Interface Design Discussions

I am messing around with FileMaker 7/8's multiple window capabilities and have run into a bit of a quandry. What I am trying to do is gather info about all the open windows. I chose, for lack of a better idea, to select each window in a looping script and populate a global field with an array consisting of the position and size of each window. This works great if all the open windows belong to the file from which the script was run. While the script successfully selects the windows that don't belong to the file from which the script was run, it doesn't gather the info about those windows. I understand that it's a focus thing and that I would need to run a …

I was wondering if anyone had any good resources on User Interface Design. I'm looking for good books, websites, or other easily accessible resources. My personal belief is that good user interface design accounts for a large part of a databases efficiency and effectiveness and want to expand my knowledge in that area.

Hi all, I am trying to place a gif (for some minor animation) in a container field. I seemed to not be able to get any animation going... a) Is my thinking off base? How can I accomplish what I want? Much thanks... Leoff :hair:

i think this goes here... the boss wants a hold button that when clicked some how displays that a record is on hold...but not by putting text into a field.. something like turning all the fields to red text and locking them...or putting the text "HOLD" over top of everything.... i don't really know how to go about this so any help would be apprieciated

anyone remember this topic Visual Appeal well i have hit my big 100 posts...and for my 100 i thought i would show what that discussion has gotten me feel free to say good or bad about my layout here it is my layout to see it bigger click enlarge at the bottom right of the of the image 100 posts yay me

anyone know how to make a button that flashes when new info is added to a record

Does anyone know how to have the field you are dragging TO end up active after the drop instead of leaving the field you are dragging FROM remaining the active field.

i have two scripts "accept" and "deny" and depending on which is run at the end of the script it fills in a field with either "accepted" or "denied" but i would also like it to show up bold and green for accepted and bold and red for denied can this be done in the script or do i have to do it another way i have read about it in my book and i have searched it on here and it still doesn't makes sense on what to do, could someone please dumb it down for me thanks vich

if anyone has any advice on visual appeal and making layouts visually appealing please help

// RANT ... I might have put this in Wants and Wishes; however, I decided Right Brain (User Interface) seemed more appropriate. I'll get to FileMaker directly about it. I don't have the statistics but I would bet that a third of the world's population is over 35. And since those under (say) age 6 aren't going to be using business applications (our solutions, web etc), that again shifts the numbers. So a vast number of people USING our solutions will have decreased eyesight (for one reason or other; or just naturally). And I'm tired of attempting to read web pages, forums, calculation boxes etc, that use ridiculously small fonts!! The percentage of Users I…

Is there such a thing as conditional layouts? I'm using FM7. I am working with two databases: television projects and film projects. I would love to be able to combine these two into one as they are each considered "projects" outside the database (and 80% of the fields are same). I am envisioning a list layout with both type of projects listed. Click on one and it takes you to a card layout, let's say television show project. Next card though, as it is say, a film project, will need to show that 20% different information (different fields need to "appear" on the layout. Make sense?

In my solutions, most graphical elements occur many times across all the layouts. I mean, buttons, backgrounds, arrows, etc... This increases file size but, more important, increases network traffic. Every graphic element can be substituted by a global container field, containing the image of the element, properly placed on the layout. When the file is loaded, the startup script takes care of loading all the graphic elements from a graphic-elements-table into the globals. Of course this requires more work when developing the solution and the layout design is more complicated. But there are several advantages: 1)Since globals reside on the cli…

Is there a way to partition a field into columns and rows?

I hear Macs are more friendly in this regard - the annoying flash produced when moving through records on a form layout. It bothers me and it bothers several of my Users. What can I do to reduce/eliminate the flash effect? Here are some specific things I've wondered ... 1) Buttons vs. rectangles - are they different as far as resource use or flash or are buttons simply a pre-defined format to make things easy on us? BTW for those with FM7 - Embossed buttons placed in containers no longer lose their great look! 2) Does grouping text with rectangle (or button) reduce or increase flash? Or grouping text with graphic? Or doesn't it matter at all? 3) I ha…

I created a calendar of work days with the help of another of the forum's gurus, comment. In it the calendar is represented by a concatenated string of letters (X for non-workdays and W for workdays), the numeric position of each letter in the string, when added to the start date of the calendar, produces the representative date. The calendar is built in a script loop that starts at a defined begin date field and stops after an end date field to create the string of calendar letters. There is also a function to change a date from an X to a W and vice versa. Weekend days are defaulted to be non work days when the calendar is built. Now I want to take it this concept o…

