How come whenever I set up a portal it automatically just makes the fields tack on horizontally? like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 in a row? hwo can I make it look like this instead:

1,2,3

4,5,6

7,8,9

Also, is there a way to lock portal fields? i only want them to display the values, i dont want them to be edit-able from the other table that im viewing them in.

It seems like regular fields have options that are "locked" or uneditable....the only reason i went with a portal was because you can make multiple at once, and simply "move" all the fields you want. but is there a way to do that with fields? like create multiple fields and assign them to the various related fields from a diff table at one time, and have them created neatly/orderly like the portal fields are?

i know this is prob reall simple but ive never use FM before, please help! thanks!

whenever I set up a portal it automatically just makes the fields tack on horizontally?

That's the default way FileMaker does it. Click and drag the portal to resize it and re-arrange the fields inside the top row to whatever position you want. (Just make sure that all the objects are inside the top row.)

Also, is there a way to lock portal fields? i only want them to display the values, i dont want them to be edit-able from the other table that im viewing them in.

Yes... select the fields, then on the Data tab of the inspector, de-select the option to enter the fields in Browse mode.

the only reason i went with a portal was because you can make multiple at once, and simply "move" all the fields you want

Errr, that's not a good reason to use portals. They display related records. You use the Group command to move fields all at once.

That's the default way FileMaker does it. Click and drag the portal to resize it and re-arrange the fields inside the top row to whatever position you want. (Just make sure that all the objects are inside the top row.)

Yes... select the fields, then on the Data tab of the inspector, de-select the option to enter the fields in Browse mode.

Errr, that's not a good reason to use portals. They display related records. You use the Group command to move fields all at once.

ok thank you. i've never used FM before so I wasn't really familiar with the Arrange & Align tools on the Inspector. Thx!