Sorting portal rows: relationship sort vs portal sort

Beginner

Control the order of portal rows by configuring a sort within Portal Setup, and understand how that differs from the sort order defined on the relationship itself.

What you'll learn

How to set a sort order directly in Portal Setup
How the portal sort interacts with any sort defined on the relationship
How to let users re-sort a portal at runtime with a button script

Portal rows can be sorted in two places — in the relationship definition and in Portal Setup — and understanding which takes precedence prevents unexpected ordering.

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Set a sort in Portal Setup

In the Portal Setup dialog, click "Sort portal records". Add one or more sort criteria. This sort applies only to this portal instance — not to the relationship or other portals using the same relationship.

FileMaker Script

Portal Setup > Sort Portal Records:
Sort by: Orders::OrderDate  ▼  Descend
Then by: Orders::OrderNumber  ▼  Ascend

# Result: newest orders first; ties broken by order number ascending

Filtering portal rows with a calculation Cascade deletes: deleting related records with a parent