Occasionally a field, or fields, will lose the ability to show the chosen field borders. A one pixel wide border will show as 2 pixels wide or might not show at all. Sometimes it is only one of the four borders of the field which will be incorrect. The field is not engraved, embossed or drop shadowed. The pen tool line setting matches the setup in the field borders setup. Duplicating the field will correct the problem. What is extremely odd is the field borders display correctly when viewed at 200%. This has been happening on Windows XP with SP2 and FM v7.03. The last time it happened was after duplicating a layout, all the fields on the layout had the same incorrect bord…

Ok so I think this post beongs here, but if not let me know and I will delete and re-post! We have two groups of users that will be using the same database. These two groups will not see any of the same screens due to certain reports that will be run, scripts that could be executed, admin fields and whatnot. Right now I have seperated them into two files and am using a script to open the correct file depending on their privilege set. IS this neccesary? I could do it more simple CORRECT??

Hello Is there a way to give a <<fieldname>> a encoding like we do in CDML <<fieldname,html>>? Because I want that some numbers in a plane text look like

Hello to all: We need your help. We are currently preparing to add some "convenience" features to the next release (don't get excited, it's not soon) of our tab and navigation product, AutoNavigator 1.0v2 for FileMaker Pro. We ask if you would all be so kind as to .zip a copy of your favorite tab graphic(s) (not copyrighted by anyone of course), and email it (them) to us. If the graphic happens to be of your own design, and you would like a credit in the next release, we will be delighted to include it. If there are other matching graphics, such as divider lines, platform boxes, etc., we would appreciate getting those also. We will give a 50% di…

When a dialog box appears in front of another layout in FileMaker 7, it erases the screen behind it. That is, if a print dialog box comes up and I move it around, it acts like an eraser clearing out everything behind it (thus you can't see what you are about to print). This only happens on WIndows XP (Mac OS X doesn't erase). Is there any way to prevent this from happening?

Hi, I'm new to the Windows version of FileMaker. I was dismayed to find when a window is maximised to fill the application window, no other window can be displayed. If I try to popup another window in front, the background window is reduced in size. I understand this is a limitation built into the Windows version of FileMaker. However, when I then use a smaller window size, which allows for multiple windows, I run into another snag. If any part of the window is moved outside the boundries of the screen, another set of scroll bars appear. They seem to be designed to scroll the window back into view, but will not disapear, even when the window is moved back into t…

I hope this is the correct place to post this question. I have succesfully been able to get two summary fileds to layout correctly, as in the way they should be seen, but I want to change the way it looks and I am pretty sure it can't be done. Can someone please let me know if I can do this.. We normally have time entries for a client that happen about every to every other day. Which for LineItems is fine. But we want to produce a report for month end showing: Total hours per client, and then a grand total for total hours per employee. Client 1 might have a total of 20 time entries for the month but we want only the time of 5 hours to show up for the month. Cl…

Is there a way in Windows to make the mouse wheel scroll up and down a layout as opposed to scrolling through records? Thanks, Dan

Hi, I would like to specify the maximum field size. (NOT number of characters) I have created a label generator for spines of folders. Obviously it is a fixed size. At the moment, as you type text, the field will stretch to accommodate extra content and then on exit display only that content which fits the field. I cannot specify the number of characters as the user may increase/decrease the font size which obviously alters the number of characters. I just want to set the ability for the field to stretch to OFF or some such thing so you simply can't type anything further in past the size as set on screen. Cheers

I am developing a solution that needs to be compatible on all platforms. One thing I am running into is when switching between Mac and Windows some graphics elements don

Hi All, I would like to display a large field on a form (requires the vertical scroll bar), but in order to "have" the vertical bar the field properties must allow to enter the field... I want to have scroll bar and NOT let the user access the field. Don't want them to change the data... Do I have to create my own up & down buttons to have script do the scroll?? Or did I miss something?? thanks, Dan

Just formated a field with text baselines and was surprised to see that the baselines were displayed over the top of text in the field. Not a problem when the text and baseline are the same color but I need the baseline to be different and I certainly don't want the text obscured by the line. Any ideas?

