Table Occurrence Groups and Context Management

Beginner

Design table occurrence groups (TOGs) to manage multiple execution contexts in a single FileMaker solution, covering group isolation, cross-group navigation, and context switching.

What you'll learn

What defines a table occurrence group
How context (current TO/layout) affects script behavior
How to switch context in a script using Go to Layout or Set Field
Common context errors and how to diagnose them

A table occurrence group (TOG) is the collection of TOs reachable from a single anchor without crossing an "unrelated" gap. In anchor-buoy design, each anchor and its buoys form one TOG. Scripts must execute in the correct context -- the right TOG -- for field references and relationship traversals to resolve correctly. Understanding TOGs is key to writing reliable cross-layout scripts.

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What is a TOG

A TOG is all TOs reachable from the anchor via direct relationship connections. In anchor-buoy design, each family is a TOG. A script running on a layout has context in that layout's anchor TOG -- all related field references resolve relative to that anchor.

TEXT

// TOG 1: Contacts family
//   Contacts (anchor)
//   Accounts_Contacts, Invoices_Contacts, Activities_Contacts (buoys)

// TOG 2: Invoices family
//   Invoices (anchor)
//   Contacts_Invoices, LineItems_Invoices (buoys)

// A script on the Contacts layout has Contacts as context.
// Invoices_Contacts::Amount works.
// LineItems_Invoices::Quantity does NOT work without a path through the Contacts anchor.

Conditional and Context-Driven Relationships Many-to-Many Relationships with Attributes