So in filemaker 6 it works like this:

three files A, B, C a is related to B and B to C.

Placing a portal in file A with related records in B, one can create a calc. field in file B with data from file C. and then place this on the portal in file A.

So FM7 is supposed to have multi-level relationships... I created this 3 table structure in a FM7 file, and I can't figure out how to place the fields directly on the portal 2 (or more) files away.

Is this possible?

More specifically the tables are as such....

Table A (Sales): sale_id

Table B (Sale_Items): sale_id, sale_item_id, inv_id

Table C (Inventory): inv_id, inv_desc

How do I create a portal in the Sales table that directly contains the inv_desc for each sales_item?

I'm either missing something or taking crazy pills.

See the Filemaker 7 key concepts PDF available here: http://www.digfm.org/

Direct PDF link: http://www.digfm.org/ref/FM7_key_concepts.pdf

FM7 uses sets of linked relationships, which are now being called TOGs - table occurrence groups. If table A links to table B, and table B links to C, you merely put the Table C field directly in your portal. C::Inv_desc

However, even that description is a little inaccurate. Relations really only involve "table occurrences" or table aliases. You have no way to link directly to a table. Read the document, it's very good.

WOW! Great article. I have been using FM since version 2.x and this is truly a change. This article is a must read.

Ditto, thanks for the pointer!