I have created an invoice file (parent) that pulls the orders (children) associated with each invoice into it via a portal. Is there a way to summarize the fields in the portal and perform a count on them? (i.e. if there are 15 children and 3 of them are named Sam, show the name Sam only once and the count as 3).

Off the top of my head (and a lot is coming off the top of my head -- which is why commercials for Rogaine are truly annoying):

Create a relationship and a layout in the Child file that finds the same records, sorts 'em, and then summarizes. (Can you say "SubSummary part"? I knew you could.) There are some details missing here, but I get the feeling you can figure it out.

HTH,

Dan

A portal shows RECORDS. Unless you can do this with your records in the related databas, you cannot do this with a portal.

What is your intent here?

It seems to me that a portal from an invoice into an orders database would never need to have to compress multiple orders into one.

It is possible that your setup may not be optimal for your needs and that a more effecive database structure would solve your problem.