Data from previous Client records

[BrainDead]

I'm a little new at this so please pardon if I am not asking right.

What I'd like to do is when creating a new record for an existing client that all the standard info (addy phone etc.) would be automatically brought in from previous records of the same client (having the same client ID).

I'm not sure what you would even call that function. What would you call it anyway?

TIA for any help.

[dkemme]

You could choose duplicate record from menu or a script step. I you want much of the same info but not all, use a script to duplicate the record and use a set field for each field you want to be empty and set to "" to clear it.

[BrainDead]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the reply.

Duplicating a record is what I am trying to get away from. I'm sure there is a way to get Filemaker to pull certain address info from a clients existing records but for the life of me I can not figure out how to get FM do it.

Probably even if I knew what the function was called I could find it in the manual. But I'm at a loss for that also. I really am "Brain Dead" on this one.

[RalphL]

Can I assume that you have a client table which has this data and this new record is in another table, say order? If this is the case, use lookups based on the client ID to auto fill this fields.

[BrainDead]

Hi Ralph,

The client has other records in this database. Look ups by Client ID, good one, I'll give it a spin.

Thanks for your input.

[Ron F]

create a self join relationship based on the ID number of your client, then have the Addy, Phone, etc. use that lookup to fill in the client info in all your new records.

[BrainDead]

Hi Ron,

Super! Right now we are using serialized nubmers for auto Client ID but it's not working out so well for us.

Is there a better way that you know of that we can issue Client ID's, automatically?

What we would like to do is have a system that would automatically issue the next available ID number to new clients and yet when an existing client re-orders product we want FMP to realize that hey, this is an existing client and automatically pull up the clients basic account info, like just their addy, phone etc.

Thanks for any light you can shine for us.

[RalphL]

I suggest that you use a client table and an order table and maybe an order line table. In the client table use an auto-entered serial number as the clientID. This table stores all the info about the client. You can use a list view to see if a client exists or if you have to create a new one. Have a portal that shows orders. Use this portal to create new orders and then go to the related record in order to fill in the details. Use lookups to auto-fill in the client data.

[BrainDead]

Ah, and let there be light.

Thanks for your advice Ralph, I certainly appreciate it.

We'll give your suggestion a go.