User manual

Table Of Contents
Chapter 3
|
Working with related tables and files 79
For more information about creating and editing relationships, see
Help.
Summarizing data in portals
You can summarize data that’s in a related field displayed in a portal.
The portal can contain records from a related table or from the same
table (a self-join).
To summarize data in portals:
1. Create a calculation field in the table in which you want the total to
be displayed.
2. For the calculation field, define a formula that includes an
aggregate function for the type of summary calculation you want to
perform.
For example, if you are in the Invoices table and want to define a
calculation to total the related values in the Price field of the
LineItems table, use the formula
Sum(Line Items::Price)
3. Place the calculation field on a layout of the table in which it is
defined.
See “Placing and removing fields on a layout” on page 60.
For more information about summarizing data in portals, see Help.
About lookups
A lookup copies data from another table into a field in the current
table. After data is copied, it becomes part of the current table (and
remains in the table from which it was copied). Data copied to the
current table does not change automatically when the data in the other
table changes, unless the data in the match field of the current table
changes.
To establish a connection between tables for a lookup, you create a
relationship. Then you define a lookup to copy data from a field in the
related table into a field in the current table.
When you type a value in the match field of the current table,
FileMaker
Pro uses the relationship to access the first record in the
related table whose match field contains a matching value. Next, it
copies the value from the lookup source field into the lookup target
field, where the value is stored.
After a value is copied into the lookup target field, you can edit,
replace, or delete it like any other value (because the lookup value
belongs to the current table). You can also update data in the current
table to match data that changes in the related table.
Creating lookups
To create a lookup:
1. Create a relationship for the lookup between the match field of the
current table and the match field of the related table. See
“Creating
relationships” on page 76.
2. With the database open, choose File menu > Define > Database.
3. In the Define Database dialog box, click the Fields tab.
4. If your database contains more than one table, select the
appropriate table from the
Table list.
5. Select a text, number, date, time, timestamp, or container field from
the list of existing fields, or define a new one.
C235Client ID
Name
42.83.91.04Phone
ParisCity
C100Client ID
Name
555-3849Phone
VancouverCity
Current table
C200Client ID
SmithName
Records in related table
Relationship
Lookup target field Lookup source field
C200Client ID
SmithName
555-1234Phone
New YorkCity