alterbentzion

(Bump!)

We use FMP to record donations and print acknowledgement letters. The latter is done from a layout into which I've inserted a PDF of our letterhead - actually, a link to that PDF, so I can update the letterhead from time to time by replacing the original PDF. I chose PDF because (a) the letterhead is mostly text, which makes for a small file, ( it's resolution-independant, and © the original letterhead is done in InDesign, which exports to PDF. The layout was done in FMP10. We recently upgraded to FMP13, and now, when I print the layout, the letterhead elements are pixelated. The graphic is also pixelated on-screen, although that isn't so noticeable unless I zoom in. I tried deleting the graphic and reinserting it, but that didn't help. Should I switch too a different graphic format? Is there anything else I should be doing to get better image quality? Thanks!

[thinking aloud] Okay. That would leave it up to me to remember to periodically scan the contact list for unapproved records, wouldn't it? But I can add a script trigger that would send me an e-mail if anyone besides me adds a record. (Can FileMaker do that silently?) Of course, if the user had, in fact, added a redundant contact, and I were to remove it, someone would have to go back to the "Interactions" table and straighten out the interaction that the user had logged. Actually, I think I'd have to fix the interaction log before I could delete the duplicate contact. Am I making this over-complicated? Maybe I should just add a button to the layout, by which a user can send me an e-mail asking me to add a contact to the list... [/thinking aloud]

Hi, Comment! It's always so nice to see your avatar. For now I dedupe manually. I haven't set up any automated/scripted duplicate checking, because (a) I don't have it quite figured out, and ( our organization is very small and for the last twelve years I've been the only regular data entry person, anyway. (I'm also the receptionist, graphic designer, gofer, accountant, et al. I'd gripe about how FileMaker - which I do love! - wasn't as easy-to-learn-while-busy-with-a-career as advertised, but I know there's a very long thread about that elsewhere on FMForums...) :rolleyes:

(I hope I'm posting this is in the right area of the forums. Please let me know if it belongs elsewhere!) One of the functions of our database is to track interactions between our staff and our constituents. Each interaction record is linked to the record of a constituent. Staff members have read/write access to the data entry layout, but they have limited, read-only access to the list of constituents. Occasionally (hopefully, often!) our staff meet people who may or may not already be in our database. If these people are, in fact, new, they must be entered into our contact list before any interactions with them can be logged. So I'd like to allow staff members to add new records. But how can I prevent them from creating duplicate records for people who are already there? Is there a way that I can allow the entry of new records, subject to admin approval at a later time? Or should I rethink the whole system and do it another way? Thanks for your help.

Firefox on 10.5.8 - it works! Will try to test other browsers later. Thanks a bunch!

(sigh) I just did that, but still no dice.

Tried with Safari on my iPod Touch (iOS 4.2.1). Good news and bad: Login is persistant, but layout is kind of garbled.

Nope - still not working in either Firefox or Safari. But if I'm the only one having this problem, please don't make yourself crazy trying to fix it! I'm going to try on some of the other computers hr in the office, in the meantime.

Thanks for your help, but it's still not working in Firefox 3.6.13 for Leopard. I've cleaned my caches (ran OnyX and really cleaned up!), deleted cookies using the link, checked the "remember me" box, and told Firefox to remember my password. After I quit and relaunch Firefox, I have to sign in again. Will try with Safari after lunch, if my boss doesn't distract me with work... :

Yes.

Like the new format! But is there any way to stay signed in, so I don't have to give my name & password every time?

Yes - thank you!

I've got a layout where there's room for a block of text (a concatenated mailing address), the length of which varies from record to record. This particular layout would be aesthetically "cleaner" if the last (bottom-most) line of the text rested just above a row of tabs which runs across the layout. Is there a simple way to do this, analogous to the vertical alignment of text in the cells of a table? Thanks!

Well, there's a new trick! Left me feeling stupid, but I just double-checked The Missing Manual (FMP10), and I don't find any mention of it. So thank you again.

Thank you SO much! I'm guessing you did a "select all" and saw the handles. Wish I would have thought of that...

