Trucking

[Kristy]

Hi there. I'm a truck driver and I'm using FDB Free to keep track of my loads. I have one table for customers (which can be shippers or consignees), one table for each load, and one table for additional stops.

Additional stops means any stop where I load or unload freight, except the first our last such stop. For example, I pick up a load in Belvidere, IL, and take it to Cheyenne, WY, where they take the entire trailer load of freight. This load has no additional stops. Then I drive to Greely, CO where I pick up another load. I take that load to Detroit, MI where they take some of the freight. Then I drive to Delaware, OH where they take the rest of the freight. This load has one additional stop.

The way I have the relations set up now, I can only see one additional stop when I look at the load in the form I created for the loads table. I can also see the pickup and final delivery locations, but not the location of the additional stop that is shown.

Each load has a unique ID number, and the load table includes an integer field indicating how many additional stops there are. How do I set up the form to show all of the additional stops, and hide that section entirely if there aren't any additional stops?

[support]

Well, the application does not have the fields with multiple values.

I think for your case you could create multiple relations for each stop up to maximum practical number of stops - assuming you would never have a trip with five stops, you would need to create four relations for stop 1, stop 2, etc. Then you could create a separate form views for trip with one stop - this will include only one stop, form for two stops will include fields for two stops, etc. You would have to manually select the form views, but that should not be a big problem, and you can also add a field to trip record with the number of stops, so that you could see right away if the active form view is relevant to displayed field.

[Kristy]

I've yet to see more than three additional stops, and zero is the norm, but the system used by the company I drive for can handle 89 additional stops.

If I edit the table structure to add fields, will that affect existing data?

[support]

If I edit the table structure to add fields, will that affect existing data?

Adding fields or relations will not affect existing data.

[Kristy]

I finally got around to trying your suggestion and it works great. Thanks!