Database Reference
In-Depth Information
3.
Choose Layouts
→
Layout Setup and then change the new layout's name to
Assign Expenses
.
That'll make it easy to remember what the layout is for when you see it in a long list
later on. Change the layout title in the header, too.
4.
In the “Show records from” pop-up menu, choose the Expenses__EXPENSES
table occurrence and then click OK
.
Now you can see another benefit of your naming convention—it's easy to spot the TO
you need. All the fields on your layouts have changed from local fields to related
ones. You'll have to switch each field to the proper TOG.
5.
Double-click the Job ID field
.
The Specify Field window appears.
6.
From the “Table occurrence” pop-up menu, choose “Expenses__EXPENSES.”
The “Table occurrence” pop-up menu is divided between related and unrelated tables.
Expenses__EXPENSES is at the top of the list and is labeled as the Current Table (be-
cause you selected that TO in step 3). FileMaker is well-mannered enough to know
that you still want the Job ID field, so you won't have to change that part of the field
name reference.
7.
Click OK
.
The “::” disappears from the Job ID field, and you can be sure that it will show data
from the proper context now.
Repeat the process for each field on the layout. Remember, you're just switching the TO
from the unrelated TO to the related TO, and you're keeping the same source table when you
do. Don't forget to change the merge fields, too: Expenses_JOBS::Name, Ex-
penses__EXPENSES::Status and Expenses__EXPENSES::Expense ID (in the header). And
there's a script step on the Jobs::Name merge field that needs to be set to use the new TO. If
you absolutely hate this process of switching a whole bunch of fields from one TOG or TO
to another, you're in good company. But to avoid it, you'll have to create all your layouts
from scratch instead of duplicating and editing.
Copying a Portal from Another Layout
Just as you duplicated the Expenses layout to save time and (some) trouble, you already have
a Line Items portal (over on the Invoice layout) that's formatted and organized nicely. Copy-
ing it and then changing its context, also orients your users because the portal on the Assign
Expenses layout looks just like the one they use to create Invoices. They don't have to get
