Separation and where to store Relationships / TOs & Value Lists

[devices99]

I've been working on a large system for over 12 months now, it's complex, but is working perfectly and is rolling out to users next month as a run-time. It has just under 70 TOs in the relationships graph, so it's not the easiest to separate.

I've decided to now split the interface from the data to make user backups and upgrades more straightforward, as it'll be distributed into a runtime, and it'd be good to provide interface upgrades without having to import and export data.

I've split small FMP systems with ease before, and massive ones in Access with a few mouse clicks, but this is causing a serious headache!

I've split the data off (duplicated the original file), removed the tables from the interface and relinked all the TOs correctly in the interface to the new "data" file. Then I've removed all the layouts and scripts in the data file - all ok so far.

But at this stage I have some filtered portals based on Cartesian and global variables relations which enable a user to show all records, or a set matching a criteria in a pop-up portal for a selection - this was instant before the separation - but now will only function if I add a full refresh cached joins to the on-enter event of the drop-down, is this normal?

Deciding which TOs to remove from which file to clean it up is causing me the biggest issue. I was under the impression that only "interface based relationships" need to be in the interface file, but unless I'm applying that incorrectly (and it's been a 12 hour day so far with another 5 left, so it's likely!), every time I pick something to remove from the data side, it kills off functionality. But I don't want two sets of duplicate relationships in the data and interface, in case that causes a problem too.

Finally, where should I store the value lists? I have some complex conditional lists and some relationships which reference value lists for filters, currently now I have a duplicate set in both!

Advice appreciated as always :)

[dansmith65]

Regarding TO's...

If you have calculated fields that rely on related data, then you will need a relationship for that in the data file. If you are still having difficulty determining which TO's you can delete from the data file, I would recommend an analysis program. I use Base Elements and recommend it highly, but there are others available.

Regarding Value Lists's...

If you validate a field via a value list, then the value list needs to be in the data file (and the TO's for it, if necessary). If it's a custom value list, where the user can modify the values, I like to put it in the data file since it is really just another form of the users data. If it's a value list dependent on related values, then you could put it in either the Data file or the UI file; I would put it in the UI file if it is not used for field validation.