Help - I've got several objects on a layout which keep disappearing! In the attached file, please look at the layout which automatically loads when you open the file, and click on the "Donations" tab. Then click on "Edit Layout" and look at that tab again. Moving individual objects to the top of the tab makes them reappear. Any objects which are completely below a certain point on the layout completely disappear when you try browsing the layout normally! And this is true of labels, too - not just empty fields. I've tried moving these objects to the front, grouping them and ungrouping them, replacing them with completely new ones, sleeping on it... Nothing helps. What am I doing wrong? Thanks! P.S. (off-topic): Fitch - if you're reading this and you look at the file, you'll also see how I'm trying to accomplish the different summaries I asked about in a different topic, partly inspired by your last post. I haven't replied to your post b/c I'm still experimenting... Kollel_Database_Copy.fp7.zip

@Vaughan: Problem was, the layout was misbehaving even when used in FileMaker proper - not just in IWP. (And I always have the script builder grey out IWP-incompatible steps when I'm working on stuff like this.) However, I think I've figured things out! I forgot that the various check boxes on this layout are actually scripted buttons. The script toggles a boolean value back and forth, and allows me to put just one checkbox on a layout, instead of two - a technique Comment showed me years ago. The solution: I've set up the buttons to run actual scripts. The script for the "corporate flag" toggles the value and immediately commits the record (thus fixing the IWP delayed-commit problem). The scripts for the "widow" and "uses her own surname" checkboxes now check on the status of the "corporate flag," then either commit the record (if corporate) or toggle the boolean value. Thanks again to everyone.

Thanks, Fitch! (I'd forgotten about "last".) But is there a way to have sum (donations::amount) only tally amounts from donations made on certain dates?

In our contact-management layout, I've created a tab that displays a contact's giving history (in a portal with related data from a table with donation records), plus a few statistics - how many donations the contact has made, average and total amounts, date of most recent gift, etc. Is there a way to make a calculated field that will display stats for the last 12 months and/or year-to-date? Thanks!

I've finally gotten back to this project. Three updates, including a follow-up script trigger question: ~ The strange validation behavior has gone away! My Mac had been getting flaky in other ways, and I've restarted it a couple of times since last we met; I assume that's what's fixed FMP, too. (Makes me wonder if I should find another computer to host the database once it's done...) ~ I've discovered that an IWP user must commit a record immediately after flagging/unflagging a record as corporate - otherwise, these scripts don't get triggered correctly. I guess I can set up another script trigger to commit the record automatically. ~ I see that this trick only works on fields that contain text. The script doesn't prevent users from clicking on a couple of checkboxes (e.g., one that flags/unflags a personal record as that of a widow) and changing their fields' values from 0 to 1 and back again. At first FileMaker intimated that the script parameter had to be text-only. But changing people::widow from a number field to a text field didn't help! How do I lock down these check boxes?

Sorry for the prolonged absence! There definitely are validation issues going on - with other fields, too - and I haven't been able to work them out yet. (I'm the admin of a non-profit, and I was working on this FMP project during a rare quiet period.) In the meantime, thanks again for your help with the script! It continues to amaze me how many people make time to help their fellow users.

The existing value in the given field. (That is, if the user clicked in the "TitleF" field, I specified "TitleF" as the ScriptParameter.) Here's the full script, as it appears in the Edit Script window: If [People::Comp_Org_Flag = 1] Set Field [ Get ( ScriptParameter )] Commit Records/Requests [skip data entry validation; No dialog] End if Thanks for all your help!

Update: The "enriched" scripts work great, as long as I'm in FilemMaker. But in IWP I get the following error: "Comp_Org_Flag" is the field used to flag a record as corporate. Ack!

@raybaudi: I've been using a global script, and when I try to add that line to it, the script builder doesn't allow me to insert a semicolon without specifying a field name. That is, instead of Set Field [ <--no field name here--> ; Get( ScriptParameter ) ] I end up with Set Field [ Get( ScriptParameter ) ] Is that okay? It doesn't look right.