#Filemaker pro 12 relationships how to
#Filemaker pro 12 relationships install

Can you reason why the relationships have not been added? Stop and think about it for a second. Notice there’s no relationships added as of yet. Likewise the Notes table occurrence is added to the RG. Here’s what the Projects file relationship graph looks like without the add-on installed:Īt Installation, the layouts, scripts are added to the file. Your add-on should be available in the AddonModules folder inside the FileMaker Pro Extensions folder, and it should be ready for installation.

With your handy external file, create the add-on package. Its only purpose is to help the XML know which field is meant to be the ForeignKey field. However, this object will NOT be part of the drag-on package. Yes, we’re placing a foreign key field on the ‘special’ layout. Finish the name by including the RelationshipName you gave the actual ForeignKeyField: _FMAddonDynamicRelation_R1 Name it carefully with the prefix _FMAddonDynamicRelation_. Group the foreignKey field with its field label. The layout needs to have the _FMAddonTemplateDirectives_en name, as we learned previously. Since this add-on is meant for many different scenarios, it’s impossible to specify the name pre-install. Unfortunately I cannot give it a more specific name, like “ProjectKey” or something. Since this Notes table is going to be related to a “Projects” table occurrence, I need the foreignKey field here. The only recourse we have is to use the defaultFields.xml setup that FileMaker uses for each new table. There’s no way to do this in the Manage Database UI yet. Right here we have to stop and explain something very important: the PrimaryKey field MUST be identified in the eventual XML as a primary key field. This table should contain a PrimaryKey field and a ForeignKey field. In a new FileMaker file (called “Notes”) add any fields you want in the package to that Notes table. We’re going to illustrate this process with a child table that holds notes for each project in a Project table. So let’s get packaging! Creating Related PackagesĪ Related package is one that will be added to a custom app and be automatically related to some other table in your file. I’d recommend reading the three considerations again and see if you get an idea of their meaning. We’ll clarify them in due time, but I wanted to point these ‘issues’ out to you right away. The difference is very apparent in these kinds of add-ons.

Remember: there’s a difference between ‘installing’ the add-on and dragging it to your layout.

Adding an add-on to a layout automatically creates the relationships between that layout’s table occurrence and the add-on’s tables, provided you’ve set up the package correctly.

Even if you place the add-on many times in your file, each instance will use the exact same table.

#Filemaker pro 12 relationships install

As you install the add-on, the tables inside the package get added to the schema once. A package is one or more tables (among other FileMaker things).Since, in this post, we’re using the use case of “adding a notes package to a custom app”, our add-on creation starts with the Notes context (table). We are creating add-ons from the ‘related table’ context.

#Filemaker pro 12 relationships how to

We’ll also explain how to create a many-to-many relationship add-on, such as a “Schedule/ Classes” package.

In this post we’ll look at how to create this “Notes” add-on package, which, in database terms, requires a one-to-many relationship.

This add-on takes the place of having to build this table, the scripts, and the relationships over and over. This add-on is meant to be installed anywhere in your file and in many different files. That is, you might wish to build an add-on called “Notes” that consists of a related table of notes displayed in a portal. There are other types of add-ons that require a more extensive relational set up. Sure you might need to attach some fields to scripts, but essentially these kinds of widgets are a complete package. all can be dropped into a custom app as they are. Calendars, check box button bars, notification popovers, date pickers, timers, etc. In part 1 of All That We Know on Add-ons, explaining all that we know about this new feature, we talked about how to create add-ons that lend themselves to UI widgets.