needing to autofill a portal field...

[MParker]

ok, i have a table that holds all of my customer's data (name, address, and id) i have another table (linked by id) that holds a 'call history' that has the following fields:

id

date

time

call notes

contact name

technician

now...i have a layout designed that has a portal inside of it to show all of the call history for that customer. my problem is that i want it to automatically fill in the "id" field with the value of the "id" field in the customer info table. is this even possible?

[mr_vodka]

You can either set the field when a new record is created by a script or you can turn on "Allow creation of record on the child side of the relationship.

[MParker]

ok...but what would the script need to be? because i already have the child settings set in the relationship. it still isn't working.

[bcooney]

Perhaps you're missing a key field? In the Customers table you need __kP_CustID (number, auto-enter, serial, can't modify), and in the CallHistory table you need a foreign key _kF_CustID (number).

Your relationship will match Customers:__kP_CustID=CallHistory:_kF_CustID.

If you set the child side of the relationship, the Call History side, to Allow create, the call record will automatically have its _kF_CustID set when the record is created. Any matching key is automatically set.

mr_vodka mentions a second approach to accomplishing the setting of the foreign _kF_CustID by using a script. Many people chose this method because they do not want users to directly edit a portal row, hate the last "empty" portal row interface, etc.

The second method is to create a "New Call" button and place it above your portal. This button runs this script:

(pseudo-code)

Set Variable $CustID to __kP_CustID

Go to layout CallHistory

New record

Set Field CallHistory::_kF_CustID to $CustID

Go to layout Customer

Now, with field behavior set to Browse/Find on, your users can edit the call history record directly in the portal, but they cannot add a new portal row unless they click the "New Call" button.

To get fancy, you could create a data entry layout for the new call and change the above script a bit:

Set User Abort Off

Set Variable $CustID to __kP_CustID

New Window (size it smaller so it floats above the Customer window)

Go to layout CallHistory_popup

New record

Set Field CallHistory::_kF_CustID to $CustID

Pause

Close Window

You need to have on your popup window, a button that is set to Resume script.