Reset Portal Fields when creating a new Record Entry

[Shaleen Dutta]

Hi All! 

I have been playing around with Filemaker 18 and have run into an issue that I am currently unable to resolve. I hope I don't confuse everyone with my query. FYI - I am not a developer and don't have a coding background. I have taught myself essentially everything I know by watching videos and reading forums and filemaker Help.

I am working on creating a record of an interaction with a client. There is a way to create an appointment for the interaction and then that takes you the layout for documenting the conversation. The layout has multiple fields each of which link to their own tables. 

When I click on Topics discussed, this will launch a new window with a layout displaying portal records from table named Topics. This Table is essentially a library because the same list of topics and subtopics, associated records, need to appear for each new/unique interaction. Here, I was able to write a script which essentially stores my selections in a global field and then moves them over to an interaction table - Member_Topics. Each portal row will trigger the script and a new record will be created in the Member_Topics. This is how I want it to work. I am doing it this way, so I can append the record later if needed. 

The issue now is that when I go to a new appointment and go the Topics Layout - I see the values that were previously selected. I know this is happening because when I am making selections I am modifying the Library Table directly. I would like to know if there is a way to reset these fields when I am starting a new appointment. 

What I mean by resetting on new appointment:

I need the fields to reset only and only if there is a new appointment. So in a scenario where someone made some initial selections and then at a later point wants to go back and change/modify what was initially done; I need the layout to display the initial selections and allow for changes to be made. 

However, if its a new appointment, or a different appointment where the Topics wasn't initially captured; Here I need the layout to essentially list just the library elements (radio buttons to be deselected, notes field to be empty, drop downs to be blank, etc.)

Looking for any advice that I can get. I cannot share the actual tables but can certainly build a sample and show screenshots to explain what I mean in greater detail if needed. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by Shaleen Dutta

[bcooney]

6 hours ago, Shaleen Dutta said:

. I know this is happening because when I am making selections I am modifying the Library Table directly. I

You’re describing a picker workflow. Topics appear in a portal and you’re selecting one or more and then writing out join records in memberTopic. That all sounds great. What about the topic record are you modifying?

[Shaleen Dutta]

@bcooney

Thanks for the response. I was trying to figure out a workaround and somehow I missed the notification from the forum so apologize for my delayed response. 

So, the portal essentially displays 3 fields - status, symptom, and notes. on any given interaction, I will update the status and/or notes related to the name. Doing either triggers setting up a new record in the client interaction table and copies the values over to that table (status, symptom, and notes) via SetVariables, etc. 

However, now if I go to the same field on another interaction, the values from the previous interaction is still stored in the status, and notes field. I need this to reset for every new and unique interaction. I have attached a screenshot of to help show the issue. In the example, once this is done for one client on a unique interaction, the system will create a new record as expected/needed. But, on the next client/interaction, the values shown under the laptop category for status and notes will still be selected and I need them to reset to being blank. 

Category is just a linked Table and a portal of its own in this view. selecting the category filters the next portal to show the appropriate and associated status, symptom, and notes.