I have asked a similar question about a year ago. Like most of us, I love Filemaker - except for 2 key issues. Firstly, unless my field borders are set as 50% black I find the "jittery" edges of non-calc, unlocked fields highly annoying. Surely there must be something that can be done about this? I am so opposed by this built-in functionality that I virtually only design with 50% black borders which is understandably very limiting. Has anyone got any idea how I can get around this (and I dont mean writing multiple scripts that go to the fields - especially since you have to write this with Scriptmaker as it can't be defined directly with the "format button" - which is ano…

My real job is Graphic Designer (sorry for my bad English) Here is the Idea I have design (And Copy) the last 2 years over a 3.000 Graphic Elements (GE) with Over A 500.000 VARIANTS I wrote an automation with applescript Quickeys And Serious Photoshop Action to make the production of Defferent Colours and Sizes The reason is to have a table or a file with this Graphic Elements in and relation them with Global fields in any of my databases The format is PNG the only format that support tranparency. I seperate the Huge collection with these categories Arrows RadioButtons SquearButtons Windows PopUp Menus Down PopUp Menus UP & Down Chec…

FM7 is driving me nuts!!! On some of my layouts, fonts seems to sink by 1 pixel. While this doesn't affect useability, it sure is irritating. I'm running 7.0v3 on a Mac. Anyone else having this problem? Any fixes? I've tried recreating layouts but the problem persists... -Rob

If you Insert Field and check the box 'Create Field Label', FM will nicely do so. Everyone knows this but did you know that, after creating a field label name in this matter any subsequent changes to that field name in Define Database (vs. 7) and Define Fields (less than 7) will also change the field label names everywhere it's been used throughout your solution? Some Developers know this so create their own field labels to avoid this bug. Some Developers know this so use this feature to save time having to then change the name everywhere. I borrowed the idea of FM native 3D titles, headings and field labels from Ray Cologon (CobaltSky). By using FM native headin…

Is it possible to format the text within custom dialog boxes so it is different sizes, bold or italics? I've tried using TextStyleAdd on one or two words and the whole messge without luck. Is it a limit that FM7 always uses what looks like Lucida Grande at 10/11 point (the Macs system default setting)? I'd be grateful for some insight.

How do you lock the size of your window? I have my database setup to work with the window at a peticular size. I want to lock it so nobody can drag the window smaller or larger. Thanks for your time

I am working on an interface solution and have a question about calculated fields. My database has calculated fields for displaying tab graphics and the related labels. These calculated fields do not seem to update automatically. In fact, their behavior is not predictable; thus they are broken. The situation has me scratching my head as I have elementary knowledge about these intricate calculation fields. Upon reviewing another interface example, the calculated fields have both check boxes under

First time post, I checked for this everywhere and I couldn't find an answer. Anyway, I created a database for a friend with fields to type characters in right to left. (for example: hebrew) 2 problems: 1- no matter what font I set the field to type in, it automatically switches to arial. 2- it types out fine, however when I need to edit the field everything is backwards. Meaning when I press backspace it backspaces from the other side as if it's left to right. If anyone has any help please let me know. [email protected]

When I restarted my computer all my FM7 file icons turned white and will not open except from within FM7. What could cause this and how do I fix it?

Not sure if this is the correct forum but here goes... I have a layout with multiple portals. These all work fine and I can add/edit/delete rows in each portal. My question is really to do with adding new portal rows. At the moment new rows are created by clicking/entering on the last row of the portal. This works but is not very intuitive. What would work better is a button above each portal that creates a new portal row. I know that using Go to Portal Row [Last] will do this. However this only seems to work for the first portal. Buttons above subsequent portals incorrectly add new rows to the first portal only. I know this script is dependent on the …

I have been working an interface solution for some time now. One solution has form the basis for my interface; 15 Minute tabs (http://www.filemakermagazine.com/) . In order to develop my own solution, I re-created Matt Petrowsky solution. My re-creation left me with some perplexing questions. First, one particular text box disappears when I place a background pattern on the body part. The text box just has a caption and is not attached to any field. When I remove the background on the body part, the text box appears in Browse. The Text box appears in layout with or without the background. I tried Arrange > To Front and still could not resolve this odd behavior. …

I've been using Filemaker Pro 7 for about 2 months now and have a pretty detailed database. Now my client wants to use keyboard commands for everything from switching layouts to selecting which report to run. Any ideas on what I can do?

