Learning Claris FileMaker

Typically, portals in FileMaker are used for showing related data. However, a portal based on the same table as its layout would simply display the current found set.

If you made the portal large enough, the layout would appear as a list view- which wouldn’t be very helpful.

So, in this blog, we will make the portal smaller and create a powerful layout design, the Master Detail portal.

... (read more on how to leverage a better UI) ...

In this short video, we discuss the different types of portals and show how they can be used in a highly effective manner

FileMaker 17 has a great new feature for creating “Master-Detail” layouts. With this feature, you can create a new type of portal this is a bit different than the regular portals we are all used to using. It’s super-slick, and super easy to create.

In this article, I’ll explain what Master-Detail is, how to create… Read more about FileMaker 17 – Portals for Master-Detail Layouts

In this video, I’ll show off the two, new features of the portal object in FileMaker 17.

We’ll start by quickly building a powerful master-detail layout. Then, we’ll automatically create relational database schema using the add-on table feature. 

Inverted Portals in FileMaker

Once in a while a great trick comes along that needs just a little more attention.

Doug West of Excelisys developed one last year showing off inverted portals in FileMaker.

So what is an inverted portal?

It's a portal that allows users to enter data in the first line of the portal instead of the last, easily done with only one table occurrence.

Something FileMaker developers have wanted for a long time.

I take no credit for this trick: I made this video to just help spread the word a little faster:

Don't forget to download the free example file at the link below.

Source: eXcelisys [FMP Tip-n-Trick] Inverted Portals with FileMaker Pro | eXcelisys

Dynamic Portal Search with FileMaker

Portals are a critical element for displaying information on all FileMaker layouts.

Portals, however, have a limitation in that they have a fixed height. This means they are not great for displaying blocks of text that may vary in length.

At our recent FMPUG-MN meeting Tim Cimbura shared a demonstration of how to use a webviewer and some calculated html code to display records of varying height similar to a portal.

A link to a script in each record opens a card window to allow editing of the information.

This sample file is fully editable and free.

One of your most powerful methods of showing data, within a fully controlled manner, is using the combination of global fields and portals.

The portal object isn't simply for showing the related data as it belongs to one single record. A portal is a display tool useful for presenting whatever data you want and, however you want.

In this video, I use the example of showing multiple events based on the selection of multiple locations. Whether you need to provide a simple multi-selection option in your UI, or your filtering needs extend to multiple field values, the use of a global field, in conjunction with a portal object, is how you can achieve a lot of your display objectives.

How many times do your customers ask for a portal showing sales or purchasing history of a product?

Or maybe an invoice history for a customer. In most of these situations, they want the portal sorted newest to oldest.

If there will only be a few dozen related records, then the fix is simple, just configure the portal to sort descending based on a field like Creation Timestamp or Serial ID.

However, when there are hundreds or even thousands of related records this can become very problematic and a real performance dog.

The same can be true of list views, or even sorted relationships.

Sorting is certainly always a red flag when it comes to performance as the data set grows.

This is even more pertinent with a WAN-first methodology.

FileMaker 17’s new master-detail layouts display the list of records in the user’s found set.

As the user performs finds, constrains, omits, sorts, or creates or deletes records, the master-detail portal will update to stay in sync. Imagine a portal that a user can sort any way they like, filter any way they like, and click a row to see details for that row, all right out of the box.

That’s the power of the master-detail portal.

Read the full post on Beezwax website ...

The Portal In-Line Progress Bar, one of FileMaker 15's new performance based features, brings with it the separation of a layout's non-portal and portal rendering tasks.

This means users are no longer forced to wait for cumbersome portals to load before being able to interact with a window's content.

It also means developers can now feel more confident in deploying portals once considered off limits due to their long load times.