Newbie Related Record Question

[jennyzpa]

Hi everyone-

I have been combing the boards and learning a TON, but I haven't yet figured out how to do something that is likely very simple. I have a simple database - only 1 table. I run a small research lab and am maintaining records about participants. I basically want to be able to see related records of the siblings of the participant (if applicable). I used a template to guide me in creating the database and the template includes a tab that includes a portal of "related records." Well, the portal *almost* works and it shows me records that share the same last name (helpful), but then it shows me records that match based on the mother's first name (not so helpful). The portal says that it is showing "Similars_by_Choice" which appears to be like a table, but not officially a table. From what I can try to piece together, it looks like this might be some sort of self-join relationship (since it is within the same table) but "Similars_by_Choice" is not one of the relationships I see when I manage my database. I am not sure how to access what fields the portal uses to pull up applicable records and I don't know how to change it so that it uses Last Name AND Mother's First Name (which should, in most cases, give me siblings).

I can't seem to find information anywhere about this "Similar_by_Choice" table (?) generated by the template.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thank you!

Jenn

[nesor]

It sounds like you may need a 2nd table for siblings.

Regarding portals on a layout, double click the portal and you can change the relationship it's set to use. Double-click fields on the portal and you'll see what tables they come from (and can change them).

[comment]

It sounds like you may need a 2nd table for siblings.

I don't think so.