Title
Newbie question about fields with multiple columns and rows
Post
Hi all, I am BRAND NEW at Filemaker Pro so I apologize in advance if my question sounds like a dumb one. I am working with my client on creating a central database for all of their products and am working on bringing over the content from their current catalogs into Filemaker.
My main dilemma is how to include the information within the rows and columns from the tables under each item shown in the print catalog. To make things even more complicated, the tables under the items don't always contain the same number of columns and column headers are different on many of the items. Also, the number of rows differ from one item to the next. I have included a screenshot below to show 2 sample items from one of our catalogs. The first item has just 3 columns 8 rows in the table under the item description, while the second item has several more rows and columns.
Pls. can you advise me on the best way to get this data into FileMaker?
Thank you so very much in advance,
Christine
Option 1:
Set up a single table with Ascot No., Mfg. No and a primary key field.
Use related tables for the other columns of data. Set up different related tables for products that have different numbers and types of columns.
Option 2:
Set up one table with a large number of fields. For any given product, only use the fields needed for that particular product and leave the unused fields blank.