Interface Design Discussions

can a header part slide up with its sliding parts or is it fixed?

Alright... I finally begged and pleaded, and got apportioned enough money to actually buy a plugin for work on my DB. Here's the situation, and I've never actually had to use an external plugin, so I need y'all's advice. I've got a dbase where my users are entering classified ads for a small newspaper. I want them to be able to format these on screen, to look how they want, then export them into XTags. I was dissapointed that FMaker had no way to manipulate or test for formatting, but I've gotten over that. The best solution to my quandary I can find is a plugin called diStyler, by Abstrakt, which takes formatted text and exports it to a text file in XTags …

Is there anyway to specify that a global is a constant... doesn't need to be recomputed... and thus doesn't need to be updated on screen? Or, is there anyway to specify in a layout that you don't want the value of a field updated? WHY DO I ASK? I am using one of the very nice-looking OSX-like templates, which have tab-bars that have that cool aqua shading. However, by using a field for the tab labels (for maintainability across many files), that results in needing to have transparent fields (so that the fancy tab shading shows through). But transparent fields cause redraw flashing. In this case it is silly for FMP to bother redrawing the tab labels..…

Power users will tab to each field, type in the value with as few keystrokes as possible, and tab to the next... its good to make sure that works well and that you can get to all the fields without having to resort to the mouse. Popup lists are good and bad. They are good in that they allow you to tab into the field; they are good in that they allow you to just type the first character; but they are bad because hitting tab to go to the next field DISCARDS the value you just typed!! Instead, you must remember to hit ENTER to go to next field from a popup list. Ick! Questions: 1) Is there anyway to make pressing <Tab> to leave a popup list actually …

I am having some problem with flashing... FMP blanking parts of my layout and redrawing them (rather than just redrawing over the existing such that you don't notice it). For example, as I step from record to record in my list layout, the majority of my layout does not get redrawn... it looks nice and stable. In contrast, my tab bar flashes... it gets blanked and then redrawn each time. In my List layout, the body and the column titles are stable... except the sort buttons in the column headers flash (along with the tab bar). Q: Anyone know what causes such flashing (blanking and redrawing)? Note that this is NOT a problem of scrolling fast, as anot…

Silly post, but irritating. The Text Formatting Toolbar seems to have disappeared. When selected in either Layout or Browse mode, the tick appears in the vie [color:"blue"] [color:"blue"] w menu, but no toolbar ! I've looked outside the print area, but nothing there.

I have a label layout in which I deleted the footer because I thought I didn't need one. Now it turns out I do need the footer. I have repeatedly gone to part setup and tried to create a footer, but for some reason it won't let me create one. I have also tried to drag the part icon on the the status bar onto my layout, and selected footer as the part I wanted, and that also is not working. Anybody have any thoughts?

I have a layout that has a sub-summary that is sorted by a field. The part appears before the records belonging to it does. I don't have 'allow part to break across page boundaries' checked. I interpret this to mean that if the part can't fit on the current page, FM starts a new page. Instead, the part is displayed across 2 pages. Is this a known bug, or am I misinterpreting what this function ('allow...') does? Steve

Is this possible??? To have the main file maximized on your screen and to have your related file(s), not minimized at the bottom and under your main one, but completely out of sight, working "in the background".?? I'm looking for a way to avoid users to edit records on an appendable related file. This is the actual situation: In the "Access privileges / Define Passwords" window I am establishing the following privileges ONLY: -- Browse records ALL -- Create records -- Print records -- Export records -- Available menu commands: NONE -- Disconnect from server.... This user needs to allow records to be created onto the file via main file scr…

Hi Everyone, For some reason, I can never access the Toolbar display option in the View Menu. It's always ghosted out! Surely I'm missing something obvious here. Can anyone help me??

I'm new to Filemaker. It's got great tools for creating a really elegant user graphical interface. But as soon as the user clicks into a field, all that's destroyed by these pesky dotted boxes around every field in the layout (apart from pop-up lists, strangely). So my question: is there an easy way to suppress all this?

Is it possible while in list view to have every other line an alternating color??? Please say yes...

Can someone tell me if it's possible to have submenus in a popup menu. I have a popup menu in a layout with about 50 items and it becomes somewhat awkward to use and would be much more user friendly if I could break up the list with submenus. I considered a conditional value list but I would prefer not to add extra menus for the end users convenience. Thanks, Cliff

Has anyone any experience with touch screens? I am about to invest in a unit for a retail application, but am unsure which units to look at. At the moment I am looking at ELO touch screens. Does anyone have any experience with them? Does anyone know of any pitfalls with using touch screens? All help and information is gratefully recieved.

