Hi I was hoping someone would be able to sort out a problem I'm having
building my contact database.

I have 14,000 contacts and around 10,000 different comanies all listed
in an excel file what I would like to have is a database showing the
company information and then listing the contact information and other
relevent fields for each contact for the company beneath.

An example of this is on the Contact Management Template where they
list similars by company

Cheers

Ed,

This can be done providing a few details. There has to be some common
denominator between contacts and companies. This is used to set up a
relation. Since you have not provided any further details there is no use
starting explaining.

So to help us giving better answers, please provide platform, filemaker
version, previous experience, and layout of your source file.

Keep well, Ursus

"Ed" <britainonview (AT) googlemail (DOT) com> schreef in bericht
news:1172226610.223030.5430 (AT) s48g2000cws (DOT) googlegroups.com...

On Feb 23, 12:15 pm, "Ursus" <ursus.k... (AT) wanadoo (DOT) nl> wrote:
Thanks for the reply sorry if this appears twice I don't think it
posted the first time

I am a novice with File Maker and will answer your quetions and any
others you have as best as possible

The version of Filemaker that I'm using is Pro 6.0 v4 and I'm working
on a MAC OS X 10.4.8

The layout of the source file is in the form of a list currently in
Excel and the comon denomiter is the name of the company this field is
called company name.

The stage that I'm at with the database is that I have uploaded my
excel data into fields in FileMaker I have two layouts one showing the
company information and then a script runs a find to list the contacts
from that company on another layout. although this works to an extent
it is a bit cumbersome.

Please let me know any other information you require and thanks for
your help on this

Ed

you have received my answer by private mail

Ursus (Erik)
"Ed" <britainonview (AT) googlemail (DOT) com> schreef in bericht
news:1172237338.442539.217810 (AT) h3g2000cwc (DOT) googlegroups.com...

This is a classic data conversion scenario. It would be simple enough
to set up a relationship from Company Name to COmpany Name between the
two files, but this would break if you ever change the spelling of a
company name in one place or the other. Instead, we will create a
relationship between serial IDs.

I would start by adding a CompanyID field (number) to the Company table.
Set the options to make it an auto-enter serial number. You should
temporarily place the field on your Company layout. In browse mode,
make sure your found set includes all records (CMD-J), click into that
CompanyID field, and you will perform a 'replace contents' to fill in
the serial numbers for the existing records (future records will get
their serial IDs inserted automatically). I believe 'replace contents'
is CMD-= (CMD equals) on the Mac. Select the replace with serial
numbers' option and click the 'replace' button.

The next step is to add a CompanyID field (number) to your Contacts
table. This is NOT an auto-enter field. Temporarily place the field on
your Contacts layout.

In the Contacts file, create a temporary relationship from Contacts to
Companies, from Company Name to Company Name.

On the Contacts screen, make sure you are viewing all records (CMD-J),
click into that CompanyID field, and you will perform a 'replace
contents' to fill in the serial numbers from the related Company
records. Select 'replace with calculated result', select 'Contacts'
from the dropdown menu at the top left of the calculation dialog, and
double-click on the COmpanyID field so that it should now appear in the
large calculation box below (i.e. the large calc box would say
"Companies::CompanyID"). Click 'OK' and then 'replace'.

Next step is to change the relationship that you had just added in the
Contacts table from company name and instead make the match field
'CompanyID' for both sides of the relationship.

Now go to the Companies file and add a relationship there from Companies
to Contacts, matching on the Company ID field on both sides of the
relationship, and mark the option to allow creation of related records.

Now in layout mode (in the Companies layout), add a portal that is based
on his relationship, and add your related Contact fields into the first
row of the portal.

Back in browse mode, go to a company that you know has contacts and you
should seethose contacts listed. You should also be able to click into
the last row of the portal and add info for a new contact for that company.

This might all seem like a complex process for someone who is new to
databases and new to FileMaker, but going through this process will be a
great way to learn about your database. Please let us know if you run
into any problems or have any questions.



Ed wrote:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Howard Schlossberg
FM Professional Solutions, Inc. Los Angeles

FileMaker 8 Certified Developer
Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance