to work at all. I can't work out how to get them to displays all the regions based on the current vendor and then I can't work out how to add the Add New Region button. I have tried dissecting the file you send me but I just can't work it out >_< Cheers.

Thanks very much, that is exactly what I have been looking for. Incidently, with this calculation: "VN" & Right("0000" & Serial#; Max(5; Length(Serial#))) will the 0's be replaced by the serial as it's length grows? This is exactly what I wanted to do but wasn't sure how to do it. Cheers!

Hi CobaltSky, Thanks for that. Where can I dig up some information on creating portal navigation? Incidentally, can I create a navigation menu in such a way that it would get arrows to scroll through it if it got long enough? Cheers Chris