We need a FileMaker 7 plugin or another way of displaying the current window without scrollbars, and without FileMaker 7 zoom/mode/status area controls in the lower left corner.

Hi, I have a members database with a picture field in it. I want to be able to take the members photo with a web cam or digital photo but i've been told i can't do that with filemaker. Does anyone know how i can do this? Is there a new feature in 7, a work-around or a plug-in somewhere? By the way i've never used a plug-in before so if that's the way to go i'd also appreciate some basic pointers on how it works. Any help would be appreciated.

So I'm designing my first commercial database and would like to see what the general consensus is regarding the size of text displayed in a browse layout - excluding labels and headers. I've been using 10pt. Thanks. -Kevin

I made a picture to better describe what I'm trying to accomplish. Basically I work for an industrial shop that has about 30 machines that jobs are running or reserved on. I'm trying to make a scheduling program where someone can insert, delete, and move around jobs on a whiteboard. Since the people who'll be using the program are not usually around computers I'm trying to make it as simple as possible. I thought about having drag and drop blocks (sometimes a group of blocks if a job is spanned across several machines at different times) but to be honest I'm not sure if it's even possible (although I think almost everything is possible in FM7 if you're creative enough…

I am wanting to specify different colours in a particular field where the colours may be different for different records. (This therefore means that I can't do this in layout mode or it becomes global.) At the moment we just use the words (ie red, yellow, etc) but would like to know if it's possible to actually have a pull down menu of the different colours.

A global field is formatted as a drop down list. If the user clicks in the field anywhere other than on a list choice the list collapses (as it should). However, if the user then clicks on the header area to exit the field they can not re-enter the list or execute any of the buttons in the Header. The system works fine on layouts without the Header formatting, and it works fine when clicking on the formatted Body. What is causing this? Can it be corrected other than changing the list to a menu? Global field is: If ( IsEmpty ( Lookup ( D_sSelectedNav::z_NavListName_t ) );TextColor ( "Select" ; RGB ( 255 ; 0 ; 0 ) );//No listName, Red TextColor ( Lookup ( D_sSel…

I'm stumped. I have two tables. Pricelines and PriceMatrix. I've always used the Pricelines "code" field as my look up reference. I then could bring the field value into my quotes, invoice, jobs etc. Now I'm trying to create a matrix to simplify the creation of new records in Pricelines with a improved interface. I don't know how to get all of the needed data in Pricelines from Pricematrix. I need the matrix to be dynamic and I would need several matrix with different price schedules. How can I make "number of colors", and "quantities" dynamic? Would it be possible for the user to choose how many price points and colors they would like available on their matr…

Does anyone know of a way I can get my portal windows to scroll with the mouse wheel?

I have just created a database for my birding life list. (I know, sounds like a code unless you are into birds.) I would like to be able to indicate on each record (if needed) whether the bird's name is recently changed/updated or not, and if there are other factors listed or not. With HyperCard I could easily create and script a check box (click once and an "X" appears, click again and it disappears...for each individual record). Or, similarly, create a clickable radio-type button (click once to indicate it's been clicked, or click again to remove the indication). If it were only 1 button or box, then I could easily create an alternate button graphic for a 2nd othe…

Hehe, Sorry everything is evil to me. I am asking if there is any pluggin to make the right and bottom scroll bars disappear. Also, make the zoom and toggle between modes to disappear. Any thoughts or suggestions ? Travis Ferreira

Daer All, I have an film cue project database I am trying to build. I am new to this (I am a music copyist). I am wondering if this is possible? I have a database of music cues, each cue has an orchestra size (2 Flutes, 2 Oboes etc) related to it. One project will probably have 3 or 4 different orchestra sizes. Can I have one layout that will list cues in each different orchestra, without showing fields that don't exist for that particular orchestra size. For example A orchestra has 3 Flutes and B Orchestra has 2 Flutes, how do I hide the Flute 3 field for B orchestra. I am trying to avoid building dozens of layout,s one for each orchestra size. Any pointers in th…

You know how some wall calendars have the last Sunday and Monday of the month share squares with the second to last Sunday and Monday? The rectangle is cut in half to create two triangles instead of two rectangles. Well, I downloaded a calendar FileMaker 3.0 file that uses honest-to-goodness triangle buttons to achieve this affect. It works great in FileMaker 6 on both Mac and Windows. I have no idea how this is done, and all my attempts to create a similar button have failed. How the heck do you do this? I could copy the element, but I'm creating a larger calendar layout, and sizing up the element creates "breaks" in the clickable area. I got the file …

I'm in the process of making a runtime database and need an icon for it, i have a logo and have been trying to make the first letter into an icon. I've tried 2 different pieces of software and i cant make the border transparent in either. please find attached the icon, i need the white surround making transparent. If anyone has the know-how.

