FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual

Creating Related Records

The first thing you probably noticed with the database you worked on in Chapter 7 is that getting the records to relate is a tedious affair. To add a job record, for example, you go to the Customers layout, copy the Customer ID, and then go to the Jobs layout, add the record, and paste in the ID. That’s a pain. Since FileMaker is all about relieving the pain of working with databases, it gives you a better way— a couple of better ways, in fact. In the last chapter you learned how to use a portal to display related records. Here you’ll learn how a portal can also create related records. But first, you’ll learn how to create a value list to help you enter appropriate data into a key field.

Value Lists Based on Fields

You’ve already seen value lists based on field values—on Unique, you attached a value list to the City field to make sure folks enter only valid state names. In a relational database, valid data entry is even more critical, since relationships work only when the key fields in each table match. Similarly, you can use a value list in the table on the “to-many” side of a relationship to make sure that the key field in the table on the “one” side of the relationship only accepts valid key values. When you make this change to your layout design once, you save hours of data entry work down the line. Good database design is all about this kind of up-front work. In the Customers database, for example, you may want to create a value list that ensures the ...