Hello, I'm hoping someone can help me with this issue. I'm trying to design a report based on the answers from a questionnaire that we administered. Each question is given a weight, and then all the results are tabulated and calculated to give a percentage of the total scores. The questionnaire is given every three months with the same person. I'm trying to design a report that would show the results from the current and previous questionnaires. The problem I'm running into is the layout design of the report. Here's what I'm doing: I have records sorted in a grand summary by ID. Each ID will display a number of records. I'm printing the report in …

I sure hope there's a genius out there to help me with this one... I've got a classified database, producing ads for a newspaper, and I'm trying to work on an efficient way to enter and export these ads to go into Quark. Sure, I know, you're all saying XTags, right? That's what I'm using now, and I have two small problems with it... First, what if an ad has two paragraphs in it? Well, when Filemaker exports the ad text to a text file, it has to remain all on one line - no carriage returns, so it changes all the carriage returns in the text of the ad to (for some strange reason) column breaks. Now, I've been running a script that will search for these column breaks and…

Not sure which forum to post this is, so I'll start here. I'm trying to find out if/how well Filemaker supports voice recognition. As in data entry via voice commands. If anyone has any suggestions that might point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. Thanks! Lori

[color:"purple"] Has anyone seen a product or template possibly called NavBar! ? I have seen it in a solution where it appears u set up colors and icons and such to be used in an application and it puts or uses those colors etc... in the interface. The interface is made up of a bunch of tabs across the top of the screen and they are all different colors. The final solution appears to be missing some files which i assume are used for development only. I'm not sure if someone just came up with this for their own personal use in development or if it is available from someones website.

You'll have to let us in to the secret of what each record in your file represents. It's hard to tell you how to summarize when we don't know what we are summarizing. It sounds like you need summary fields and multiple subsummaries on the layout. First a subsummary by month, then another by doctor. Wizards are great if they solve your problem, otherwise you'll have to dive in and understand how it all works. -bd

Hi Everyone Is there a way to turn off the FMP5.5 startup spalsh screen? We would like the name of our solution to be displayed instead of the FMP5.5 splash. Thanks in advance for all the help. Stuj

If I create a lable layout the merge fields from the wizard will be middle (between top and bottom of text box) how can I format this without having to go through the wizard?

Hi, I am a new FMP user and am actually starting out developing POS and Inventory software for my friends/employers. I am an interface designer (one of the reasons I chose FMP, interface is given equal credence) and HATE "modes." They are bad and they are evil and they will suck you soul. Anyway is there any way to display the "list" view and the "form" view at the same time? Like have a "form" view on the left hand side and have the "list" of things on the right? Or do I have to have them in seperate windows?

Hi guys, long time since I've been in here - no it's not that I know everything now - just been away and now back to the grime stone! Here's the problem - mmmm You know in Outlook you have a SCHEDULER/CALENDER/PLANNER section? Yes? Well, you'll notice there is a nice graphical way of showing when you have appointments and when you are free. I am writing a database for a medical centre which will also involve booking appointments to see doctors. Although a list will surfice, I would like to have a graphical representation of their time free and allocated time. So, I have an appointment date and time field. I have a duration of appointment field and th…

OK ... so all you supergeniuses out there, see if you can help me with this. I have a calculated field showing in a checkbox format in a cell. Shows up beautifully. But, I wanted a button to sit over each checkbox, for when the user tries to check the boxes (as a calculation, it won't let them, of course). So I have a database, the relationship lists out in exact parallel to the list of checkboxes. I set up a portal, and layered it, just inside the cell for the calc field, and I adjusted the row, at 400% so that it is perfectly aligned with the rows of c heckboxes. Perfect right? Well, it should be. I zoom out to 100%, and the rows are off. IT isn't that they we…

I have a field that is formatted as Checkboxes, from a value list linked to another database, that may dynamically grow or shrink. What I'm worried about, is what happens, when there are two many checkbox choices to fit in my box? Is there any way to make a scrollbar, so they can scroll through the checkboxes?

