Help on Displaying Portals

[D.Wehleit]

Hi ! First of all im not so sure if Im doing it the correct way but I need some help if possible.

I have 3 Tables,

Contacts, Projects & Packages

Now, Ive created my custom contact database , projects and packages,

In each contact form , at the bottom i want a list of packages ive sent to them.

On the packages database ive made a relationship to the projects table, so when im adding a new package to send i can choose from a pulldown menu the list of projects ive entered. Ive also created a list view to see a list of packages , Im just testing a scenario where like say each project gets sent to like 200 companies (there are like a 1000 on the DB) so we need good tracking of packages sent.

So, how do I link the packaging data with the main contacts form?

Ive also created a portal, selected table > Package Tracking > and the fields i wanted displayed but of course I need something else.

I need to be able to mark or something..

Im sorry but Im a bit confused...

Dan

[Fenton]

You haven't really told us what a Package is and what they have to do with Projects. It sounds like each package is associated with a project? Or can each package be associated with multiple projects?

Also, by "package," do you mean a specific thing, which can therefore only be sent once? Probably you mean an abstract package, which can be sent multiple times.

In databases you need a table for every "entity." Sometimes the entity is a object (like a noun), "contact", "project", "package".

Sometimes it's the combination of 2 objects, what is called a "join" table. Say you had multiple documents in a package, and wanted to keep track of which went in each; and some documents could be multiple packages. That would require a table with, at minimum, an ID from each per record.

Or, in your case, if you can have multiple packages for a project, and a package can belong to multiple projects.

Sometimes an entity is a "transaction," that is something that happened at a particular time. In your case this would be when you sent a package to someone. It would have an ID from the contact and one from projects. The multiple packages associated with that project would be implied by the project ID; if you always send all packages from a project. Otherwise you would need another table, for the specific selection of packages sent (at least).

Basically, you don't have enough tables.

[D.Wehleit]

Thanks! I see what you mean, I managed to fix it by cleaning the relationships, Now in the contacts form, i can see through a portal, which package has been sent to that contact. In the projects page, I can see through a portal to which packages this project belongs too.

So its working !

Its basically a system for tracking down Movie Screenplays or drafts and to keep track to whom we have sent the package, Youre right its an abstract package, as the projects can be mailed more than once.

Now you said that each package can have multiple projects, well I guess I could live without that because it doesnt really matter in which physical package it travelled, only the date and destination count. So if I send a package with 2 projects, i guess I would see it as 2 packages... Ill probably brainstorm tonight for this...

By the way, I was yesterday reading your tutorials on your site, good stuff !

Dan

[Fenton]

Just be aware that you need a separate table for "packages sent", with a record for each time a package was sent. Fields: contactID, packageID, Date, projectID (optional, I still don't know what packages have to do with projects). There is no other way to really track packages sent; no place for the date. It's a "transaction table", which is like a "join table with a date."

Thanks, about the tutorials on my site. They are pretty old though, written mostly while using FileMaker 3-4. Most of the basic concepts would be the same. But the methods might be quite different in 7. The download files, also pretty old. One of these days...