Creating portals to display related records
A portal is a layout object that displays records from related tables. Use a portal only when you want to display data from more than one related record. Portals display data from related fields in rows, one record in each row. For more details on when to use portals, see Deciding where to place related fields.
To create a portal:
1.
In Layout mode, click the Portal tool Portal tool in the status toolbar.
2.
Position the crosshair pointer on the layout where you want the portal to begin, then drag the pointer diagonally until the portal is the size you want.
3.
In the Portal Setup dialog box, for Show related records from, choose the related table from which you want to display related records.
You can also choose Manage Database to create a new table or relationship.
4.
 
Sort portal records, and click Specify. In the Sort dialog box, choose the fields by which to sort the portal records, and click OK.
Filter portal records, and click Specify. In the Specify Calculation dialog box, define a formula for a calculation to filter the portal records, and click OK.
Allow related records to be deleted from the related table (in Browse mode)
Display a scroll bar at the right side of the portal, with which users can see (and enter) more records than are visible in the portal at one time
Reset the scroll bar to display the portal’s first record when you exit the current record
Reset scroll bar when exiting record (or, clear this option so the scroll bar does not reset)
5.
 
In the Initial row box, type the row number
For Number of rows, type a number
Display a different background in alternating portal rows, for contrast and easy identification
Select Alternate background fill, then make choices from the Fill color palette in the formatting bar.
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Tip  You can drag objects, such as a related field, onto the first row of an existing portal to add it to the portal.
To select a portal:
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For more information, see Selecting objects.
To resize a portal row:
1.
You see selection handles at each corner of the first portal row.
2.
The first row resizes and each additional row resizes to match the first row.
3.
To change the record options or display options for a portal:
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To delete a portal and its contents:
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Notes
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In Layout mode, a portal object displays its characteristics in the lower left corner of the object: its table name, the range of rows that the portal will display, a plus sign (+) if vertical scrolling is enabled, Filter if filtering is enabled, and Sort if sorting is enabled.
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Filtering records is intended for display purposes only, not for security purposes. Filtering records has no effect on the results of calculations, summaries, and find requests.
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In most cases, you should enable Show vertical scroll bar in the Portal Setup dialog box. If you don't and there are more related records than will fit in the number of portal rows you've defined, you won't be able to see all the related records or enter new related records.
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You can display objects other than fields in the first row of a portal. An object placed in the first row of a portal is displayed once for each related record.
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You can’t place a tab control or a web viewer in a portal. If you place these objects on a portal, they appear as objects on the layout that overlap the portal.
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To number the rows in a portal, in Layout mode, click in the first portal row where you want numbers to display, then choose Insert menu > Record Number Symbol. Numbers appear in portal rows in Browse and Preview modes, and when you print the layout. For more details, see Inserting the date, page number, or other variable onto a layout.
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You can summarize data that appears in a portal. For example, if you have a portal that displays products and prices, you may want a field that displays a subtotal of all the prices listed in the portal. For more information, see Summarizing data in portals.
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If one or more records cannot be changed because they are being accessed elsewhere — either in another window by the same user or (if the file is shared) by other clients, then the record(s) is locked.
Related topics 
Working with related tables and files
Filtering records in portals