Data entry in portal?

[D. Slickman]

Hi, all - I'm brand new to FileMaker (I'm a MS Access user on Windows) . I have two tables in a contact management database, one containing people, one containing contact actions. They are joined by a third table that allows me to link more than one person with more than one action and vice versa. My people table has a layout with a portal that allows me to see which actions have been taken for each person. Is there any way to be able to add actions directly into that portal? I don't see how to make it happen.

Thanks!

[Ender]

In the Edit Relationship dialog, click the checkbox to "Allow creation of records in this table via this relationship".

[D. Slickman]

In the Edit Relationship dialog, click the checkbox to "Allow creation of records in this table via this relationship".

Have tried this (clicking the check box for both tables in the relationship), but without success. Any other suggestions? Thanks.

[Ender]

Are the fields editable? Can you even click into them or does the whole portal highlight?

[D. Slickman]

If there are no records in the portal, nothing at all happens when I click any part of the portal. If there are records in the portal, I can click in to an existing record, but if I try to modifiy it (say, delete or change part of it) I get a pop-up message telling me that "This action cannot be performed because this field is not modifiable."

[Ender]

Okay, so the fields are enterable but not modifyable.

What are the key fields on both sides of the relationship and what are fields you are trying to edit in the portal? Are they calc fields or text or number fields? Calc fields on the match side of the relationship (your Person-Contact join table) will not work for creating records in the portal.

The error message you are getting indicates the field is either a calc field or set to not modifyable in the field's options.

[D. Slickman]

Sorry, I'm not being totally clear - I can't enter anything into the portal, which is what I most want to do. Clicking on a blank line in a portal does nothing at all - I don't "click in", it doesn't highlight, nothin'. And, as noted, I can't modify anything either, which is less important to me at this point.

The fields I am trying to enter are number fields and not calc fields. When I look at the settings for the field, the "prohibit modification of value during data entry" box is not checked - and in fact is greyed out. The field is indexed, if that matters.

The relationship is a simple one (I think) and goes like this:

Person Table/Contact ID field matches Action Join Table/Contact ID field.

Action Join Table/Action ID field matches Action Table/Action ID field.

The Action Join Table contains only these two fields: Action ID and Contact ID.

The portal appears in a layout for the Person Table, and shows all the actions taken for the person. I am trying to add actions for a person through the portal. Perhaps I'm missing a logical step? Even so, it just seems that the portal simply won't allow me to enter data into the Action Join table through it.

I appreciate any help you can give!

[Ender]

This type of data entry is common and should work. There must be something mixed up somewhere.

Make sure the portal and its Action ID field are using the Action Join table relationship and not the Action table relationship.

If that doesn't work, maybe you could attach a zipped/stuffed clone of your database.

[D. Slickman]

Aha! It was using the Action Join table relationship, but I was asking it to show a description from the Action table. I changed it to show just the Action ID field from Action Join and now all is well.

Many, many thanks for your your help!