Needing help with relationships and value lists

[iPalindrome]

I'm a FileMaker Pro n00b and am trying to create a database to keep track of my coin collection. What I am trying to do is this:

I have a field, "Denomination" which consists of a value list with different coin denominations: half-cent, large cent, small-cent, two-cent piece, three-cent piece, etc.

I have another field, "Type" which should be the specific type of a particular denomination. So for the small-cent denomination, the available types should be "flying eagle", "Indian head", and "Lincoln." For the three-cent denomination, the available types should be "nickel" and "silver."

I would like to get it so that the options available in Type are dependent on the selection in Denomination. I have a value list set up for Denominations, and type lists set up for each denomination, but have not been able to get it to work.

How can I do this?

Thanks in advance...

[stanley]

iPalindrome:

Here's one way to do it. Create a new database, called "Types.fp5" and put it in the same folder as your current database. In that database, create two fields, "denomination" and "type". Create records for all of your different types, where you fill in both denomination and type - make sure the denominations are spelled exactly the same each time (when they're the same).

Now, in your original database, create a relationship to this new file by going to File-->Define Relationships... and selecting the "Types.fp5" file. In the resulting relationship window, select your denomination field from your file in the left, and the denomination field from the new file on the right.

Going back to your current layout, go to your "type" field and, in layout mode, select it. Go to Format-->Field Format... and select "popup menu" using value list and go to "define value lists..."

In the subsequent window, click on "use values from field" and click on "specify", then in the next window, select "only related values" and specify the relationship you created, then you're done. Now, when you select a denomination, only those related types (from your other file) should appear in the value list for "type".

Hope that's right, and that it helps.

-Stanley

[iPalindrome]

Thank you very much. It worked!