Database Reference
In-Depth Information
With these fields on the Expenses layout, you can see the details of each line item and
verify that it's the right one before moving on. (You may have to widen the layout to
fit everything in.)
4.
Add the Expenses::Line Item ID field to the layout and then in Browse mode,
enter
1
in the sample Expense record
.
When you enter a valid ID into this local field, the relationship is completed, and re-
lated data shows up on the Expense record.
Back in Browse mode, you can start entering expenses. Make some expense records and then
create a Job ID pop-up to choose a job for each expense. The sample file has a few invoices
with line items you can use to test the relationship. To make it easier, open a new window
and switch to the Invoices layout so you can look at Line Items (
Figure 14-9
).
Figure 14-9. To the left is the Expenses layout, where you can enter data about each expense you
incur. Then, after you create an invoice record and bill for the expense, use the Invoices layout
(shown on the right with a tooltip showing the Line Item ID) to find the Line Item ID for each ex-
pense.
Table Occurrence Groups
The relationship between expenses and line items you created in the last section is
functional
,
but as you added Line Item IDs, you probably discovered that it isn't very easy to work with.
You had to view invoices and their line item IDs to figure out which Line Item ID to add to
your Expense record. A value list of Line Item IDs might help, but as your database grows,
so do the value list
and
the problems. First of all, your database could have
thousands
of line
items. And even if it doesn't, line items don't have a very good name—their descriptions
aren't unique, and their IDs aren't very meaningful.