Ive been creating a large database for a warehousing and distribution company. Its nearing completion, but i still want ot give it a name. I know the system PC World uses is called 'Eclipse', which has inspired me to give this sytem a name. Only problem is, i'm stumped for ideas. At the moment ive been calling it 'Mercury', but i thinks its ultimately cheesy and sounds like something out of a sci-fi film. Any ideas, Maybe a Roman/Greek/Norse God.

Seemed like a 50-50 chance on which forum to place this in. Suppose that you have a field, which you would like to turn red, if it goes over a specific amount. Is there anyway to change the color of that field with a calculation ?? what is the recommended/preferred way? thanks, J__

Is it possible to make a specific image pop when I chose something in a menu? i.e.: Help > About ..Would make the logo of my company pop-up (GIF image) but I don't want it within a layout, I really want a pop-up. Much like the script Show Message but I want it to "Show Image"

I have converted a complex FM6 file to FM7 which all appears well until I click any button which then leaves the button with a black outline, ruining the layout's appearance. This only disappears when I move to a different record and the screen refreshes, . Does anyone else encounter this? or have any suggestions? Mike Owen

Hi, I hope this is the right place to post a question like this? I

Does anyone know how to create a new window that doesn't have the blue banner at the top (Window Title Bar) and scroll bars at the side. It is so that I can create a database transport Nav tool with purely icons on it. I want it to be as small as poss without all the edges. I would like it to look abit like the size toolbox. I'm using FM& and have seen this type of window created on FM6 when I looked at a demonstration database. I know it's possible. Also, How do you get Filemaker to check if a certain window (by window name) is open before either selecting it or creating a new one? For a script step. If window [invoices] is open, select window [i…

Hi Everyone, I've got two questions: the first relates to the font size changing depending on what percentage the files are looked at - am i going mad?! I've got a bit of type, size 9 when viewed at 100% and size 8 when viewed at 150% ... go figure! Anyway, onto the real question ... The second question that i'd be glad of some help with, is that i'm trying to paste the contents of one text file in a portal, into another text file (by script) where it can be read better, ie the font is bigger and you can see more of it. When i paste in, the format of the portal type overrides that of the viewing field - something that i don't want to happen. There are lots of f…

I have a form type layout that I put fields on that align themselves with lines of text. They look and print great unless I print from another computer with possibly a different zoom level or if I print from a window platform. Is ther a way to lock the layout together so all the items stay in the same alignment regardless of zoom or platform?

Hi, Am using GTRR script step, open layout in new window. While my issue has probably been addressed previously, I can't put together an adequate solution. I want my new window to open smaller than and in front of the existing window and have the existing window remain maximised. Does anyone know an appropriate script to work around the problem? Thanks

Can anyone tell me if there's a way to maximise the FM APPLICATION window size on a PC so that an FMP opener file flash screen can always be made to fill the entire display - not just whatever size the application window was last left at ... which looks awful? (from an FMP script? or otherhow?) All suggestions gratefully received. Mike Owen

I'm making a straightforward name & address database, and am taking the opportunity to use graphics to make a more handsome interface than I've been able to in the past. What I'd really like would be to use vector art, rather than .jpegs or FMPro shapes, so that my graphics will scale accurately regardless of my user's screen size. I find that when I import an .eps, it scales poorly [like raster graphics]; an .ai [illustrator file] imports, but appears trasparent [i.e. no image information]; and a SVG is grayed out. Any advice, or am I out of luck?