It's time for me to do a "visual" upgrade to the FM database. I'm looking for ideas and was hoping that some of you would take a screen shot of your databases and post them so i can take a look. Don't worry, I'm not going to take them and sell them, Just want to make my DB's a bit more pleasing to the eye. Thanks -j

Hello, Let's say i have two databases. One called view and the orther called graphic. In the graphic databases I've got al kinds of graphics in a record with one text field as the name. The view database is related by the graphic names trough the name. This makes it possible to switch graphics on the fly. But is this a good solution when working trough a Filemaker server over internet??? thnx allready:) Jeffrey

I think that this is the correct forum. In layout mode on my computer if I click on the Layout pop-up menu, it brings up all of the layouts but they go off the bottom of the screen. This gets a bit annoying if the layout I need is the last one on the list. On other computers though if the list goes off the screen it shows up in a second column and makes my life a lot easier. Is there any reason for this. A bit petty I know but does annoy me!!!

I run scheduled scripts with the oazium events software. At X time it sends a "open script" command and the file opens. Upon opening of a file, as specified in the file, it runs X script. Unfortunatly, at random times it doesn't execute when the file was opened. Any ideas why?

Hi! I know this is a little anal, but it really makes my data entry interface UGLY, so here goes. I made this lovely little data entry form, with fields scattered all across it, many of these fields are the same color as the backrgound so that they are invisible if they don't have data. However, if I start entering data in a field, all these semi-transparent highlight borders appear around random fields across the layout, usually every field at once. Is there any way to stop this?

Quite similar to the last post! but anyway... I need to put data that i have stored in one of my FM Pro databases in to a graphical format.e.g bar graph, line graph etc. The data in the database i need to show is recordings of job times. e.g average job times per customer. 1. can this be done in the same database i.e. on another layout? 2. Does it require a plugin? 3. is it difficult? Thanks in advance.

I currently use a set of overlapping fields for the description display in an invoice file. The top field is t_Description- a text field that the user can type into. The bottom field is c_Description= if(is empty(t_Description), t_Make & " " & t_Model..., t_Description) and the user is not allowed to enter the field. This works great- the user can leave the auto entered description, or type in their own wording (also formatted the field as a button setting t_Description to c_Description so they have the original text to start with...) My problem is that when the user is in browse mode and clicks on any field, all enterable fields on the layout a…

i have built a splash screen for my DB, that basically has a graphic that simulates a progress bar and a global text field below it that shows progress text. the script that runs has a series of actions and before each action, i run a sub script that sets the global container field (that shows the progress bar) with the progress bar graphic and also the next text to appear below... problem is that it only updates the screen every so often even though i have Refresh Screen at the beginning and end of the subscript and even a goto Field (with no field listed) at the end of the script.

Is there a way to lock a column in a layout? I have a layout that extends off the screen on the right and want to be able to lock two columns in place on the left side so they are visible as you scroll to the right. Mobile v2 can do it. Can FM 5.5? I already have the Header "locked" so I can scroll down the rows and have the column headers always visible. TIA Richard Mossman

Is it possible to make bar graphs in FM? I was thinking something like a container field with a graphic that has the width set by the amount. This possible? Thanks -j

I designed the layouts for a large system on a standard CRT monitor (PC). I have spent countless hours perfecting the user interface. I was running a test on my clients network and was horrified when I viewed my files on one of their flat panel monitors (PC). It looked terrible! It's almost as if the flat panel could not display the "depth" of the layout elements. My 3D elements look 2 dimensional. Does anyone know why this is happening? Is there a simple fix? Thanks in advance for your help. Regards, John

Dear all, Here I am finally asking the question that bugged me now for some time. What is the benifit of pasting an image into a Global Container, rather than simply pasting the image on the layout? 1. An additional global field increases the db size. 2. You can resize the pasted image just like you would a field, etc. I know there must be a good reason, like access to the image, but I can't think of one. Thanks for your thoughts

Hi all, Is there a way, when you click on a database window, a script executes. Anyone know if there is a way to do it? Thanxs Steve Griff

When viewing in Table view, is there a way to click on a category header and have the list sort by the category clicked?

I have noticed this several times but have yet found a solution, when switching between layouts one defined as form view and the target defined as list view, randomly the scroll bar becomes inactive preventing the user from scrolling down. They can use the page down key but I can't figure out the reason why the scroll bars freeze up at random. I have observed this on both mac and pc... Any ideas?

