Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4-11. In Layout mode, the portal displays information about the data it contains along its
lower-left edge. The related table's name (Payment) appears, followed by “[1…6+].” That means
that the portal is tall enough to display 6 rows of related records, starting with the first record. The
“+” sign means that the portal will show an active scrollbar when it contains more than six child
records. Notice that the Lease Agreement::agreementID field is moved out into the gray space bey-
ond the edge of your layout. Objects in that space don't show up in Browse mode, so it's a handy
place to put things you might need for troubleshooting but you don't want to see while you're enter-
ing data.
No matter how many rows the portal is set to show, you see only one row of fields in Layout
mode, and they're always in the portal's first row. Notice that the fields fit precisely in that
top row. In fact, FileMaker used the height of your fields to figure out how many rows it
could fit in the space you drew with the portal tool.
The Payment fields are evenly divided within the width of your portal. You may need to ad-
just the fields' widths, change their text alignment, and create field labels.
NOTE
Sometimes you'll want your field labels to properly convey their field's function to users rather than
adhere to the internal naming conventions. For instance, it's okay to make the label for the agree-
mentID field say “Agreement ID” or “Agreement No.”
