Portal with freetext boxes

[dstichbury]

Hi there,

The portal I'm using is for use at the user end of our database. People enter timesheet information creating new rows for each job they do. - very simple!

The problem I'm having is that we need to include a page worth of free-text description boxes that pertain to each entry into the portal, which ideally should be entered from within the same database.

If i have my portal on one layout, is there anyway of having a button that can switch to another layout which has the free text boxes layed out, and these boxes relate to one specific row on the portal.

I've started trying to create a script which copies the unique job ID number that is created when a new job is made, then switching layouts and somehow searching under Job ID so the pertinent text boxes are displayed.

I'm pretty new to filemaker/databases so idiot-proof descriptions might be needed!

many thanks

[PeterHW]

Hi,

I see you are using FM5 so I assume your individual records for the timetable entries reside in a different file than the one where you are entering the information through the portal. On what is the relationship based of the two files ? For this example, I'll use the filenames "Main" and "Entries", where Main is the file from which you create the records through the portal to Entries, and Entries is... well, you probably get it.

Normally, you can achieve what you want very simply by creating the layout with the large text area in "Entries" and then put a button in the first row of the portal in "Main". Make sure the button fits well into the boundaries of that first row. If you switch to "Browse" mode, the button should be visible in all rows. If that is the case, good, if not, modify the dimensions of the button to fit the row height.

Attach an action to the button (right-click, "Specify Button") and choose Go to Related Record, select the relationship on which your Main File is related to the details file, and check the checkbox "Show related only". Now, switch to browse mode and press the button. It should take you to the corresponding record in Entries.

Note that this assumes you have only one layout in Entries. If not, the "Go to Related Record" will get you to "Entries" but which layout is shown then depends on which layout was last open. To prevent this, make a script in "Entries", named GoToLayout. This just has one line

Go To Layout ["YourTextAreaLayout"]

then create a script in "Main", called GTRR Entries, with two lines :

Go To Related Record ["RelationshipToEntries"]

Perform Script ["External, Entries::GoToLayout"]

Don't forget to put a "Back" button in your TextArea layout in "Entries", to enable your users to get back to the "Main" file. This is done the same way.

Take care,

Peter

[dstichbury]

Peter - that is great and makes complete sense - thanks.

BUT! - is there anyway i can acheive this from within one interface, ie without having to have 'entries' open.

Can the user click on a button and bring up a page that is still in 'Main'?

Many thanks!!

[PeterHW]

Hi, glad I could help, but that is why I asked you how the relationship and your data structure is set up. Starting from V7 it is possible to have multiple tables in one file, but in V5, which I assume you are using, this is not possible. You talk about a portal. A portal by definition is meant to view related records. Of course, this relation can go back onto the same file (a so-called selfjoin), which would allow you to view related records from the same file in a portal, so in principle it would be possible to use a Go To Related Record, based on a selfjoin relationship. However, for the application as you describe it, this is not standard practice and should normally not be necessary.

I really need you to tell me how your database is structured before I can comment any further.

Best regards,

Peter