This card set entered on 5-23-14
- 22.14.3
- p 376. You start the actual construction of a TOG with:
a GLOBAL FIELD, because this layout will be looking for records, and will not hold any data
- Why do you need to start with a GLOBAL FIELD?
because it is necessary for ALL THE SUBSEQUENT STEPS in this example.
- Where do you put the GLOBAL FIELD?
since the CONTEXT of your INTERFACE is the EXPENSES TABLE, this is where you add the field.
- You know that fields set with GLOBAL STORAGE have the SAME VALUE ACROSS EVERY RECORD in the table that HOLDS THEM. Since they’re SO DIFFERENT from any other fields, database developers assign them special names so that:
they STAND OUT in a LIST. You can PRECEDE the name of all your GLOBAL FIELDS with the word “global,” or simply use a lower case “g” as a prefix.
- So what would be the name for a GLOBAL Invoice ID field?
gInvoice ID
- Some developers use the lower case “g” in the names of their TABLE OCCURRENCES to indicate:
that the RELATIONSHIP USES A GLOBAL FIELD as a KEY. This is a REMINDER that the relationship does NOT work bidirectionally, as normal fields do.
- The RELATIONSHIP GRAPH offers a CLUE that there is a GLOBAL RELATIONSHIP being used, by:
using a RELATIONSHIP LINE END that does not TOUCH the Table Occurrence with the Global Field, but rather approaches the TO with a small line parallel to the side of the TO box.
- By using the special RELATIONSHIP CONNECTOR on the GLOBAL FIELD end, FileMaker reminds you that:
the RELATIONSHIP is NOT BIDIRECTIONAL.
- As you CONVERT the WHOLE GRAPH to the ANCHOR-BUOY MODEL, each new TOG handles a new set of data and management tasks. More TOs cause:
REDUCTION in the overall confusion because the Table Occurrence LIST DOES NOT have the TABLE OCCURRENCES LUMPED TOGETHER in a long, unalphabetized, ungrouped list. Rather, they’re grouped by RELATED and UNRELATED Table Occurrences
