What can we do if a record deleted by a mistake? Autoenter serial number problems

[edudna]

I have an auto-enter serial count like:

course 1

course 2

course 3

If the record with the auto-enter ID: course 2 is deleted by mistake or purpose the serial brakes in this point and is look like:

course 1 then jumb

to course 3

How can we fix the auto-enter serial to count from the beggining again the records in their write turn?

Pascal

[LaRetta]

Hi Pascal,

You don't even want to try. This serial (your unique ID) is meaningless and must remain so. If you want to know the record NUMBER, then just display @@. If you attempt to force your auto-enter serials to revert when a record is deleted, then it can break in multi-user mode. Unique IDs are only for your use in establishing relationships and should never have a count or meaning included in them.

LaRetta

[edudna]

First thank you for your reply. I do understand that unique ID is meaningless and it does not necessary to appear in layouts. But as a novice I still do not understand how can we count, for example, the students of a class in a portal or to have a serial number for all the students of the school. What do you mean with @@? Please explain...

Kind regards

Pascal

[LaRetta]

While in Layout mode, if you select the text tool (the 'A' from the Status Area) then type @@ and drag it to your portal (be sure it is completely within the portal lines (particularly the top left edge) then it will produce the record numbers for each record (as 1, 2, 3 etc). This same @@ (when placed on your Main layout, will show the record number of each record you are viewing. If you wish to have a field outside the portal which shows the total count of related records, create a calculation (result is number) in the table the layout is based upon (your main table) with:

Count(yourRelatedTable::uniqueID)

By uniqueID, I mean that each Student should get a serial number (assigned by FileMaker) by using the Auto-Enter options and specifying 'serial number' and all relationships should be based on those keys. If I'm still not addressing your need, please explain a bit more.

Update: No matter what I try, I can't make those wonky spaces disappear.

LaRetta

Edited November 26, 2006 by Guest
Added Update