confused about relationships

[miscole]

I have purchased several FM Pro books but I can't seem to find the answer that I'm looking for ANYwhere. I currently have two databases -

Database A (student)

Database B (school records)

I have successfully linked the TWO together but now want to link a THIRD database - Database C (contact database). For some reason I can't seem to figure it out. In the student database I have personal info...name, school, etc. Whenever I enter a new record it automatically appears in the Database B (school records). Now I want the same info to automatically appear in the third database but can't find a way to do it....is it possible?

I also have to generate reports and the information needed in these reports has to come from different databases.

Please guide me in the right direction. Maybe I'm on the right track but just haven't got to the last step. I've tried several different possibilities but haven't accomplished what I had envisioned/planned.

Please HELP!

MC

[BobWeaver]

What info does the contact database have in it that is different from the other files. And, what info does the contact database have that is the same as at least one of the other files (this is the field that you build the relationship on). You need to answer these questions in order to set things up.

[onno]

I have had almost the same problem. I have found a way of resolving it, although i find the solution not entirely satisfactory...

Keep the relationship from file A to B as it is, but create fields in database B that look up the information in corresponding fileds in database A (instead of placing the related fields of database A on your database B layout).

Then, create a relationship from B to C. In database C you can place related fields from database B, that are actually the lookups from database A.

The problem is that a change in database A is not automatically updated in database B.

It should be possible to create a script to update the lookup fields in the related fields (in the case of my database it wasn't yet necessary to find this out, the information in database A being static).

onno

[onno]

excuse me, in the last line I meant to type lookup fields ot the related database instead of related fields.

[Keith Shelton]

If necessary make sure that you are aware of techniques for 'one to many relationships' - a search on the forum will provide more info.

[LiveOak]

Bob is correct. The most important part of database design is to decide what you are trying to do. It's like worring about how to build a house before you decide what type of house you want to build.

In this case, are students to be treated like any other contacts? If so, student contact information should be entered ONCE in the Contacts file and used by the other files. If not all contacts are students, each contact record can have a field "Type" which can be used to identify the subset of contacts which are students.

A record in Students need not duplicate all of the contact information stored in Contacts. The contact information for a student can just use the related information from Contacts.

The most important aspect is to be clear about exactly what a record represents in each of the files. If you are not sure, STOP immediately and don't keep creating fields and scripts until you have figured this out. Again it's like starting construction on a house without a floor plan, the result is likely to be a disaster.

-bd