Hi All, Is there a way to have animated buttons in FM7?? Something that would change as the cursor goes over it instead of having the cursor change into a hand when over a button. I would also like to have buttons with 2 states (pressed & not pressed), Is the best way to do this by using a container field for a button and make it receive different looking graphics?? Thanks --Dan

I have a TEXT field, where user adds the Body of a memo. I am unable to allow the users any ability to change the formatting of the text neither the indenting facility. The file has restricted access. Full Access works fine, but the with restricted access (no Deleting, exporting etc and no layout/scripts etc) there is no format tool available? What am I doing Wrong? Users are screaming!!! Please HELP!!!

If this is not the proper forum, I apologize to the mods. Care to look at what I'm working on? It's a tech. inventory, the one I use myself at work. People around the office have told me they like it, and I've decided to see if I can spiff it up enough to be donationware. I'd appreciate any attention you care to pay it, and any feedback you care to send my way. Here it is. FM 7. Thanks so much, I look forward to your extremely valuable feedback.

Does any know how to change the color of the background in Filemaker, not on a layout, but the actual foreground of Filemaker Pro 7. I am guessing you might be able to do this in the registry. -Travis

Suppose you have a grid with some items in it, say customer names. You have a button on the far right, which allows the user to jump to another layout to see more details about the customer record in the grid. the thing is that there is always a blank record after the last one and it shows a button, but no data? is there some magic setting to turn off this option? thanks, J__

I'm using FM5 with Windows 95. I am learning FM5 and need some help. I have noticed that Pop ups, Roll overs and Help files can only be used if you have FM6/7 on Windows 98 and above and with plug ins. Is there any way I create a script in HTML or Java ( I have a very basic grasp of programming )or by using script maker without the need to upgrade or use plug ins? I have created a database that works but I would like to be able to develop my database to my own custom requirements. Cheers S

I have a solution that contains information about our employees that I use all the time. Is there a way other than a list layout where I can have photos of employees in a grid layout (as opposed to a list) and be able to click on them to go to their related record? I already have a container field with the photos. Thanks, john

Hi, I have attached a file that has an interface that I've built over time, but now, to me, appears too cluttered. Could anyone share any ideas with me for how to lay it out more logically ? Or, just share any opinions or first thoughts you have ? It is the main record window for a job applicant database. Any advice would be most appreciated,.. I think I've been too wrapped up in this database for too long to look at it with fresh eyes. design.fp7.zip

I'm interested in comments regarding the use of multiple windows in FileMaker. As you probably know, FileMaker 7 has the ability for a single file to show multiple windows, which allows for some interesting and perhaps useful new additions to how solutions can work. For instance, I am currently working on a solution that has three tabs across the top: Home, Vendors, Traffic. Vendors and Traffic are main tables that contain the bulk of data entry, and have many portals into other tables of related information. Each has a list view and details view. With multiple windows, I can have one window for Home, one for Vendor List, one for Vendor Details, one for Traffic List …

I've run across a few 3rd party plug-ins that say they can create basic charts with FMpro. Can anyone offer suggestions or recommendations of their own for creating charts? I'm looking to do simple line charts that would update automatically once new data comes into the db. So once the chart is set up there shouldn't be much more to do a far as maintaining it. Is there anything available like this? Cheers...

HI all. I am wondering if anyone knows how to get rid of the back border that surrounds a text field when it is active. Yes, I have already unchecked Layout Setup: show field frame when field is active. I want to get rid of the back boarder when the mouse clicks into the field. Thanks for any advice. Travis Ferreira

All, Is there a way to align a layout to the centre of a window rather than to the left as standard? Besides appearances in FM this could also be used when publishing to the web ie Have a block of graphics similar to FM or Apple web site. Any thoughts? C

Hi, I have two drop down lists, which filter off of each other. drop down list 1 is Bands - has a list of bands in it. drop down list 2 is members - has a list of members in it. you pick the band you like, then you pick the members drop down list and select the person you want. so for example, I might pick Beatles and then pick Ringo Starr. I have this working - i believe. But how can you make the second drop down list automatically drop down.... let me elaborate more. the situation where it doesn't drop down is when I change the first one again. example: I picked the Beatles from band list, i picked Ringo Starr from the band members list. B…

Not sure where to put this. I have file with many tables. Many layouts are printed from different tables. We have many printers networked. Each script has a Print command but settings are all different. I would like a little tiny window which shows our printers and then staff can select one. Some printers are only for #10 envelopes, one is only for 9x6, some are HP black and white and some are color Tektronics or Laneir. And we are puchasing and trashing printers all the time. People are always printing wrong. I want to help them and myself. I want my Preference (I think) to hold our printer names (or number?). Then I want it to say which reports can use which pr…

Hi, Is it natively possible ? I'm playing a bit with it. I can have it slide, but not in the background. You know as a Mac OSX drawer...

