many-many selfjoin?

[Kay]

I have created a db (Field Defns.FP5) to document the definitions of the billions of fields I have in a large relational db. Records cover data details regarding the fields in my big app. I would like to relate the records to each other so I can quickly look up what is affected when I deal with any field.

E.g. Imagine I am working with the field "A" in my big app. I look it up in my documenting db "Field Defns.FP5" and hope to see on its info screen, among other things:

• calculation = W+X

"feeder fields" portal lists W, X, Y and Z because in addition to W and X contributing, Y*Z=X (so I know where all the data originates)

"contributes to" portal lists J, K and L because A is part of their calculations

Then on the records for fields W X Y & Z, field A shows up on their "contributes to" listings. Similarly on the records for fields J K & L, field A shows up on their "feeder fields" listings.

I think in another app I would make join tables. I'm uncertain whether this can be done with relationships in FM5 and how. Any ideas?

Warm grateful kisses to anyone who can help, Kay

[LiveOak]

This goes off into the realm of linked lists of information used to represent graphs (like with nodes and edges). I've attempted some similar stuff in FM for Multi-Level-Marketing applications. The problem is a tricky one. I used a single file using the concept of "parent" and "child" links. If you used a similar concept, the A field has parents J,K and L and children W and X. X has parent A with children Y and Z. The file has fields for Parent (records) and Child (records) which record the parent and child records in a multi-key. By using this approach, you don't need a separate file for each level. With Parent and Child self relationships, the contents of the portals change as you move through the reocords. Buttons in the portal rows allow you to "tree trace" through the calculation components.

-bd