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| Contents > Working with related tables and files > Working with related tables and files |
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| Working with related tables and files |
| FileMaker Pro uses related tables as the basis for relational databases and lookups. Relational databases allow you to work with data from other tables dynamically, so that you can change data in one place and your changes are reflected in all places where the related data appears. Lookups let you copy data from one table to another; once looked-up data has been inserted, it does not change unless you edit it or tell FileMaker Pro to look it up again. |
| Use relational databases to: |
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See and work with data from another (or the current) table in its most up-to-date state. For example, you can display data in related fields when you need current data from a related table, such as the current price of an item. |
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Set up and manage data efficiently and with flexibility. Instead of creating many database tables or files with duplicate values, you store single occurrences of values and use relationships to make those values available. You can then make changes to data in only one place, which eliminates data duplication and promotes data accuracy. |
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Save disk space, because data is stored in only one place. |
| Use lookups to: |
| Notes |
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You can also see and work with data from external ODBC data sources. See Accessing external data sources for more information about working interactively with data in SQL tables. |
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All FileMaker Pro tables used in your database must be from FileMaker Pro 7 or later files. Files created with earlier versions of FileMaker Pro must be converted to the current version first. For more information about converting files, see Converting files from FileMaker Pro 6 and earlier. |
| More detail about working with related tables and files |
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About relationships |
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About the types of relationships |
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Working with the relationships graph |
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Summarizing data in portals |
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About lookups |
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About planning a database |
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| Contents > Working with related tables and files > Working with related tables and files |
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