We are new at this but we are using FM 5 for a geneolgy data base, name, date, event, father, mother, id, and source.

All of the fields are different in most cases, but the source field can be the same for 20-30 records.

I would like to high light the source fields that are the same and do like a copy down, so that we do not have to reenter the information in each field. I do know that when building the records we can do copy from previous record but thats only one at a time.

Any suggestions would be very much apprciated

Mike

Hi Mike,

You can't do this like you would in Excel, However, you can copy the entry in the field from the previous entry. Insert the curser in the field in a list view (it works in form view to, but I think it would be faster in a list), and hit Cmd ' (Mac) and it will put in the entry from the last enter in the field.

HTH

)

Lee

I hope you are using a self-join relationship and a portal! That way children are easily associated with parents (the children appear in the portal).

This also reduces data entry and subsequent mistakes.

Geting the data out into a tree-like diagram is not FMP's strong point. Somebody posted an amazing sample file a few months ago that created trees in FMP. Do a search of the forum (maybe search for "tree diagram" or something similar) because it was really pushing the limits of what FMP can do.

I've attached a quick-and-dirty file to demonstrate self-joins and portals and entered in a few records. This file is not finished -- the entry of spouses is not good, for instance, but the entry oof children and the navigation up to parents isn't bad.

tree.fp5.zip

Hi,

Just in case you were only looking for a way to process entry within a list, I would recommand the following.

Use a self-relationship (constant) and a portal with allow creation of records.

Then, as a first field in the portal, place a global field (call it " g_repeat source" field, and define your "source" field to be a lookup from Constant::g_repeat source.

If you are concerned about the risk of a relookup, you could create a calculation using g_repeat source and use that field as a "conditional lookup" field to keep it secure.