I am new to Filemaker(though I have been using Access for many years), so this is a very newbie question.

I have just created a portal from a one-to-many relationship in our volunteer database. I created a layout based upon the "many" table that I call the "data entry" screen, where volunteers can enter information into the table that will then appear in the portal. However, the information is not appearing in the portal.

If I enter the data directly into the portal, it shows up in the portal, and it shows up in the data entry layout table. But if I enter it via the data entry layout table, it doesn't show up in the portal.

I'm sure it's something really simple, but nonetheless, I'm scratching my head on this one. Please help me out!

Dont know too much about your setup other than the brief description that you posted, but in your script to go back to the layout with the portal on it, try adding a Commit Record [] and/or a Refresh Window [Flush cached join results] script step.

If I enter the data directly into the portal, it shows up in the portal, and it shows up in the data entry layout table. But if I enter it via the data entry layout table, it doesn't show up in the portal.

Hi PCPA,

Welcome to the forums!

Your data isn't properly related i.e. When entering through the portal, filemaker fills in all required fields in the foreign table in order to make that relationship valid. If you are using multiple PK's and FK's make sure you fill in ALL the required FK fields when entering the records manually via the "many" layout.

Thanks for the reply. What are PK's and FK's?

See here:

pk

fk

Sorry, I just assumed you'd know what they meant given that you've dealt with access in the past.

Thanks - this is helpful. I knew what a primary key was but didn't recognize the abbreviation (woops). So what you're saying is that I have to enter the volunteer ID number (our primary key) into the "many" table so that it'll link correctly to the records in the "one" table and show in the portal? That would certainly make sense.

But then my next question of course is: Is it possible to avoid having to do that? It can be challenging enough for the volunteers to just enter the data correctly in the first place. This way we'll have to look up the volunteer id's, then enter them before we can add the rest of the data. Is there any other way? I'm up for the challenge.

Thanks again...

Attach a value list to the field that displays the volunteer name but stores their ID.