Anyone know what I need to do?!!!

[Mark Bowen]

Hi there,

I am fairly new to Filemaker and these forums so please go easy on me! :-)

I have just created a database that has a main file for the list of clients. I then have a very simple database that lists the products and prices. These are then used in a Portal within the main clients database to show what they have purchased. These purchases are stored within a third file. This is where my problem lies.

If I wanted to create an Invoice for each seperate company from within the third file then I could easily do this but what I need to be able to do is to invoice the clients via a third party. Imagine the clients have been sent though via an Agency and then all of these clients are invoiced in one big bunch through that agency.

When I go into the third file I want to be able to create one record for each of the client purchases. The problem I am having is that each of the purchases for a client within the portal creates a new record entry in the third file so I need to be able to print an Invoice which states the Client name and then lists the purchases and then goes onto the next client etc....

I managed to create a self join and show all the purchases within a portal in the third file but I get a record for each item.

If anyone has any idea at all as to what I am blabbering on about and can lend a hand then I would be very greatful.

Regards,

Mark Bowen

[email protected]

http://www.kingfishergraphics.com/phpBB/

[LiveOak]

Sounds to me like you are one or so "Entities" short in your "Entity-Relatonships" diagram (database joke). More seriously, you typically need a file (table) for each major object (entity) in your system. You currently have:

Clients

Product

Invoice Line Items

So what is missing? Right, "Invoices"! You might also want to add "Agency" as a file, although this could also be handled as a record type ("client" or "agency") in the Client file. It is a common problem not to add enough files when defining a system. Trying to do too much in too few files significantly complicates the design. This commonly causes the problem you are having of something that doesn't fit anywhere in your file structure.

-bd