Relationship Documentation

Intermediate

Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for a FileMaker relationship architecture -- within the solution itself, in external tools, and in team knowledge bases.

What you'll learn

How to create in-solution documentation for the relationship graph
How to document individual relationships and their business purpose
How to generate external documentation for stakeholder review
How to keep documentation in sync with the solution as it evolves

A well-designed relationship graph is only useful if the team can understand and extend it. Documentation serves two audiences: developers working in the solution (who need immediate reference) and onboarding developers (who need conceptual orientation). The most valuable documentation is inside FM itself, on a Documentation layout, where it is always accessible.

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In-solution Documentation layout

Create a Documentation table with one record per documented element (table, relationship, TO naming convention, business rule). A Documentation layout provides a searchable reference developers can open without leaving FM.

TEXT

// Table: Documentation
// Fields:
//   DocID           -- serial primary key
//   Category        -- text (Table, Relationship, Convention, BusinessRule, Script)
//   Subject         -- text (the name of what is being documented)
//   Description     -- text (plain English description)
//   Purpose         -- text (why this exists, what problem it solves)
//   RelatedSubjects -- text (related documentation entries)
//   LastUpdated     -- auto-enter modification timestamp
//   Author          -- auto-enter modification account

// Documentation layout: searchable portal or card window interface
// Filter by Category; search Subject and Description fields

Managing Relationship Graph Complexity Multi-Tenant Data with FileMaker Relationships