Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Now that you've grasped the basic concept of the TOG, it's time to start the actual construc-
tion.
Figure 14-14. Not all menus that list TOs group them in related and unrelated chunks. By using a
double underscore “__” in the name of the TO that provides the context for the new layout, it will
appear at the top of its group, as you see with the Expenses__EXPENSES TO here. You can also
see the result of not picking a good naming scheme earlier in your development because you have
two very similarly named versions of the Expenses_Line Items TOs. Now that you know about nam-
ing conventions, you can see why it would be worth the time it takes to rename all the TOs in your
ER diagram group. Things will only get worse as your graph grows. Renaming TOs won't break
anything, so no worries there. If you rename your ER group with an “ER” prefix, then they'll all
appear together in the list, instead of scattered, as they do here, plus you'd eliminate the confusion
between the two similarly named Expense Line Items TOs.
UP TO SPEED: MANAGING TABLE OCCURRENCES
When you use descriptive names for your TOs, they can get pretty long. Fortunately, you can easily
resize any table occurrence so its entire name is visible. No matter how the table occurrence is con-
figured, you can drag the right or left edge to make it wider or narrower. If it's set to show all its
fields, then you can also drag the top or bottom edge to change its height. A table occurrence that's
too short to show all its fields has little arrow icons above and below the field list. Click these ar-
rows to scroll through the list. (When a table occurrence is set to show just the key fields or no fields
at all, its height is fixed.)
To see which table an occurrence represents, just point to the arrow icon to the left of the occurrence
name. FileMaker pops up an information window that tells you everything you need to know. And if
long names and tooltips aren't enough, then you can use the note tool (it's the tool marked with the
letter “A”). Use the note as a reminder of the purpose of your new table occurrences that's more de-
tailed than a naming prefix. Notes behave themselves, staying in the background behind all your
TOs, so some designers make large notes that enclose a new TO group to visually unite them on the
graph.
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