How to drive portal contents off of parent order?

[K1200]

The attachment shows a simplified version of a situation I've encountered on a much more complicated layout. The problem is to have the filtered portals show contents in the same order as the 1, 2, 3 order of the parent records ... 1 on the left, 2 in the middle and 3 on the right.

I've been mulling over some possibilities ... like having a separate "driver field" that is built by a triggered script whenever a change is detected in the order of parent records. But I can't help thinking there's a simpler way. After all, the proper order is sitting right in the parent table. I just can't figure how to put it to proper use. BTW, the order of the parent records is controlled by a totally separate process and can't be changed on the portal display layout.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[comment]

I don't follow your description. A filtered portal - based on what relationship?

[K1200]

Each Widget contains a Parent ID ... which is the basis of the filter for each portal. Currently, the three portals are constructed to display Widgets for a specific Parent ID. But this "hard coding" of the portal doesn't facilitate the reordering I'm after.

[comment]

Perhaps you mean something like the attached? Though I cannot see how or why this would be useful.

demo.zip

[K1200]

comment, that's exactly what I need.

When I looked them up, I found the "rules" for evaluation of GetNth a bit daunting:

The result of GetNthRecord() will not be updated when the record referred to by GetNthRecord() is a record other than the one in which the calculation is currently being evaluated.

GetNthRecord of the current table returns the Nth record of the found set according to how the current table is sorted.

GetNthRecord of a related table returns the Nth record of the related set (relative to the current record), regardless of how the related table (or portal) is sorted.

But I've tested it in the context of my actual layout and it works. Granted, my particular use for this is likely a rare one, but others may be able to adapt the method for other purposes.

Thanks very much for your response and the solution.