Using linked databases…

[Thomas Kitts]

I have been using Bento until recently but am looking to replace it with TAP. (Currently exploring the ten day demo on my Apple Powerbook running Maverick. There is much I like about this app.)

I successfully imported my entire bento database, which contains two ‘libraries’ (Bento’s terminology, not mine.). One library is a straight forward contact list of galleries, and the other is a list of my paintings with various specifications. In Bento, I had been using a ‘related datafield’ function to link the gallery list and painting list together. I wanted to be able to track which gallery had which painting(s) at any given time and I only wanted to update the data once as work moved to a different location.

This ‘double-entry’ (my term, not Bento’s) function appears to work in TAP as it did in Bento. But if I am in the TAP painting database and I want to know what paintings a specific gallery has on-hand, I can’t perform a search for that gallery which is listed in the ‘related datafield’. Neither Bento or TAP seem to include the ‘related datafield’ in a search.

I know this wasn’t possible to do in Bento. Is this even possible to do in TAP? Or should I set this up in a different way?

TIA,

thokitts

[Brendan]

Hi Thomas,

In Tap Forms this is called an Inverse Relationship. You don’t have to have a double-entry system as Tap Forms will manage that for you. What you need is a single Link to Form field that links your Galleries to your Paintings, then enable the “Show Inverse Relationship” function. Tap Forms will automatically add a “Link from Form” field to the Paintings form which will link back to the Galleries form. You can do it the other way around too instead of from Galleries –> Paintings, you can do Paintings –> Galleries. Then whenever you look at a Gallery record, you’ll see a list of Painting records. If you look at a Painting record, you’ll see a list of Gallery records.

Thanks!

Brendan

[Brendan]

Also, what may have happened during the Bento template import process is you have those two relationships, but both with “Link to Form” relationships. So what you want to do is remove one of them and then enable the “Show Inverse Relationship” function. You can do that first before you delete the other Link to Form field just so you can see if it’s working right. Use the Default Layout to see if it’s working right since Tap Forms won’t add a field to any of your custom layouts (what Bento used to call forms).

Thanks

Brendan

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