Portals in FileMaker Pro

Portals are important tools in the FileMaker toolbox. In their most basic form they display data that pertains to the essential relationships in a given system. For example, a record for a neighborhood might show all the related house records in a portal, or a record for a class might show a portal of all the students enrolled in that class. Portals in cases like this reflect the primary relationships in a database. This is especially true if you make use of portal functionality allowing for the creation of related records; portals then can serve as the mechanism by which related records are created.

Portals can also serve a wide variety of user interface needs. They can be used to present a pick list for selecting records for various functions. They can be used to display ad hoc reports. They can even be used to present navigation or function options to users, display images, or offer alternative list views combined with form views of data. Portals can be used whenever a developer needs to display n rows of virtually anything on a layout.

This chapter begins by covering some basic portal details, but after we've moved through that information, we get to some more advanced techniques. We recommend this chapter for everyone, including beginners and advanced developers: Working with portals is a fundamental part of becoming adept with FileMaker, for whatever purpose.


Part I: Getting Started with FileMaker 8

FileMaker Overview

Using FileMaker Pro

Defining and Working with Fields

Working with Layouts

Part II: Developing Solutions with FileMaker

Relational Database Design

Working with Multiple Tables

Working with Relationships

Getting Started with Calculations

Getting Started with Scripting

Getting Started with Reporting

Part III: Developer Techniques

Developing for Multiuser Deployment

Implementing Security

Advanced Interface Techniques

Advanced Calculation Techniques

Advanced Scripting Techniques

Advanced Portal Techniques

Debugging and Troubleshooting

Converting Systems from Previous Versions of FileMaker Pro

Part IV: Data Integration and Publishing

Importing Data into FileMaker Pro

Exporting Data from FileMaker

Instant Web Publishing

FileMaker and Web Services

Custom Web Publishing

Part V: Deploying a FileMaker Solution

Deploying and Extending FileMaker

FileMaker Server and Server Advanced

FileMaker Mobile

Documenting Your FileMaker Solutions



Using FileMaker 8
Special Edition Using FileMaker 8
ISBN: 0789735121
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 296

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