FILEMAKER: You May Have To Unlearn What You Have Learned

From Dwayne Wright
Certified FileMaker 9 Developer
www.dwaynewright.com
info@dwaynewright.com

The saying of ... "Everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die" might apply to some FileMaker developers in regards to the FileMaker upgrade. Everyone wants a significantly more powerful FileMaker application but they can get a little frustrated to have to learn a bunch of new stuff!

FileMaker is a fantastic database program and that is probably preaching to the choir. No debate from this guy what so ever! Now that I have that little disclaimer out of the way, FileMaker relationship graph can be a little tricky for the person that may have mastered or was on the way to mastering FileMaker 6. The multiple tables in one file is one of those areas, that looks very easy on the surface. However, it has a few twists and turns that can take some getting used to.

Things like lookups, portals, layouts, calculations and value lists can get a little weird due to a thing called relationship context and generally is affected by the current layout. A layout can be linked to some relationships but not related to others. FileMaker 6 didn’t have any relationship restrictions based upon the layout you were using.

I am about to publish a series of discussions on a design method called Anchor/Buoy. This is not a method that I have seen discussed in the FileMaker manual or online help system. However, it is not a hidden secret either. It is (for lack of a better description) one way you can go in your relationship graph. For me, it is the only way to go. So you are warned that I might try to sell you on the idea that I have purchased myself.

Thing is, it might require you to “Unlearn Some Of What You Have Learned”. I ask that you have an open mind because this method can be very powerful of cleaning up relationship clutter that can occur in a complex database.
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More info about the author and FileMaker in general, contact me at info@dwaynewright.com.

© 2008 - Dwayne Wright - dwaynewright.com

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