Dear Collective Wisdom (and bcooney, if you're out there!),

I am once again taking a flying tackle at my health supplements db. It contains separate tables for different areas, such as Supp (the main definition of each supplement), Dose (how much to take and when), Source (where to get it), Area (what health area it supports), and so forth. There are join tables (preficed by "j" in the table name) to connect the tables as necessary. And there are various relationships defined in the relationships graph. So far so good.

However, now I'm trying to add a table named Cost, which will record and further calculate the cost of each supplement. Note that each supplement can have more than one product associated with it (100mg capsules, 200mg tablets, different # of capsules per bottle, etc.), and each specific product can be purchased at more than one place. The Cost table is focused on a particular product (i.e., more specific than just the supplement name). When I had similar information in an Excel db, I was able to plug in cost, # of capsules, etc, and then have the db calculate cost per week, per month, per year.

I've created a new table named Cost, and then created 10 fields. I've also created a layout named Cost, for data entry. I created a join table jProdCost to associate products with costs. And I've gone to the relationships graph and created a relationship between Product and Cost that is similar to the one between Product and Source.

But clearly I've forgotten something, because FM won't let me add any new records to my Cost table, and when I go to the Cost layout, all the fields say "" What have I overlooked in setting up this new table & layout? I've looked at it until I'm cross-eyed and I can't see what's different between how things are set up with Product and Source, and with Product and Cost. I'd be most grateful for any suggestions.

I've attached a copy of the db to this message. I'm still pretty much a beginner, so don't cringe too much if it's a little messy!

TIA,

supp_db.fp7.zip

Hi there.

I don't have time this evening to dl and look at the files. Your Cost layout must be based on a Cost table occurrence. Is it? All fields on the Cost layout should be from the same table occurrence context.

Under layout mode, go to layout setup, make sure that it is showing from the Cost Table Occurrence.

Ah-HA! This seems to have done the trick. In Layout mode, I went to the menu item "Layouts", and then selected "Layout Setup...". The "Show records from:" section didn't have the right info in it. I changed the entry there to Cost (the table I'm trying to work with), and I was then able to create a new record. So far, so good. Thanks for the tip!