Organizing and documenting the Relationships Graph

Expert

Apply layout, grouping, and color conventions to the Relationships Graph so complex solutions remain navigable.

What you'll learn

How to use colors to group related TOs visually
A spatial layout convention for anchors and their related TOs
How to document the purpose of a TO in its name

The FileMaker Relationships Graph becomes a spaghetti diagram in any non-trivial solution. Deliberate layout, color coding, and naming conventions transform it from an obstacle into a documentation tool that new developers can read at a glance.

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Color coding by module

Right-click any TO in the graph to change its color. Assign one color per functional module (Contacts, Invoices, Projects, etc.). Utility TOs (globals, config) get a neutral color.

FileMaker Script

// Color convention example:
// Blue:   Contacts module TOs
// Green:  Invoices module TOs
// Orange: Projects module TOs
// Gray:   Globals / utility TOs
// Purple: Filtered/special-purpose TOs

Unstored calculations across relationship chains Modifying related records through portals