Is there a standard development approach to layouts for dbs? Normally when I design dbs I design layouts to go with each db. For example, on a client db there would be layouts for entering new clients, searching, displaying search results, editing single records and the like. This is a typical FM approach, at least insofar as the books are concerned. Some layouts would have self-joins and/or other relationships and portals other would have subsummary and trailing summary reports. Essentially if the layout items were of direct concern to the information stored in the db it would stay with the db. I've begun to question the logic of this approach. I wonder if it…

Hi All, i have a field calculation were if a certain instance occurs it enters a message in to a field and if another instance occurs it enters another message. now id like to if possible make one message text go red and the other green. How can i do this? Thanks in advance.

I've seen some solutions that scream amature/newbie when I notice lots of inconsistencies in the interface. I'm at the starting point of a new (huge) project and want to make a choice about some interface issues early on. The project is an Electronic Medical Record system used by many different users and discplines in a hospital. It's likley the users will be flipping between a couple of applications (including DOS type), and typically will interact with the system for 10 or 15 minute intervals throughout the day. OneQuestion is Field Labels... so where do you put your labels? [ ] Above the field [ ] To the Left, and aligned to the LEFT [ ] to the Le…

What is the best way to highlight a row in a list view ? I am using FMP 6.0. The records contain 8 fields and when I toggle through them, I would like the entire row(all the fields) to change a color to show that row is highlighted. Thanks for all the help Cheers.

A little nit picky of a detail but how does one add those little arrows on the far right of a pop up menu or list? It's real useful for showing people that there's a dropdown menu there. Sounds way too easy for me to even have to ask this question.

Hello all ! I am working on our product's interface design. I would like to know if there is a way to remove the black border when the field is selected ? Also, I am gettting a dotted border on the unselect field, is there a way to remove that ? Cheers, Travis

I am using fmp6 with the web server connector to host a website. I am using cdml to process commands to the database. When I search for something on the site I type in what I am looking for and I press submit everything works fine. If I press return then I get the following error:

How would I change the color of the Filemaker Main Menu Bar to a different color ? How would I do this in Filemaker v. 6.0 ? And if there is a difference how would i do it in Filemaker v 7.0

hey, when I try to paste an image from photoshop into a container field I get the following error: Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library Buffer Overrun Detected! etc. ... It forces FM to shutdown. It even does this right after a reboot, and with a very small image. If I cut from photoshop, close the progam, and try it, it works. I've had some similar problems with FM6 where I will occasionally get a message that the program is busy, and I'm given an option to retry or switch programs. (Sorry I can't be a little more specific -- I just can't get the error to replicate at the moment.) I have to close photoshop to be able to continue. But crashes …

Whenever I design a db that requires relationships of the model sales/client where sales and client info are in separate tables I run into a user-interface problem. Which is the most efficient way to set it up so that the db user can easily access potentially 10,000 clients to enter sales info? That is, when a sale is entered into the sales db the db user must either create a new client or select from a list of current clients. From a pure db design perspective unique client ids work best but then each db user must know the id for every client. Telephone numbers work but are not stable and a single client can have multiple telephone numbers. A find function can work but …

Hello people! Here is an image attached that explains my intentions the best..... I have tried formating this related VL in format of POP-UP (Title Case)text of this list and nothing seems to affect the "looks" of it....it still remains the same as entered...a mix of CAPS and very ugly formating/allignement... Any suggestion? desired look is on the right hand side: MANY thanx!

Anybody have advice on how to easily manage redundant elements on multiple layouts? I'm talking about things like navigation buttons, default fields, etc. I have some fairly far reaching databases with a couple dozen related tables. If I want to adjust a redundant element on two dozen layouts, that's a chunk of time and a lot of repetitive work. Man, I'm achin' for a framed approach to FileMaker layouts like HTML can provide but that isn't an option (at least yet). So, anyone have a soap box they want to get up on and jabber for a while?