Everyone probably knows what this is regarding... running your solution at different resolutions. I see 3 options. What do you do? 1. Maximize all windows (looks horrible on my monitor - 1600 X 1200 at 22") 2. Restrict window sizes to 800 X 600 with script steps (640 X 480 you're out of luck) 3. Check resolution on start-up then have at it on designing dozens or hundreds of extra layouts to accomodate the solution at several different resolutions (time consuming and expensive for the client) What is the preferred method? Did I leave something out? Thanks!

Does anyone know a way to keep files from displaying in FM Server? I have about 25 related files but want the users to open one file only. The other are accessed through various scripts. Thanks.

I am writing a Point of Sale System for a friend and he would like it to be accessed with a touch screen. In other words the buttons on the screen I define and attach scripts to he would like to be able to hit the screen instead of going to the mouse and navigating ... Any thoughts on how I would do this? Stu

I have a solution that I need to create and am having a rough time figuring out what layout I want it in. I've been looking around at other programs and have come upon one that I really like. It can be found at www.filemakeraccounting.com. I really like the side tabs and all. Can someone please tell me how I could go about creating a design similar to it or where I could get the template? If you have other designs that I could take a look at that would be wonderful too. Thanks in advance! Mish

Hi Folks, I'm setting up a school reporting system using FM 5.5 on our NT4 network, but I'm having a slight problem with the layout design. I need to be able to use the body part of the layout to place all of the relevant fields. Unfortunately, I've run out of pages on the layout (there are about 10). I cannot drag the end of the body any further. Is FM only designed to cater for this number of pages or can I increase it? Thanks, Bob

Greetings everyone. I'm currently working on a new FileMaker book (I work with a famous author) and I've been doing some development on projects which will be the basis of the book. One of my goals is pushing FMP development from a UI perspective further ahead. I've recently been working on a series of blank buttons and images for use in FMP...and I was wondering if people were interested in trying them out in their own designs??? If so I thought I would save them as a Photoshop file to preserve the layers (so you can put them behind any background pattern or colors). I could save them in a FileMaker file...but FMP doesn't preserve layers and such. Any other i…

The goal: On both macs and pc's - Without using a button (transparent to the user)- Activate a script after selecting an item in a value list. Current Operation: I have a field layout as a button (also using an invisible button) activating a script. The field has a value list. When clicking on the field the value list appears as a pop-up menu, the script pauses for 1 sec and allows the capture of the value list item, which,automatically resumes the script to update another db, and return to the original layout. The process works wonderful on a pc but won't pop the value list on the Mac's. If I change the value list type it works on the ma…

I'm sure I have been told somewhere before, but I forgot how to get rid of the layout menu that is located in the Status Area on the left. Can someone refresh my memory of where I go so it cannot be viewed? Thanks Ken

I need to develop a solution that will be in a PC only office.

I have a database where I want to be able to search several different types of documents-- faxes, memo, letters-- but want to display each in their own specific format. At the same time, I need an overview directory to display information by project, etc. regardless of format. Can I set the view to a given record by a variable (document type) or would I do better to have separate related files for each layout type? And if so, is there an easy way to implement a find across all of them using portals or the like?

i want to create a jump menu in the header of a list view i am using two global fields the the users will beable to set and click go so a script will take the users inputs go into find mode find the records that they asked for and flick back to browse mode with the results but why wont filemaker let the user edit the global fields in the header of the list

here is a strange request.. Im not sure even if im in the right forum.. Is it possible to show the contents of a web page in a container field? or open a window withing filemaker to show a web page.. I know we can use the open url script step but that just opens the browser with the URL specified in by a field.. We are trying to see if we could get a window within filemaker to do this Thanks Stu

I want to create a new layout with all the fields on it. I choose Move All in the new layout dialogue and all the fields hop over. But when the layout is finished only the first dozen fields are showing. What am I doing wrong?

I have 2 portals on a layout, whenever I click the first portal to show the related records in the second, all enterable fields Highlight this ugly color. Also they all highlight when entering data in those fields. is there anyway to prevent highlighting and keep the ability to enter data in the portal fields?

