Related records of selected record in portal

[dave8952]

Wow, I can't seem to get my head around this one!!

In the "Creative Pro Starter Kit" there's a db called Praesto Jr. Within this file, on the "Firm-Detail" layout, they've got a cool thing going that I can't figure out how they're doing it. If someone could help me I'd appreciate it.

There's a Contacts portal that, when each record is selected, it displays the contact details for that selected record, and the selection gets highlighted. Is there a simpler way to do this than how they're doing it? I get caught in a loop when I take it apart & look at how they're doing it. I come up against a "MasterKey" function that I can't find anywhere in the manual, so I'm assuming it's their own custom function.

Would love some responses on possible solutions.

Thanks a lot,
Dave

 

[pro101]

I'm not sure how they handled it but this is what I do to highlight a portal. I use a script when clicking a portal row that sets a global field with the value of a field in the portal record. I use an ID field but any field of the portal records that is unique will work. So I have the "global_ID" field matching one "portal_ID" record. I also have have a global container field I call "color" and a calculation container field in the portal records called "background". The global container field "color" contains a simple solid color graphic. The calculation container field "background" says If ( portal_ID = global_ID ; color ; "" ). That means whatever portal record matches the global_ID field I just set, that record will have the color placed in the calculation container "background" field. Just place the "background" field under the rest of the portal fields and make them transparent so the container graphic shows through. This can be done in FM6 also but there is more set up. Now, that is probably more confusing than learning what they did.
Good Luck
Don

 

[dave8952]

Thanks Don. Yeah, I like that way of doing the highlight part. But what was really giving me the problem was (if you can look at the Praesto Jr. file) that the details for the selected record (the details were completely outside the portal) would change, depending on which record in the portal was selected.

Any thoughts on that?

Again, thanks for your help,
dave

 

[pro101]

Sorry Dave, I haven't downloaded the Creative Pro Starter Kit, looks like I have to download FileMaker 8 now to get it. I'll be doing that soon I think. I'm not sure what the file looks like but this is what I do to view different records outside of a portal. I use a separate table with one record in it and call it my "interface". I am always on that record and eveything on my screen is a related field to the rest of the database. I use a "set_ID" field in my interface table that is related to an "ID" field in the regular database table records. So the portal script says to set the "set_ID" with the portal record ID number. All of that record's info appears on my screen because all of the displayed fields are related, becasue my layout is actually my interface table.

To really enhance things, you can set a different field like a client name, and have your "set_ID" field be an auto enter field (that always evaluates) based on a relationship from a "set_client_name" (interface tabel) to the "client_name" (regular database table). So you can then have a set field on your screen with a drop down list of all of your clients. Setting this "set_client_name" field with a client name, automatically changes the "set_ID" field which in turn shows the client info on your screen. Not only that, if you add multiple interface records, you can have different settings and information for multiple users of your system, great for networked offices. Sound pretty confusing huh?

I hope this helped but if you're confused about how this looks on a layout, I have a file on my site you can download that uses this principle (actually all of my systems use this technique).

Programs101.com ... go to the download page for HelpSystem101 or Invoice101

Don

 

[dave8952]

Thanks Don, I'll check those out on your site. I really appreciate the help.

dave