User manual

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About relationships | 135
For more information about relationships, see Help.
Relational database terminology
Before you begin working with relational databases and lookups, you should
understand the following terms. These terms are explained in the sections that
follow.
Term Description
Current table For relational databases, the table that you are currently working in.
For lookups, the table that the data is copied to.
External table A table outside of the current file, in another file.
Lookup target
field (for lookups
only)
The field in a table that you want data copied to during a lookup.
Lookup source
field (for lookups
only)
The field in the related table that contains the data you want copied
during a lookup.
Match field A field in the current table and a field in a related table that each
contains values used to access matching records. (A match field is
sometimes called a key field.) For each relationship, you select one or
more match fields in each table.
For relational databases, values in match fields must match each other
in some way for a relationship to be established between the files. See
“About match fields for relationships” on page 137.
For lookups, values in match fields do not have to be equal to match.
Portal A layout object that displays records from related tables. Portals display
data from related fields in rows, one record in each row.
Related field A field in one table that is related to a field in another table (or to a
different field within the same table). If a relationship has been created
between two tables (even through another table), data in fields in one
table can be accessed from the other table.
Related record A record in the related table whose match field (according to the
relationship used) contains a value that matches the value in the match
field of another table.
φμπ10_υσερσ_γυιδε.βοοκ Παγε 135 Μονδαψ, Αυγυστ 25, 2008 3:59 ΠΜ