Hi Everyone, I've encountered a strange problem with the solution I've developed for our small office. There are about 10 users and we are running Filemaker Server. On some of the PC's, some of the layouts with portals are washing out with a ghost mirror image of themselves. The buttons still work if you know where to click them. I can't seem to figure out what's causing the problem. It doesn't happen all the time but sometimes it practically washes out the entire screen. Has anyone ever encountered anything like this before? Cheers, Christian Knudsen Toronto, Ontario

I'm building a FM runtime and I can't decide if I should build it in Kiosk mode or use a Menu Plug-in. Kiosk mode has some inherent problems. On a windows machine it does not allow the user access to the desktop unless it's through explorer. It also takes away the windows menu bar along the bottom of the screen. I'm just thinking that Kiosk mode might tick off some users because it does not allow full windows functionality, or at least the normal stuff. Menu Plug-ins seem like a nice idea, it's just that I'm a little nervous about Plug-ins and runtimes in combo. Bottom line... The standard FM menu items in a runtime are useless to the normal use…

does anyone know of a spellcheck add-on for Filemaker? There's nothing I hate more than handing in an invoice with spelling errors!

Please. The first (and only) time I opened that thread it took three minutes to download all the picts. If you must show off, please create highly compressed GIFs of your screenshots. 166Kb for one screenshot is more than a little ridiculous. I just took a screenshot of this screen (800x600, 24-bit), and it came to just over 200Kb. Running thru Photoshop and using the "Save for Web" feature, at 32 colors it looked great and took up only 27Kb. We don't all have broadband yet, so please be considerate. Thanx.

i am sure this question has been asked many times before but does any one know how to get different colours for each row in a list view like you can in a portal, but without the use of a portal please help

Hi again! I'm working on a FM 3.0 database for a small business. When I design the layout and look at it at 100% magnification, it looks fine. However, one of the users may want to look at it at 150% or 200%. Testing at that level of magnification, many of the items move a bit. It's not enough to throw everything off, but it is a bother. I've locked all items in the layouts, it still happens. I'm on a 400 MHZ TiBook, running OS 9.2. Any advice, or is this too petty of a problem and should I just let it go and hope no one else notices? Thanks! Russ Conte

Help! I'm up to my rump in alligators and I need to create a "splash screen" in FMP Developer. It will hold some graphics and have a 10 second delay before switching to another layout. I would like it to be a custom window (about index card size) with no scroll bars and be centered on screen. I know it's possible and the alligators are getting closer and nipping... I would appreciate any help in solving my problem. Very much appreciated! Michael

Another puzzling one. Why does my system start to summarize on a related file when I sometimes change layouts, even when none of the summary fields, or even related fields at all, are on the current layout ? This phenomenon does not appear to have any pattern to it. All files are open all the time.I've even checked to see that the file that starts summarizing is not open in a layout that contains the summary fields. Is it anything to do with the start up script as I changed this recently? I do seem to get the summarizing (which is time consuming and irritating) on start up. Should you always open a file to a particular type of layout (e.g. without summ…

Building a runtime app on a Mac that will be sent out to PC users. I need the name of a sans sarif font that won't cause problems on the PC. Can anyone tell me a of a specific font they have used successfully?

Hello all - I've been working with FileMaker Pro 4.1 for years and have never seen this problem. First some background: Running FMP 4.1v3 and FMP 3 Server (on NT) Problem client is Windows 2000 Pro SP2, Dell Latitude C610 on a port replicator with external monitor Recently Installed Office XP First of all, FMP seems to take a long time to boot. My database files have also lost most of the background colors in the layouts. The biggest problem however is that the text in the fields appears garbled after editing or performing finds. For example, if I'm browsing records, and then enter find mode, the field text from the original record remains. If I enter Find…

Where can I find icons or other splashy things for use in buttons? Thanks.

With FileMaker Pro 5.5. developer you can lose the menus and scroll bars in kiosk mode, can you do this in the standard FileMaker Pro 5.5 somehow as this would make it look more professional.Maybe resedit be in the right direction to do this.

I have a field with about ten values in from a defined values list. The field is formatted to have check boxes. The problem is that I can't get text to line up with the text in the field when printing out. Is this a case of trial and error??

I developing a runtime app but I need to be able to edit the value lists. If I assing a button the command to do this, it doesnt work on Kiosk mode. What can I do?

Im developing the 2.0 version of a runtime I made for a CELLPHONE SHOP. It manages inventory, makes recipts and all that kind of crap. If you have something similar, would you like to trade them to exchange knowledge?

From the mouse fatigue department: Most of my users are comfortable with keyboard shortcuts and would like to be able to use them to shift between windows in FileMaker 4.1 (Macs and PCs). Does anyone know if this is possible on the Mac? On the PC, I do the following: Alt-W brings up the windows menu. Use the arrow keys to move up and down the list of windows, and the enter key to select. I've tried to find a similar combo on the Mac, such as AppleKey + [`], which rotates windows in IE or Netscape, but nothing I've tried produces this effect in FileMaker 4.1 on the Mac. Apologies if the answer to this is blindingly obvious. Thanks.

