For the last three days I have been trying to understand the Contact -> Invoice starter solution, I have been viewing videos on creating relationships and tables, I have been looking at alternatives such as set field, or lookups... and I have become a bit overwhelmed and confused.

I basically want to create a Contact Layout

Push a button that says create Invoice

and a new record is automatically created in the INvoice Layout with all the choosen Name, address, phone fields etc.

The starter Invoice solution in Filemaker 11 has a drop down menu in invoices that has you pick the contacts name.... This I would prefer not to have.

If anyone can even point me to a video that shows how to do this instead of trying to re-explain tables, and relationships, and key and primary fields in theory as this is what I cant figure out how to apply.

I don't know why I just can;t get it.

Help.

I basically want to create a Contact Layout

Push a button that says create Invoice

and a new record is automatically created in the INvoice Layout with all the choosen Name, address, phone fields etc.

Make your button run a script that does the following:

1. Sets a variable to the ContactID of the current contact;

2. Goes to the Invoices layout;

3. Creates a new record;

4. Sets the ContactID field in Invoices to the value of the variable.

You should still have a relationship between Contacts and Invoices, based on matching ContactID and have the invoice lookup the Name, Address, Phone etc. values from the related record in Contacts.

Ok thanks

I have no idea what a set variable is. I looked in scripts for set variable and not sure what to put in the 3 boxes including the $ info....

Not sure what you mean by #4.

There are a few basic things you need to know - otherwise it's not possible for us to help you.

http://www.filemaker.com/11help/html/scripts_ref1.36.15.html#1044136

http://www.filemaker.com/11help/html/scripts_ref1.36.39.html#1029024

SO: Set Variable [<variable name> {[<repetition number>]}; Value:<value or formula>]

and

Set Field [<table::field>; <value or formula>]

Does it matter what I call my variable name, does that variable name occur in other areas that I need to choose, or is it just a name you give for this script and serves no purpose other than having some text in front of the coding....

SO in my script which is assigned to my button which I called Create Invoice

I have:

1.

Set Variable[$Contact ID; Value:Contacts::Con ID#] ----> Contact ID is the made up name for the variable not an field or anything else.

Go to Layour ["Invoices"(Contacts)] --> Contacts is the name of my Layout , Con ID# is the auto serial field in my Contacts Layout

New Record/Request

Set Field [invoices::INV ID#;______________? <--------------- how do I enter the name of the Contact ID I created in set variable ?

Hi Comment,

Thanks for the link to the filemaker page. Do you know of any other links or videos that can explain this in a way that someone who knows basically nothing will understand ?