Wouldn't it be grand if we could use a calculation to specify the location of a field within a layout? This would start to give FileMaker some graphical capabilities.

As it stands if I want data to appear in one of a 100 different locations in a grid I need to hard code a new relationship for each position in the layout. Attached is a screenshot of my relationship graph - a testament to why the relationship graphs aren't always superior to a tabular list.

Picture.pdf

O.K. I've refined my wish to two "simple" and specific things:

1. Portals that can be listed horizontally (in a row) instead of vertically (as they are presently).

2. Matrices: These would act like a 2D portal with 2 Match fields - one to specify the row and the other the column.

;)

You don't need all those relationships in version 7. Use multiple portals based on a single relationship, each portal starting on a different row. If necessary, use a calc in the child table to compute the position, and sort the relationship by this.

Using multiple portals with different starting rows is a good tip and it can be used to work around the problem of a lack horizontal portals.

The bigger problems with portals is that there is no built in way to display blank rows unless empty records are created. Thus, whether horizontal or vertical, records aren't populated into specific portal slots unless the correct number of blank records are present.