Can't find a way to create a custom theme. I've "heard" this is possible. Does anyone know how?

I'm usually looking for help, but I thought I'd pass on a tip I actually worked out myself ! When designing a layout with a column of field boxes, it is quite tricky to line up the text labels with the fields. Using the arrange facility and 'distribute space' doesn't work too well. Try this. Create your field boxes and line them up (technique only works when field boxes are equal height and equally spaced). Then put all your labels in one text box, with a carriage return between each. Simply then change the line spacing from format until the labels and field boxes line up. Quite quick and neat. Unfortunatley only works with screen layouts. Printed outp…

Hi gang, Another question. I have a value list, but for some reason the value list omits records where the "Also display values from field" are duplicates. For example, the Also display values from field uses "product name". If there are two products with the same name, only one is shown in the value list. Help! Thanxs Steve Griff

I have a report that lists invoices by their payment method (Mastercard, Visa etc.) with a sub totals for each method. That all works fine but it seems (once i've sorted it etc.) that it only showing one of the methods and only shows all the headings in Preview mode. I would like to not have to use Preview mode. Is there a way around this? thanks

Is there a way to select more than one field and set their heights to the same value through the sizing panel? At present the entire selection is set to the height specified. Thanks.

I'm not really sure if this is the right forum, but I'm not even sure which one to put it in, I'm so confused! (If not, please tell me; a hint on where TO post it would be helpful. If it's a case of RTFM, let me know which part of the manual I should go over, or if there's another printed resource I should look into.) BACKGROUND I have a series of FileMaker 5.0 databases--hosted by FileMaker Server 5.0--used in conjunction with a third party product that uses FileMaker as its data storage and report generator. I've built upon that to also provide job/project tracking. So I've got the IntelliTrack db for all my labor & time data storage, and report running; the JobT…

Hi. Frustrated in half of my windows opening up at correct size i.e neatly surrounding my database record cards, but then others opening in a maximised window which fills the screen. How do we control the size of a window at server level i.e so all the clients windows size can be defined to open to a consistent desired size? (We're using FM Server on OS10 and FM5.5 on OS9) Hopefully, SGriff

Hi. Frustrated in half of my windows opening up at correct size i.e neatly surrounding my database record cards, but then others opening in a maximised window which fills the screen. How do we control the size of a window at server level i.e so all the clients windows size can be defined to open to a consistent desired size? (We're using FM Server on OS10 and FM5.5 on OS9) Hopefully, SGriff

I need to create a report/spreadsheet where each record flows to the right on the page (Not sure how to explain this, sorry for confusion). I have reports with multiple records but it flows downward, like a table. We want to be able to compare certain fields of different records side by side. If have been able to explain this correctly, is this possible???

I have been asked to create a Holiday Board in Fm for the company work for. Although this is possible I am having a little trouble. There are around 90 people, and traps need to be added so people doing the same job don't clash ei; a message will appear letting you know if 2 or more people who do the same job are off. Does anyone know where I could go for some inspiration??

I need to creat a "palette" that allows users to access other areas of my database. I would like this palette to float in front of any open layout much in the same way that the Finder (Mac OS - pre OS X) pull down menu could float in front of any application. Is this at all possible ?

I know it's possible for a field to change colour if certain criteria is met, but (this sounds mad) is there anyway to make it flash???

This seems easy and should come up all the time (but i guess not cuz i ran a search and nothing turned up). Is there a way to center a object in the layout easily? With out having to use my brain?

I need to creat a "palette" that allows users to access other areas of my database. I would like this palette to float in front of any open layout much in the same way that the Finder (Mac OS - pre OS X) pull down menu could float in front of any application. Is this at all possible ?

