<Table Missing>

[slehar]

I was fooling around with my layout, can't remember what I did, but when I returned to Browse mode, all my fields contained

The problem is that I have about 100 fields. Do I have to click-and-select each one by hand? Or is there some way I can ask FMP to do it automagically? More important still, what went wrong, and how do I prevent this happening again?

[bcooney]

It could be that you changed the table occurrence on which the layout is based, that's why you need to "reassign" or "redirect" all the fields.

Before you continue changing the fields, see what table occurrence the fields that don't work use, and change the layout (setup) to use that TO.

[slehar]

How can I tell what table occurrence my

When I look at the table in Layout Mode, I see really weird field contents...

Accessible power

Powerful scripts

Customizable Buttons

Graphic reporting

Accessible power

Powerful scripts ...

(and so it repeats round and round for ~300 fields!)

Where did THAT come from? Certainly not my data!

I deleted my Table Occurence altogether and started again from scratch:

File > Manage > Database > Relationships >

[ ]+ Specify table

I selected WAIS-IV from my WAIS-IV.fpm (Name "WAIS IV" to avoid using "-")

And I linked the key field to a field in my main database.

All that worked just fine! But in Browse Mode the fields still read

Back in Layout Mode, I click on a field [Accessible power] and get a Field/Control Setup pop-up window, it says Display data from: , so I click the scroll box and set that to "WAIS IV" from the list, and it shows me the 300 or so fields from my WAIS-IV table, and since my layout labels that field CompositeScoreSummary, I select CompositeScoreSummary field from the Display data from: field list. But the field still reads "Accessible power" (what the F???), although back in Browse Mode that same field has now turned blank, all the other fields still show

I've also tried File > Manage > External Data Sources and select

[Name:] WAIS-IV [Type:] FileMaker [File Path:] file:WAIS-IV.fp7

which it offers in a list, so it can see the database I want, but selecting it does nothing! My field is still blank in Browse Mode, and still "Accessible power" in Layout Mode.

Looks like its pointing at some random spot in memory that happens to contain FileMaker Pro promotional literature!

What gives?

[comment]

When I look at the table in Layout Mode, I see really weird field contents...

Turn off View > Show > Sample Data.

How can I tell what table occurrence my

I don't think you can, because the table occurrence doesn't exist.

[slehar]

Turn off View > Show > Sample Data.

Oh, so THATS where that came from! Thanks!

Now in Layout Mode my CompositeScoreSummary field reads [::CompositeScoreSummary], so that one field is finding the right field in the WAIS-IV table. (I hope I won't have to do this to all 300 fields by hand!)

But back in Browse Mode that field is still blank, and does nothing when I double-click on it.

[slehar]

I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!

Layouts > Layout Setup > Show Records From >

[The MAIN database!]

I just had to change that to [WAIS-IV] and now I can see my data!

Thanks for your help guys! I hope this helps anyone else who runs into the

[slehar]

Ok, now I see my bigger mistake - (its a newbie error!)

I never added those tables to my main database using Manage > Database > Tables, so they were indeed not even in my database at all! I think that was the problem all along. I'm reading Cologon Filemaker Pro 9 Bible Chapter 5, creating a database, and he starts by adding the tables with Manage Database Tables.

I think I'm on my way! Thanks guys!

[bcooney]

What is "Main Database"? All tables really should represent entities. Likewise, what does WAIS-IV stand for?

[comment]

I deleted my Table Occurence altogether and started again from scratch

What do you mean it doesn't exist? I created it, and I can see it in Manage > Database > Relationships.

:idunno:

[slehar]

What is "Main Database"? All tables really should represent entities. Likewise, what does WAIS-IV stand for?

Main Database is what my predecessor named the big database containing a bunch of different tables, including WAIS-III which I am updating to add WAIS-IV (It is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, a.k.a. IQ test, version IV. We do psychological "assessments" and I manage the scores database)

After more investigation in Cologon (FileMaker Pro 9 Bible) I discover that the multiple tables *don't* have to be "inside" the Main Database.fp7 file, but you can create a "Multi-file solution" with individual tables in separate single-table files, like my WAIS-IV.fp7, and in fact, that is how they did the WAIS-III (and other tables), which I was following as my model.

To create a multi-file solution you start by: (I know you know this stuff, but in case anyone else is following who doesn't...)

