Auto-selecting A Specific Value List Depending on Choice in Previous Field

[JRHobbs]

Hello

I'm a newbie and I have a problem... I want to do what I though was a VERY simple thing, but I'm blowed if I can find the answer anywhere.

I want to be able to have a specific value list show in Field B depending on the selection made from another value list in Field A. Eventually, I may do this to 3 levels, but for now, 2 levels is all I need to know.

I thought I'd link to a PDF file showing my problem in more detail as I find diagrams always make more sense to people than me trying to explain!

Auto-selecting Specific Value List in Field B Depending on Choice in Field A

Many thanks in advance...

Jo

PS: A word of warning, I am a real beginner with FM. The last time I used it was in 1998 I am working my way through the book FM Pro 8, The Missing Manual. I worked a lot of the first half out myself before I bought the book, and I'm now into the second half which is helping but this situation doesn't seem to feature in it.

[Inky Phil]

HI Jo

I do not think it is possible to select a different value list but it is quite straightforward to change the contents of a value list based on a previous fields entry.

Have a look for 'conditional value lists'. I think that they may suit your purposes and there is tons of stuff in here for those

HTH

Phil

[JRHobbs]

Hi Phil,

I thought that would be the answer, not the one I really wanted to hear, but there you go.

I took your advice and found this page on the Filemaker website and followed the instructions on it - I just created a Locations table and linked it where needed. A bit of a pain, having to essentially do a record per room (hundreds! hopefully I can find a excel list with the info I need somewhere and just import it), but if the DB expands in future could prove useful for other things and the Locations table could have more use (always look on the bright side!).

I am really surprised FM does not have the functionality of showing a certain Value List based on the selection made in another field. I wonder if it would be something they would do in the future.

Anyway, sorry if I sound whinging, I am not directing it at you. Thank you for your response - it resulted in the problem solved, which is the important thing.

Jo

[Tim W]

Hi Jo,

I will look further, my original post was based on related fields. Which is not as you requested.

Sorry,

Tim

[Tim W]

O.K. Jo,

What you want can be accomplished in filemaker, but it is not my recomended way of doing this.

See if the result of this sample file is what you wish to accomplish.

p.s. you can enable the rooms value lists to allow for adding new rooms on the fly. However, with all said and done I would do it as Phil has suggested,(good advice as always). Just seemed to me to be a challenging exercise to tackle the problem without tables and relationships.

ChainedVList.zip

Edited July 16, 2008 by Guest

[comment]

it is not my recomended way of doing this.

I wouldn't recommend it either - because it cannot work this way. As soon as you'll have two records, one on Campus A and one B, the value list is going to show all buildings - for any record.

I don't see what is the issue with having a record per room anyway. Those values need to be entered somewhere - does it makes a difference if they are listed in a custom value list or in a table?

---

Off topic: scripting the entry into a pop-up field, like you have done, doesn't work on a Mac.

[Tim W]

Hi Comment,

does it makes a difference if they are listed in a custom value list or in a table?

I think the ability to build a value list as you go was tempting the op to want a value list instead of a table. I would prefer a table to make building the list easier.

I just wanted to see if I could make a stab at doing it. Useless muscle exercise, makes one think a little.

Ha, Ha

Thanks for the info, now I know one useless thing a mac cannot do.

Live Long and Prosper,

Tim

[comment]

now I know one useless thing a mac cannot do.

I don't think it's useless - on the contrary, it would be quite useful to be able to switch layouts with a drop-down, for example. It's not a Mac issue, it's a Filemaker on Mac issue. The OS-native pop-up/pop-down menus are perfectly capable of this.

[JRHobbs]

What you want can be accomplished in filemaker, but it is not my recomended way of doing this.

See if the result of this sample file is what you wish to accomplish.

Wow, Tim, thanks for the effort there But I agree with you and all the other posters now that value list auto-selection is not the way to do it. I had a Eureka moment last night randomly while gardening and realised that infact a seperate Location table would be not a lot more work than my initial desire of seperate value lists AND in fact better suited as the DB evolves in the future (in line with comment's comment (ha! good name)).

Got there in the end... like British Rail...

I have created a Location table which is linked by use of Conditional Value Lists to the Computer table where I need to specify location information. Thank you all for putting me on the right track.

One last question though, about Conditional Value Lists and the instructions on the Filemaker.com site here.

I have other tables that I want to do the same type of Conditional Value List link to the Location table. However, when I try to marry up the Locations table in the same way as I have to the Computers table to another table (for example, Hardware table will need it, and I'm sure others will as the DB expands in future) it creates another instance of the Locations table... which would surely pose a problem with updating of records? Unless you can link the instances of the Location tables to update each other? But I'm a little baffled by the duplication of tables?

[Inky Phil]

Hi Jo

it is not a duplication of the table, merely another occurance of the table which allows one to set the context from which one is using the data from that table eg show me the related records from tableA via this relationship (table occurence) rather than that relationship (another occurence of the same table

hth

Phil

[JRHobbs]

Hi Jo

it is not a duplication of the table, merely another occurance of the table which allows one to set the context from which one is using the data from that table eg show me the related records from tableA via this relationship (table occurence) rather than that relationship (another occurence of the same table

hth

Phil

Hi again Phil

Ahh I see it now, the table list remains the same, the light dawns. Brilliant, thank you.