Relationship or value list??

[prissypan]

Hi all,

I have a database with salesman names and i want to create a salesman code for each of the names in the list to show their difference. Like if there are 2 william in the list, i can differentiate them by their code numbers, any suggestions on how i can go about linking the code to the sales man.

[stanley]

Your best bet is to have a unique key for each record in the salesman database (an auto-entered serial number is fine; make sure it's not modifiable). Then, when creating relationships to the salesman database, use the serial number rather than the name.

In other words, if you've got a sales database, when you select a salesman for the sale, the data you'll copy into the sales record will be the salesman's ID number (the serial number). Then, the salesman's name, etc., will be pulled into the sales record via a relationship based on that serial number.

-Stanley

[prissypan]

Hi stanley,

I have been using filemaker for close to 2 months and

haven't tried using relationship yet.

Is it possible to show me how to get started?

I'm not very confident and am afraid i will mess up my

current progress so far.

Thanks in advance.

-pris-

[stanley]

Pris:

Relationships can certainly be a puzzle at first, but in the end they are fairly straightforward. Before I lead you down that path, though, I should ask exactly what your solution is aimed at accomplishing, so I don't distract you from what you're trying to get done. Once I have an idea of what you want, I can help you set it up right.

There's an article on Relationships at Better FileMaker Developer:

http://www.bfmd.net/issues/BFMD_2003_03.htm

If you look at the archives there, you'll see it's a sort of programmed-learning setup, where each lesson follows another; as that one's in the middle, you may need to go to an earlier one and work your way up. Anyway, have a look at that.

-Stanley