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Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

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    Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

    I'm new to A5. I have a Parent-"Child linked tables, and I need to have some of the fields in the child table default to the values from the parent table. The linked field gets populated when I add a child record (in a browse), but I need other fields to autopopulate as well. Iv'e tried to use the Lookups in the Field Rules to populate several fields, but they do not populate. Should I be using the Field Rules/Data Entry/Default Mode/With some kind of look up function, or am I going down the wrong path and missing an easier way.

    #2
    RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

    My question would be why do you want to store the same data in two tables?
    There can be only one.

    Comment


      #3
      RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

      I want to use some default values from the parent table based upon the linked field, but then allow the user to change the value in the child table.

      Comment


        #4
        RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

        Walter/Stan

        I can think of a scenario where I might like to auto populate a child table with data from the parent. Suppose your parent table stores information about an individual...First name, last name, home telephone number, street address, mailing address and so on.

        Now...since each individual can and usually does have more than one telephone number...home, cellular, work and so on, I might create a child table for telephone numbers and link them to the parent with the "Individual ID".

        Now once the parent record is created, I might want to automatically create a record for the telephone number child table which contains the information stored in the "Home Telephone Number" field of the parent. Then as time goes on, I could add other telephone numbers to the child table for the individual.

        Now, how to accomplish the seemingly useless...Walter, if you could elaborate on exactly what and why you are trying to accomplish a solution will most certainly be close at hand. If you could zip up your database and attach it to your explaination, that would be even better.

        Best Regards,

        Louis

        Comment


          #5
          RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

          The application is quite largs, and this is only a small part, so let me try to explain a simple example and perhaps I could get suggestions on how to make it happen

          Lets say you have two tables
          Table 1 consists of the following fields
          LinkField,C,5
          Field1,C,10
          Field2,C,10
          Field3,N,10,2
          .....

          Table 2 consists of the following fields
          LinkField,C,5
          Field1ToBeMod,C,20
          Field3ToBeMod,N,10,2
          ......

          Table1 is the parent and table2 is the child linked by LinkField

          The LinkField gets populated when a new record is added (in my case, in a browse), and I need Table2-"Field1ToBeMod to contain the value from Table1-"Field1, and Table2-"Field3ToBeMod to be populated from Table1-"Field3

          If someone can point me to the place/steps needed to make that happen (or tell me it cannot be done), I can take it from there.

          Thanks for you help

          Comment


            #6
            RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

            Louis,

            I don't want to start an argument but I fail to understand.

            "I might create a child table for telephone numbers and link them to the parent with the "Individual ID"." - wouldn't that be the time to move the home telephone number out of the parent table to the telephone number table, if only for consistency and ease of maintenance?

            Just a comment, not a criticism, and certainly not suggesting that this is the "only" way.
            There can be only one.

            Comment


              #7
              RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

              Walter,

              Two ideas to explore:

              1) if you want to try to do this in table field rules for the child table, consider defining a default value expression on the data entry tab. The expression would use one of the lookup() functions to retriev the field value using the current link field value as search key.

              2) if you want to do this on the form use a button script to enter the new child record. that script can assign field values from the current primary table record directly into the corresponding fields in the new child table record.

              -- t

              Comment


                #8
                RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

                Of course Stan is right but sometimes,whether due to poor design or as a speedup for reporting, it just has to be done. I do it (legacy design) in our key details table, so this is the voice of experience.

                Don't use lookups to populate the child table values. Every once in a while, a single lookup will fail to populate; with more than one lookup a failure is guaranteed particularly if the app is heavily used. Plust the lookus are just slow. With a field rule for default value, those failures may not be noticed right away which can be an even bigger problem.

                I finally solved these issues once and for all by doing the following (which was easier than redesigning the app!):

                I declared a global variable called "BillDetails" in both the parent and child tables.

                The variable is populated in the parent table OnSave event like this:

                BillDetails = padr(alltrim(table.current(1).field1,16)," ")+padr(alltrim(table.current(1).field2),12," ")

                The fields are all padded out to their defined size with spaces. This makes the variable a fixed length string.

                Then, in the child table field rules, matching fields are defined with default values of

                field1 = Substr(Billdetails,1,16)
                field2 = Substr(BillDetails,17,12)

                etc.

                It's super fast and never ever fails .

                Finian
                Finian

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

                  Oops. That should be

                  BillDetails = padr(alltrim(table.current(1).field1),16," ")+padr(alltrim(table.current(1).field2),12," ")

                  And numeric field can also be include by converting to string in the OnSave and back in the details.

                  Finian
                  Finian

                  Comment


                    #10
                    RE: Child Record Fields Default from Parent Fields

                    Thanks Tom,

                    The #2 idea did the trick, I just needed to dig deeper for the right On Push Action for the Button (which I named "Add New Record"); I changed the "On Push" event and used the "XBasic Enter Record" item and selected the child table in the "Specify name of Table to Edit" and added the fields to recieve the values in the "Fields to Enter/Edit" then chose "Update field to: Result of an expression" and used the fields from the parent table as the expression.

                    I was suprised that I had to also include the linking field and place the value from the parent table in it, but when I did, the child records then had the proper link value.

                    My form has some fields from of the parent table, the add new record button, and a browse of the child records. Is there a way to automatically refresh the browse to show the new record?

                    Thanks,

                    Walter

                    Comment

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