Inverted portal behaviour - Listing to Detail

[Eduo]

Ok. I may be confused here so feel free to correct me.

So far I've always used portals to show related items to the main one. This is all good and it works for me.

Now I face a different problem. I'd like to have a portal of records from one database (like a list view) where items can be checked and then two addditional boxes in the same layout:

1.-A "detailed" box that shows all the stats for the selected item in the portal.

2.-A smaller list that shows the items that have been checked in the main portal.

Example (fictional):

I have an inventory database. I'd like for one single layout to show a scrolling listing of all possible items in the inventory. Then a second box in the same layout that shows the detail of any item clicked on the main listing. Then a third box that includes every item in the main portal that have been "Checked" (for making an order to ship somewhere else).

I thought of scripting this, but it seemed overkill (the main portal would have several thousand items).

Can this be done in a single layout instead of using several? (which I can already do, but is cumbersome for quickly checking several items and their information simultaneously).

Thanks for any replies.

Eduo

PS: Oh, and a banana. I liked the banana. Maybe to celebrate my first post after a lot of lurking:

[dbruggmann]

Yes it is possible to do what you want, and your intention to script it is no overkill at all.

I'll give you just a rough guide, because there are too many details, that depend on your solution parameter to think in advance:

A) In your first portal (the one showing all the items in the inventory) you attach in layout mode a script to the portal row (or only a part of it). Every time you click then on a row in this portal, this script could take the primary key for this specific item and place it in a global field in your main table. This global field you use for a (new) relationship between the main table and the items table for displaying all the detail fields of the selected item.

: The second addition

[Eduo]

I could get around the checkbox problem by just putting an "Add" button to the rows. You click there to add and in the "order" layout to "delete" from the order.

I can't say I have quite pictured the solution, tho', but it may be because it's 2am in the morning..: (I thought I'd get a mail with a message that I had received a response, so I didn't check back until now.

I'm trying to do this, by the way, because that's the way a client of mine wants it, as this way it's the most similar to their current but old program (made in a text program database, can't recall which). He wants to be able to do most from a single window (not because he's against multiple layouts, but because that makes it more efficient).

Would you know of an example somewhere that tried something like these? I could really use an applied example, as I've redone it at least three times without the expected results..:

I'd also guess this is a pretty standard way of doing orders for businesses, or at least a normally expected way of doing it (the other being input of Article ID's directly, no selection from any list).

To complicate matters further I'm being asked to be able to see the items' details from both the Inventory listing and from the order listing (which I think I may solve putting a link from the order to the inventory, which would in turn move to that record's ID and display the contents directly).

Thanks for the help and the patience. I can do a mockup it that would help..:

Eduo

[dbruggmann]

Hello Eduo

In the attachement you find a file which shows the things I described in my first response.

But after your second post i think you need something else. Some questions to determine your needs:

Do I understand you right, that you want a solution where the user creates first an order and then chooses the items for this order?

And that you want to store this order for later use? (for example invoicing)

What you probably need is a third table, because there is a many-to-many-relationship between orders and items: One order can have many items and one item can belong to many orders (unless they are unique items, which can only be ordered once). This third table is a so called join table, for your purpose it is usually called something like

Inventory.fp7.zip

[Eduo]

Detlev: This may help. I'll take a look at it (downloading right now).

You understand correctly. The user actually wants a single main screen for this. First showing the list of items and if an item is clicked the details on a side (two panes). Then if the "new order" button is pressed a third pane appears below that lets him add items to that order, while still being able to see the details for each product in the list. I can easily make two layouts for this and use the lower pane to show statistics in the first layout and the order in the second layout, while the top two panes would be the same in both layouts (either that or hide and show the order pane as needed, which is more complicated, I think).

I'll take a look now to your file. Thanks a lot again!

Eduo