Work with table occurrences and relationships

A table occurrence is a named instance of a base table on FileMaker's relationships graph. Layout context and relationship paths refer to occurrences, so two occurrences of the same table can produce different related data.

Add an occurrence

Tell the agent which base table the occurrence represents and what relationship context it serves:

Add an Orders table occurrence for the customer-detail context and relate it to Customers using the existing primary and foreign keys.

The agent resolves project standards before naming the occurrence. It should not infer a relationship from field names alone when several keys or contexts are possible.

Define relationships

A relationship joins two table occurrences with one or more predicates. Review the left and right occurrence, field pair, comparison operator, and relationship options before approving it.

Options such as creating related records or deleting related records can change data behavior beyond the graph itself. The agent should call these out explicitly.

Organize the graph

ADT can position occurrences and add or update graph notes. These changes improve graph readability but do not change which records relate. Keep structural relationship changes separate from visual cleanup when you want an easier review.

Verify context

After a change, ask the agent to read the two occurrences and their relationship back from the file. Then verify any affected layout uses the intended occurrence. A correct relationship attached to the wrong layout context still produces the wrong result.

See Create layouts for data access for Web Viewer layout context.