Ok, so here is my problem. I have a IWP accessed database, a username is needed to enter the DB and make a new error report (its for a company that need to report errors). When the create a new report (read:record), I want the script to go and find the AccountName in another table, then bring the phone number and other details to the current record. How could I acomplish this using the AccountName they input when they login? Thanks for the help!!

I know this has been looked at before but there must be a way.. I am wondering if there is a way to make this work with custom buttons? When I use "go to field" the field is selected but the menu does not pop up it takes another click to get the menu to open. Please see the attachment. It's the best I can do with the brains I have. PopUpMenus.fp5.zip

I am curious as to the best method of inserting buttons into containers. I'm not getting good results when there is text included in the button. Looks very pixelated when in the container, but if inserted directly on to the layout (not in any container field) it looks fine. Few details before the questions... Buttons are from Photoshop saved as PNG Files 96dpi on a mac , however, they will be used only on a Windows network when I'm done with the solution. I've tried a few different graphic settings "reduce and enlarge" seemed to work best, but still not to my satisfaction. So what is the optimal resolution to use for good results w/o slowing things down? And.…

Is there any way to modify how the layout pop-up menu (in status area) works? For example, grouping layouts into sub menus, or a "more" option like under the Windows menu. For users it's not a problem, but as a developer there are many more layouts visible. Scrolling up & down the pop-up menu becomes tedious when working between layouts. Also, I seem to remember seeing a pop-up menu which spilled into a 2nd column instead of the scroll arrows - was this in a previous version?? I am currently working on a db re-structure which will include a customised status area and button-driven layout navigation for the users, but in the meantime is there a simple fix for …

I would like to be able to change the fill pattern of a field or button based upon changes of value in another field. I learned earlier this week (thank you All!) how to change font color conditionally. The text color function will make a font turn red if the PRIORITY FIELD is set to "urgent". I would like the fill pattern behind the red font to turn yellow if Billybob is supposed to respond to the event, and turn green if it should be Skippy's turn. The combination of colored font and colored fill pattern would establish both priority and scheduling. If it is possible, I would like to be able to conditionally affect the fill color and pattern o…

I want to break some fingers. I want to be sure they have filled out a record right before they are allowed to leave it. I have script to check their entries. But instead of using my button to Close, they x on the dumb window and leave things undone. How can I stop them? Does 7 have ability to let me keep control and not let them close it until I let them? I didn't notice it before because I never used windows like I am in 7. Not sure how to control our staff. Pete

Part of my solution has a contacts portion. There are two distinct type of contacts that MUST be entered and managed in separate layouts (eq Students, and Teachers). The common fields are feed into shared tables. (contact, locations, numbers) and keyed with either a Student_ID or Teacher_ID. TABLES: Students Teachers Contact Location Numbers Teams RELATIONSHIPS: Student -> ContactInfo -> LocationInfo -> NumberInfo Teacher -> ContactInfo -> LocationInfo -> NumberInfo MY CHALLENGE: The DB now has a table called TEAMS which will pull information from the contact table, since teacher student status is irrelevant. But the loca…

I don't know if anyone has tried this before, but I'll throw it out there... In my never-ending quest to save layout space, it hit me that I could really squeeze a lot more on a layout if I could only do away with pesky labels. This is so basic I can't believe I didn't think of it before. I create a calculation label_FieldA = case(isempty(FieldA),"Field A") On the layout I then place label_FieldA directly on top of FieldA as a merge field. I center it and make the text light grey. So if the field is empty the user sees the label. Once it is filled in, it is obvious what the text is. (I'd only use this in cases where it really is obvious what the data …

All the hoopla about FM7, and I still can't create a darned transparent graphic. I've tried creating them in PaintShop8, Corel Draw10, and PhotoShop.. I export them as PNG or GIF, but when I put them on the FM7 layout, I always get the white background. I need the step by step guide on just how to do this. I know the old rotate trick in version 6, but I also know that if I can create the correct graphic, it will work... I've used someone else's PNG file and it worked just fine. I'm on a Windoze machine... pleeeeaaaaasssee help..... FileMaker Version: 7 Platform: Windows XP

Is there a way to get filemaker to update an image every second (or more frequently)? The image in question would be on a local server. The purpose would be to allow (all be it slowly) all clients on a network to view CCTV cameras. Many thanks.