[1] File > Manage > External data sources. This establishes a link between a Name [WAIS-IV] and the single-table file [WAIS-IV.fp7]. It is only *after* you have established this link that you can do:

[2] File > Manage > Database > [Relationships] and then Add Table (click that little box with a green + sign) and FileMaker can now "see" WAIS-IV, which you can click on to create a new Table Occurrence (TO) which I name "WAIS IV", and I can see my data records right there in the WAIS IV "TO" (Table Occurrence).

But my Browse Mode still shows only

[3] Next, I go into Layout Mode for the WAIS-IV table which I designed earlier, and do Layouts > Layout Setup > Show records from: [WAIS IV] (I select from the list) to link this layout with that table.

So right there it looks like I've done everything necessary to link my layout to the WAIS-IV table, but my Browse Mode still shows only

I feel like I am 99% there, but there is still one vital link missing, it seems! Any idea what I am still missing?

[slehar]

I made a couple of more discoveries just playing around. In Layout Mode, I double-click on one of the (many) fields with [

But I have about 300 fields, a really long list, and they are sorted alphabetically in the list I have to pick from, so I have to do a lot of scrolling to find the one I want (error prone process!), and many of them have very similar names, e.g.

VerbalComprehensionSumofScaledScores

VerbalComprehensionIndexAbbr

VerbalComprehensionCompositeScore

VerbalComprehensionPercentileRank

VerbalComprehensionConfidenceInterval

... and on and on! Its a loooong list! ...

so this is going to be a tedious process!

But then I discovered something else just by trial-and-error. If I just click the Display data from: field AGAIN (a second time), then the list of fields below it re-sort to the non-alphabetic order in which they appear in the table, which makes it a bit easier for me to find the one I am looking for if I just go down the list one by one from top to bottom. But this is still a really tedious process, for the 300 fields in this table, and I have 4 more tables I have to go through! (WMS-IV, ACS-Effort, ACS-Social, ACS-TOPF)

But it looks like FileMaker already knows that WAIS-IV is the "Current Table", and it knows the order of the fields in this table. Why can't it just copy them over in sequence and save me a lot of stoopid clicking?

I'll bet there's a much simpler way to do all this. After all, the data come from an xml data file that I wrote (with a Python program) in format, and I created those tables by simply opening the xml file and it turned into that table, even knew what data type to assign to each field. Surely I should be able to just load that xml file right into the database and save me a whole bunch of clicking!

Don't mind me, I'm just rambling at this point -- I suspect my problem is so specialized (who else has 300 fields in each record!) that I'm all by myself with this one, I'm just recording my futile and frustrating attempts for posteriority, in case some other miserable wretch finds himself on this same torturous path.

There's gotta be a better way!

[bcooney]

Main Database is what my predecessor named the big database containing a bunch of different tables, including WAIS-III which I am updating to add WAIS-IV

I can't of course tell without seeing your file, but my gut tells me the structure is all wrong. You would not have a table for each test, you would have a table "Tests" and a record for each type/version of test.

You might want to explore some of the threads on this forum regarding surveys and how to structure them.

[slehar]

Wow! Its so simple once you know how to do it!

To create a multi-file solution with records that have ~300 fields:

[1] File > Manage > External data sources

Name: WAIS-IV Details: (filepath) WAIS-IV.fp7

[2] File > Manage > Database > [Relationships]

[ ]+ (Add Table) > Specify Table > WAIS-IV

[3] (NEW!) Back to the Main Database layout:

Layout Mode > Layouts > New Layout/Report > "WAIS-IV"

Show records from: "WAIS IV"

Layout Name: WAIS_IV_Layout > (move all)

And it moves all the data from all ~300 fields from the WAIS-IV table into the WAIS_IV_Layout!

The mistake I was making was to create the layout first, then I tried to link it to the table that belonged to it. Like swimming upstream in molasses! The solution is to add the table to your database first, then create a layout from that table, and it will automatically connect all the fields where they belong!

Whew! That was heavy going!

Thanks again for all your help guys! I hope somebody else finds THIS helpful!

[bcooney]

Glad to hear that you're making progress. However, what you're doing is not suggested structure.

From what I can tell, you have a "Main Database" file and a separate file for each test. Then, you are adding the external file as a data source and creating a layout for that data source in Main. All not necessary. Main Database is not necessary.

Again, table of Tests and a layout based on the Tests table. Done.

[Mark Jones]

Thanks the Table Missing tip. Your tip saved me tons of work and frustration. Good Job!

I FOUND THE PROBLEM!!!

Layouts > Layout Setup > Show Records From >

[The MAIN database!]

I just had to change that to [WAIS-IV] and now I can see my data!

Thanks for your help guys! I hope this helps anyone else who runs into the