Hi,

I'm quite a newbie at this and am using an old version of File Maker to develop a database. If it's found usefull, we will upgrade the software. So my first question is whether the relationships I create in File Maker 4.1 will stay the same when we transport the database to FM7?

My second question is whether the ugly web of relationships I've created will work? I think it will but its so ugly I just cant tell.

The database is for a Fire Protection company to track which equipment needs to be inspected and tested. If the equipment doesn't pass the inspection the database should track which equipment needs to be repaired.

All "Sites" have many peices of equipment in an "Equipment Register" and many extinguishers in an "Extinguisher Register".

Each piece of equipment/extinguisher is serviced at different frequencies (Monthly, 6 monthly, Annually, 3 Yearly or 6 Yearly). Every month, a script creates "Inspection and Testing Events" for all the "Sites" that have equipment due to be serviced.

Related to these "Inspection & Testing Events" are many "Equipment/Extinguisher Inspections" which detail the type of equipment and the type of service (monthly, 6 monthly, etc).

Users can then check off the "Equipment/Extinguisher Inspections" as they are completed throughout the month.

If a piece of equipment/extinguisher doesn't pass the inspection, an "Equipment Repair" (or "Extinguisher Repair") record is created to prompt the follow up & repair of that peice of equipment/extinguisher.

There is also a "Call Outs" table used for when a Site contacts the Fire Protection company to request they attend an alarm or something similar. The structure of relationships around "Call Outs is exactly the same as for "Equipment/Extinguisher Inspections".

Does this make sense? Will the use of portals in a layout in the tables "Equipment Register" and "Extinguisher Register" to the tables "Equipment Repairs" or "Extinguisher Repairs" and "Equipment/Extinguisher Inspections" as well as "Call Outs" allow the related information to be found and tracked?

Will the database colapse or will my users heads just explode?

Anna Zoe -- if your FMP 4 database is useful, you'll find that you will need to COMPLETELY REWRITE IT to take advantage of the new features in FMP 7.

Get a copy of the free Trial version of FMP 7. You can use it for 30 days to develop your database. Then decide whether to buy FMP 7 or not.

I don't think I do want to re-write it, just use the networking feature.

Thanks Vaughan,

Will the software upgrade destory what I already have in terms of structure, layouts and scripts?

I was hoping to be able to just open the old files with the new program then have a play around with the networking options. User priveledges etc.

Do you think I'll be able to do this or should I start from scratch with FM7 now?