Relationship printing problem

[ghertzman]

I have a simple one-to-many bibliography db: one author, many titles. I am unable to recreate in FileMaker what seemed transparent in MS Access. I created with no problem a layout for data entry listed by author with a portal for title(s).

I am trying to create a report by author that will list all the authors with all titles. I followed the wizard for columnar layout with title sub-summary. What I get is one author on each page, with only the first title in each author's list.

Likewise, if I do a find for any of the title fields, it returns the first title only (although the second or third title holds the searched for information).

Obviously I am doing something terribly wrong and would appreciate any suggestions. I posted this problem in Layouts and got 30 views and 0 responses. Perhaps that was the wrong forum. I have revised the post attempting to more cogently explain the problem.

[Ender]

No need to post your topic in more than one forum. But elaborating on your issue would help. It's not clear what your tables structure is, what your fields are, or even what version of FileMaker you are using. Also: What are the sub-summary parts and what is the sort order?

[ghertzman]

Thanks for your prompt reply and your advice on how better to pose my problem. I am a recent convert from Windows and MSAccess to Mac and Filemaker, so am groping in both platforms. Below, I hope, are answers to your points. Please let me know if further explanation is needed.

Version FileMaker Pro7; Macintosh OS X Panther

Table structure:

Authors (one)

IdAuthor

LastName

FirstName

AutNotes

FullName

Books (many)

IdAuthor

Title

Evaluation

Notes

Copyright

[miscellaneous, Created, etc.]

The layout created by the wizard (columnar with grouped date) shows FullName as Sub-summary and Title, Notes etc. as body.

In Browse mode I get one author/one title per page. In Preview Mode, I get no author and, in one long list, the first title only of each author.

[-Queue-]

It sounds as if the report layout may be based on the Authors table with a related Books field being displayed. Try it the other way. Base the layout on Books and summarize by the related Authors IdAuthor field.

[Ender]

Make your report based on the Books table (check this in the Layout Summary dialog). Use a Sub-Summary by IdAuthor part and a Body part. In the Sub-Summary by IdAuthor part, put the related author name. In the Body part, put the book title. The sort order should be something like this: Author::LastName, Author::FirstName, IdAuthor, Title.

If you want to view this layout as a list while in browse mode, set it to View as List (check this in the View menu while in Browse mode). You cannot see sub-summary parts while in browse mode; sub-summary parts will only show while in Preview Mode or on printouts.

[ghertzman]

I'm afraid I have to go to the back of the class. I tried to follow exactly as you described. Starting with Books table; Sub-Summary by Authors::FullName (Leading); Body by Title; sorted on FullName, IdAut, Title. In Preview, I still get no author, and just a list of the first titles of each author. In Browse, Form view, I get on each page: one author/one title. Paging through shows all titles, one title at a time for each author.

I tried this both with the layout wizard and with a blank layout--same results.

Clearly, there is something I am not seeing. This is embarrassing but I appreciate your patience.

[Ender]

I tried to follow exactly as you described. Starting with Books table; Sub-Summary by Authors::FullName (Leading); Body by Title; sorted on FullName, IdAut, Title.

I'm not sure what you are missing, but I do advise that you Sub-Summarize by IdAuthor instead of by Authors::FullName because there could be more that one author of the same FullName. By using the ID, you can make sure that they show up as separate groupings.

Attached is my working version.

[ghertzman]

Many thanks for your continuing advice. How do I open your attachment? When I click on it, it opens in Word, converting from text, with only 'Stuffit' at the top being readable. When I drop it on Stuffit, I am told it does not appear to be compressed and that I should obtain further information about the contents. It is so frustrating to have your solution at hand and not be able to read it. I wish I could plead my senior citizen status as an excuse, but I am afraid it is just plain ignorance. I just now tried to open it in FM, it comes out as a table, but still unreadable.

[Ender]

You may need to update your version of Stuffit Expander. The attachment opens fine for me.

[ghertzman]

I did need to purchase a new Stuffit to open your attachment, and thank you very much for sending it. Actually, your file is for all intents and purposes what I already use for data entry. I guess I did not explain clearly enough that the report I want is basically what you would see in a bibliography in the back of a book--in paragraph format:

Author One

Title One

Title Two

Author Two

Title One

Title Two

Title Three

Etc.

I assumed I would not be able to accomplish the paragraph format with a portal layout. Is that correct? Any more advice?

[Ender]

No, a portal would probably not work well in this case. I guess I'm not sure what the problem is with the sub-summary report. I think it gives output in the format you specified. You just have to tweek the formatting. I recommend merge fields for putting the book fields together, so they format nicely.

[ghertzman]

Thank you, thank you. My mistake--I opened to your Author layout (which is like my data entry one and didn't help me at all). I did not see your layout #3. It is exactly what I want. I will now try to duplicate it.

Again, many thanks for your patience with an amateur.