I'm not sure if this is a relationship or layout question but since I'm having difficulty picking up self-join relationships (new to FileMaker from Access) I thought I'd start here.

I have a MAIN table that has a one to many relationship with an Images table. I would like two relationships for these tables: one that forbids adding/deleting records in Image from MAIN and one that allows it (different permissions for different layouts).

Problem:

When I create a second occurrence of Images (edit to and from DISABLED) and use that relationship to join the portal, my scrolling portal now shows only the first image (record) of the related records. Both table occurrences are based on the original Images table and are apparently identical in every way except for edit permissions enabled/disabled. When I base the portal on the the original occurrence relationship it works perfectly no matter what edit features are enabled.

It's obvious that I don't really understand what's going on with second occurrences and self-join relationships. Could someone point me in the right direction on this? I would also welcome any recommendations for good literature on Filemaker relationships (I have "Using FileMaker 7"). I have the Table to Table concept down just not the other stuff.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I am only guessing here, but it sounds like the image field in the second portal is a field from the first table occurance..

Well, I guess that's my question - why would the occurrence make a difference? I had it in my mind that the only difference between multiple occurrences of a table in the graph was how you set the relationships. These two occurrences have (seemingly) identical relationships on the graph but behave very differently.

I'm guessing now that at some level a second occurrence table is very different from the first join. If this is so, how is it different and how do I solve my original problem- allowing add/delete of Images from MAIN on one layout but not another?

I have attached a file that shows the problem better than I can explain it. Again, thanks in advance for any enlightenment.

[Problem summarized: I have two portals on my layout (for example's sake). Portal 1 has a container field that comes from related table "Images". Portal 2 has a container field that comes from related table "Images 2" - a second occurrence of Images table in the Relationship Graph. Portal 1 behaves correctly by showing ALL related images (records). Portal 2 displays only the first related image, repeated many times. Why???]

Relationship_problems.fp7.zip

... because your second portal is linked to the first table occurance "Images"... so while you've got your "Images2" field... its using the records from images... just double click the portal and change it to show related records from images 2...

p.s. i know this file is for demonstrative purposes only, but make sure you only store references of images otherwise your database size will explode quickly

Ahhhhh.....

I would say "How could I have missed that?" but it doesn't say "novice" on the skill level for nothin'. It's really an adjustment getting used to how FileMaker handles things. I keep losing track of where I've set parameters and then miss them in the problem solving stage.

Your help and patience appreciated.