Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Lease Agreement table. That's how a Payment record (the child) matches up with the proper
Lease Agreement record (the parent).
1.
Choose File
→
Manage
→
Database and then click the Tables tab
.
This tab is where you create, edit, and manage your tables.
2.
In the Table Name field, type
Payment
and then click Create
.
Remember: When you created the Lease Agreement table, you decided to use the sin-
gular case for your database elements, so stay consistent. The Payment table appears
in the Tables list.
3.
Click the Fields tab
.
You're viewing the field list for the new Payment table. FileMaker is smart like that
and switched to the selected table for you. But if you need to, you can switch tables
using the Table pop-up menu above the list of fields.
4.
In the Field Name field, type
paymentID
and then select Number from the Type
pop-up menu. Click Create
.
It's a good habit to create a table's key field first thing. That way, you won't forget to
do it.
5.
Click the Options button and make the paymentID field an auto-enter serial
number
.
All your Payment records will have serial numbers because you created a key field
right at the beginning, before you created any records. And since you have no records
yet, the next value should be “1.”
6.
At the bottom of the Options window, turn on “Prohibit modification of value
during data entry.”
This prevents users (even you, the developer) from changing the data in a field. Pro-
tecting the data in a key field is critical to keeping your records properly related to
one another. But if you ever do need to change this data, just head back to the field's
options and switch off this option.
7.
Click OK
.
You're ready to finish creating the rest of the fields for the Payment table.
Use the skills you learned earlier in this chapter to create these fields (their types are in par-
entheses):
▪ Date Paid (Date)
