portals - don't want to see duplicates

[ggh]

I've got a database to keep track of classes teachers are taking. Some classes are taken by individuals and some are taken by groups. I have a field in the classes table that gets tagged "GA" to indicate its a group activity. There is a separate committee table used mostly to store globals for the committee's interface (those people responsible for entering which classes are taken). I'm trying to create a portal or drop down menu that shows all group activity titles, but I don't want to see 6 if 6 teachers took the class.

I tried to set up a portal, but all the duplicates show. Then I tried to set up relational value list so that only single classes show. When the committee selects a class, I have the participants in the class show below via a portal related to that global field with the relational value list. The value list does work, but I'm getting some really strange behaviors....

1. When a class is selected from the drop down list, I have a script triggered that sets two fields creating the relationship for the portal. This works. However, it doesn't work (screen flashes and no relationship is established) if the globals aren't on the layout (they shouldn't have to be there, right?) It also doesn't work if make the fields too small, or make them invisible and then lock entry from browse mode (I'm sure I used to do this on other databases). If I leave the fields open for entry and 20+px the script runs ok, but the cursor ends in one of the hidden fields! I tried adding a script step - go to object...no luck.

2. Ignoring have to have the globals of the layout when new participants are added on another window, the portal doesn't refresh without reselecting the class, so this is really cludgy. There has to be a better way to do this! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[ggh]

Continuing with testing....SOMETIMES the portal doesn't update when new members are added on another layout.