Database Reference
In-Depth Information
on the new layout, you'll view an Invoice and decide which Line Item goes with the current
Expense. Everything takes place from an expense record's context.
Figure 14-11. You don't even need to be able to read the TO names in this Relationships graph
(right) to see how quickly good databases go bad. This database has only 19 tables, but there are
nearly 100 TOs on the graph, and they're all connected in a single group. If you had to tweak this
database after a long absence, it could take a while to find the TO you need and then recreate the
logic you used to assemble the thing (left). There are several spots in FileMaker that contain menus
listing all your TOs. Although these TOs are named reasonably well, so that TOs that work togeth-
er are grouped together alphabetically, there are still too many to scroll through to find the one
you need.
Because your new layout lets you edit an expense record, you'll attach it to an occurrence of
the
Expenses
table. The other tables you need are the same ones you used to show a related
Line Item on the Expense layout: Jobs, Invoices, and Line Items. To keep things simple,
you'll create new TOs of the tables needed for the new layout and then position the new
group below your other table occurrences, as shown in
Figure 14-12
.