I'm trying to make a layout where a found set of images will come up the way it can in Preview mode - i.e., as a grid several images wide (they're only 72x72), listed horizontally, like so: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ...etc. Is there any way to copy the way Preview mode works? Using Preview is no good for me, as I can't put buttons in, and the whole point of the layout is to let the client see a large found set and select a record based on the image. Thanks, STanley

I would just like confirmation from anyone that this cannot be done (or better, prove me wrong!). I would like to create a tabbed interface, but with "tabs" not only placed horizontally, in the header, but also vertically, to the left side of the records. Now, as long as you are in "Form View" this works OK. But when switching to "List View", the all elements (of course) repeat themselves. I wish there was not only a header layout part, but also a "left/right margin" layout part... Is there any graphic trick to make this work in a list view? I was inspired by Nico Kuilmans "Navigator" which can be downloaded from http://home.hetnet.nl/~kuilman-bond/Software/Navigat…

When publishing Databases on the internet/intranet, using web companionn and CDML. If I execute a search, does anyone know how to highlight in the result page the word or text I searched for? Filemaker in his site has this implemented. Thanks

Hi there everyone. i just love this forum. i learn so much from you all. i just wish that i can help someone as i grow with experience. ok here is the question. my company has 6 offices in north america. our server is located in one city. our other offices log on to FM Server, and use our solutions. what i was wondering is posible to creat a runtime, and have pull information/add information to/from a multiuser solution? the reasoning for this is to create custom runtimes for different people in each city and have the runtimes put/pull information to specific multiuser solutions. wow that was a mouth full. this is just an idea that i have been thinking of... …

Does anyone out there use a pen tablet to insert signatures into databases? I want to go paperless, and the only way to protect ourselves legally is to have a signature (electronic or otherwise)that verifies everything we have on paper. I have looked at some point-of-sale hardware, but want to make sure that I can actually tie it into FMP before buying it.

I have a field that has a transparent background on it with a type entry. The type entry is used to make a choice. Once that choice is made I would like to hide the type and just show the container field that is underneath.

I apologise for posting another date related Topic! I want a field to show next month just as a Month and Year. eg, February 2002. Once in February it should show March 2002.

I stumbled upon a nice "smart tabs" template by Onegasoft. By using it you can easily create "smart" tabbed interfaces, without having to go through the work of copying and rearranging tabs all the time, the tabs "know" what and when to display based on the name of the layout. Now I'm thinking of using this as part of a template I'm developing for a rather large solution (>25 files). Have anyone tested using this in a larger scale and is there any downsides to using it? There is a free version to download at: http://www.onegasoft.com/tips/alltips.shtml Thanks for any comments, Daniel

I apologise for posting another date related Topic! I want a field to show next month just as a Month and Year. eg, February 2002. Once in February it should show March 2002.

Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to FM Pro, using 3.0. I'm designing a database for a possible small business, and I see a design feature I'd like to use but I have no idea how it's done. Here is the example: One of the templates in 3.0 is an inventory system. (Go to File - New - click on Create a New File Using a Template - Select Business, the Inventory System is in there). The Inventory System creates three files. My question has to do with the file titled "Product Sales". There are two tabs on this design, one called Sales and one called Customer and Shipping. FWIW, these are similar to the ones at the top of Apple.com, or on Adobe or Macromedia's palettes. In the FM …

I have a couple of layouts which really work best at a specific set of dimensions (Window size) I have a specific layout I want users to use for searching and layouts for form views and browse style listings. I would like to be able to change between the browse listing (full screen @ 800x640) and the search layout (v.compact) and vice versa. This will be scripted. But as I say I can't find a method to "switch" between the layouts and have them change size. Any help/suggestions gratefully received. [ August 02, 2001: Message edited by: rich_g ]

I sugguest that you put a layout on each file, that says "this is a support database no user interface is supported." or something to that effect. Then when you navigate between files the last thing you do is to swithc to this layout turn of the status bar and lock it. This way if a user opens a window they have no way to access anyting.

Hi there I was wondering.. How/where would I disable/hide options that you would not want users to gain access to? Like the ability to edit the layout, delete all records menuitem etc. Plus, is there a way to hide the "record browser" interface on the left of each window. For example, this is not needed in my Preferences database. Thanxs SteveGriff

I've got a client who wants to be able to move his data around on the screen - he's doing scheduling for a manufacturing process - and I'm probably going to have to write a front-end to do the graphical interface. Is there any support for drag-and-drop within FMP? What I mean to ask is, is it possible for a user to grab an item in a list and drag it into a location (say, "zone a" or "zone b"), in which case the item being dragged then gets "zone a" put into its "location" data field? I hope I'm making sense, but I feel there's no way to do this in FMP, and I'll have to do the front-end after all.

This is probably simple. I've got a db of images, and I want to put a list of them up on a search-results page. To use space better, I want the list to be a grid (ie, say five images wide) rather than a strictly vertical list. I can get this to work in preview mode, but not in browse mode. What am I missing?