Can I copy a field within layouts/individual records display different values

April 22, 2020

Hey guys,

I am very new to filemaker pro and I currently am working on a few projects. The example I will use to ask my question will be from a hobby of mine.

I have created a brewing worksheet and I have an issue that I would like to get solved without having to create dozens of fields. I am trying to create a database for the different beers that I am brewing and am trying to have it display recipies for each record. Example, I have created a "Hop Ingredients" Field, but I need multiples of that field since there are different kinds of hops I am using. My problem is when I make copies of the field, when I select one in browse mode, all of the field of that type displays that information. I want it so each field can independently display its own "hop ingredient" without having to use multiple fields. I did the same with other fields such as "quantity", "grain bill" etc. and I dont want to create 70-80 fields to do this.

Am I approaching this wrong? Or is there something I am missing or if FIlemaker incapable of doing what I would like it to do?

I have attached the file and an image of where I created the values for the field. I hope I made my issue clear to everyone.

I appreciates any ones input.

Brewing.fmp12

Edited April 22, 2020 by agian510

April 22, 2020

Any time you need multiple fields for the same item, or everything in one table, it is always a good indicator of incorrect structure.

FileMaker can do it. The obvious issue is can YOU do it.

The problem is you're trying to do this all in one table. There are many examples of how to set this up.

I'll see if I can find some. Maybe someone else will post some examples.

For starters you need a table for Recipes, and a related table of ingredients added to the recipe, and a table of just ingredients.

A very good example would be to look a database set up for invoicing. In it's simplest form.

Invoice-----<LineItems>-----Products

would equal,

Recipe-----<IngredientsAdded>---------Ingredients

Then a simple layout would be based on Recipe, with a portal of line items (IngredientsAdded), which could be dropdowns pointing to ingredients.

It would be in this portal where you would have your quantity fields and all pertinent information (brewing processes/instructions) to one specific recipe.

May 2, 2020

Hey,

So that definitely was good advice to take me in the right direction but I am now struggling to find the correct relationship. I created a Hop database and created ID numbers for each type, but when I create a portal in my brewer recipe table, the best I have been able to do is edit one line item in the portal table. I have a screen shot and I'm going to post the link to my file again.