Fun with Portals

[goaginn]

Two databases. TASKS & DATES. Tasks uses a portal showing multiple days that the selected task is occuring on. Dates uses a portal showing multiple tasks that occur on that date. A Many to Many, right? Or is there a way to do this without a joining table? The problem is this. I need to create all the tasks in tasks. Then I need to create all the dates in dates. Then in Tasks, I must be able to have a popup in the dates portal to assign any number of dates to the task. Likewise in dates, I need a popup in the tasks portal that allows me to assign multiple tasks to that current date record. Here's what happens... In tasks, I select a date and it simply creates another date record. In dates, I select a task and it simply creates a new record in tasks.

I hope I have explained this well enough. I only want to establish a relationship to the other databases info. Not create a new record. How do I do this??

Jeff Ginn (lost and confused...)

[Vaughan]

Many to many.

You can still do what you want using some value lists and pop-up menus. But keep your mind open, doing it differently might be better: try a coiuple of different ways and see which works best.

[Rigsby]

I think the best approach here is going to be piggy backing. So, for example in your dates file, entering more than one task in the task field using a return to separate them. So one example could look like this:

<Date field>

22.09.2001

<TaskField >

T1

T2

T3

Etc.

You need to play around with this to see what you can do with it.

Rigsby

PS. Remember: If you use piggybacked field values in a pop-up, they will all show in the drop down.

[Vaughan]

I don't mean to dump on you Rigsby, but that's a Bad Idea.

The "other entries" will be essentially lost: you cannot sort on them, and I don't think they'll show up in summary reports. Performing finds is going to be hell if any of the entries are similar or consist of multiple words.

All of which menas you won't be able to get decent information out of your database.

Do it properly: relational with a join file.

[Rigsby]

Hey! No probs, to tell the truth I agree. I tend to look at using relationships to solve all my problems. But if someone wants a solution without linking, I try to help LOL! And piggybacking is simply a way of getting tons of info into a record while saving on resources. If you’re dealing with info that needs to be sorted, found, or put into reports – stay away from it. Every tool has a use; it’s just knowing which tool at which time – right?

Hey Jeff….. Listen to him, his way might not be the quickest or easiest, but you’ll have more from it in the end.. I stand corrected...

Rigsby

[goaginn]

Thanks guys...

This is starting to help me. Yesterday, I followed the written exanple of a Many to Many structure from the FileMaker Help Files and created the join table and the Employees and Classes tables. Problem is the calc fields in the join table when shown as a portal in the outer tables don't allow entry (of course). Not that I need to enter (I don't). Additionally, in my application, I can't have any kind of visible ID Field. The user needs only to type tasks in, assign dates the task occurs on and do the opposite with dates then assign tasks.

Thanks,

Jeff

[rogermax]

I may be missing something here, but why go to the trouble of entering tasks in that file and then assign a date and so on. Seems like you could have the Date file with the portal to the tasks file, by clicking and creating a related record with the task.

If they are the same set of tasks over and over the use a value list to select from.

When accessing data from the tasks file your records already have the date assigned etc.

[goaginn]

The reason I don't want to do it that way is the Tasks and Dates are completely independently entered. Not until all the Tasks are entered and modified many times will a series of Dates be created (and created with a script). I just wondered what the best way would be to create two sets of independant data and then link the two (or unlink them) on the fly. The way it's done in organizers like the Palm.

Jeff

[Rigsby]

Linking or unlinking on the fly is easy. Just make your key field (the field value you are using for the relationship) accessible to the user – either to manually change or right a script that changes it. You could even create lots of different keys stored in a field and use a drop down or popup to choose values to offer different links.

Rigsby