ThatOneGuy

But epithets or name-calling is okay? This is unbecoming to the wealth of knowledge you contribute to these forums, and your well-earned reputation is much more valuable. Your code is crisp and concise. You have few peers but many admirers, among which I count myself. We have all benefitted from your insight, Comment. Please permit those of us with different insights to join in and share. I offered a handshake earlier, not an overtly warm one, but a handshake. I will offer again, and it is my hope you'll accept it with the cordial sincerity intended. P.S. I don't know what it is about me that's ticked you off ... man, I just hope it's not my seemingly infinite use of ellipses ... I don't know if I could go on without them ... they're so useful ... well, I guess they are kind of addictive ... maybe I should try to cut back ... yep, that's what I should do ... I'll quit tomorrow ... but why wait, I'll stop now ... okay, now ... this time I really mean it ... THERE!! ------- and I'm truly just joshin' with you in this postscript, Mike. (For interesting results, play John Lennon's Cold Turkey while reading along ... gawd, they're back ... get 'em off me!...)

I was afraid it was through a plug-in, but I do appreciate the reply. For your situation, what great fortune you already have the plug-in! You're gonna get this problem whipped, and your users will benefit. I can tell. Just peering down the path of that other option ... True, and I do some of that already. It certainly adds another layer to the programming, but it's benefiits are worthy ... • Not limited to 3 buttons • Not limited to the pixel width of default buttons • All window management functions are available for use • All field formatting options available ... For dialogs that need user input, we can format data input fields as Value Lists • All relational design techniques are available I often include modal windows, so that extra layer is already in place. I just haven't integrated it as tightly as it could be. Enjoyed the discussion, Matt. Thanks again for asking the question.

Morning, Matt: No kidding? Is that in FM or through Troi's plug-in? Could you point me in that direction?

Hey wplate! Glad you folks are okay. Don't risk low-water crossings ... "Turn Around. Don't Drown!" I can't say if there's a "better" way, but the link below will lead to some other ways. Lee Smith contributed a helpful post back in the Spring in this "Convert number to text for currency" thread. Hopefully you'll find it useful. Sorry the Export Records approach can't be applied in this case. I felt lucky for a bit. :sorrysign:

And if you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding ... how can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat? Okay, we have prima facie evidence that Phil is indeed a character. Should have figured as much in light of that "Inky" thing. (Which, BTW Phil, is a great display name for a fellow in your line of work.)

Hi Pascal: Using web-safe colors is not a bad idea at all. Thank you, Stuart, for sharing your thoughts. They've given us something concrete to discuss. Word! I never committed the crime of "fruit salad," but I got near the line ... maybe a Class A misdemeanor, but not the Felony variety. Perhaps the most important characteristic of all, I echo Stuart's remarks in not wanting the design to "drown out" the data. Here's a quote from C.A.R. Hoare (wiki for info) that has influenced me: "There are two ways of constructing a software design ... one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." When I'm creating layout schemes, I try to come up with several iterations and let them sit for a few months (I'm not kidding) to see if they "gel." If any of them still have appeal, I start using them in my construction process. Over the weeks of development, I'm watching to see whether they "fade" to the background of conciousness and allow the data to come forward to prominence. The "winners" often have some key things in common: • Subdued colors • Lots of white space, or more precisely, vacant space among the fields (If it looks like Manhattan, it's likely just as noisy.) • Consistent fonts (Personally, I use only Verdana) I guess we all work differently, but this approach has not worked for me. Software design is seldom a rational process. As comfortable as a linear method feels, additional needs will reveal themselves once we get into layout and interface. In fact, I tend to sketch out the placement of fields and objects first. There is an argument to be made that the data users need to see on the screen will influence a table's fields and its relationships. I then have a bettter idea of what code will be required. I write code for a good bit, then bring the interface along. It's a fair amount of bounciing back and forth, but it helps me focus on the interplay of data and interface. There's a reading you might enjoy, Pascal. Despite its title, it is not a technical writing. David Kachel's White Paper for FMP Novices is a wonderful collection of thoughts. It is there that I was introduced to the "fruit salad" concept. It's both informative and entertaining.

Yeah, I should have known that as soon as I typed the question and clicked "Add Post" ... but a guy can still dream, can't he? :dreaming:

It worked! I've finally gotten you to agree with me on something. Yet you were debating legal principles in a FileMaker forum ... that's all right, I'll let you out of this one. I'm not dinged up; you okay?

Yeah, that presents a logical quandary. I got around it by using a calculated field that tests whether the firstField is empty. It's Boolean, producing a Zero if empty and a One otherwise. The relationship then uses the calcField. I don't know if this will work in your situation, but we might be able to figure something out. What else can you tell us about the situation?

Hi wplate: There are ways to format Numbers for exporting (calculations, custom functions), but you may not have to go that far. In FM8, the Export Records dialog box (menu or script step) has an option to Apply current layout's data formatting to exported data. So, if you can run your export from the formatted layout, that might be all you need! Or, create a layout dedicated for Exporting, where all of the Export's fields are formatted just the way you like. Let us know how it turns out. If that doesn't do the trick, what type of Number formatting do you need ... monetary or something else? P.S. Hear it's flooding in that neck of the woods. You and yours all right, I pray.

Okay, I can see where that would be useful. Thank you for taking time to distinguish it for me. Kind of a "preventive maintenance" tool, isn't it.

That's pretty impressive, Mac! Wow, you've really taken off running with this. That's great! The more refinement that can be done in the Buffer file, the less drag there may be when it comes to importing to the Main file, especially if the Main file is big, honkin' monster. Some people have reported very slow import/record creation. Some say FM8 is better than FM7, others say it's just the opposite. The more work that can be done in the Buffer, it may be beneficial. If you have FM8.5 Advanced (or even FM8.0 Advanced), you can "copy" whole tables out of the main file and "paste" them into the Buffer file. Same with fields. I bring this up because one of the "selling points" for me in this Buffer file model is the opportunity to review/clean/purge the data before it is truly added to the Main file. If you've ever squirreled up a target file with an erroneous/premature import, you know why this appeals to me. In any respect, I commend you for your work! :beertime:

Hi CK: Yeah, that's burned me before. Hmmm ... well, I experimented some time back with the Design function named WindowNames {( fileName )}, but any successes were modest, at best. Per a portion of FM's onlline help ... "The WindowNames function returns a list of the names of windows that are currently open. Use the optional fileName parameter to only return windows that are based on the specified file. The window could be visible, hidden, or minimized. The order of the names in the list matches the current stacking order of the windows. The visible windows are listed first, then the minimized windows, then the hidden windows. If there are no databases or windows open, an empty string is returned." * Seems a script could test whether "value count > 1" ... allowing for the one window that hopefully is still open. If multiple windows are open, the script could have a Select Window step, using any of those values in the list to go to a window by its name, specified through the calculated option. I think. All that being said, I can't tell you how it might behave in a multi-user environment, but I'd clearly be interested to know what you find. ------- * ... and where might that empty string be displayed when there are no databases or windows open?... I'd like to see that. Perhaps an existentialist might say it's always there whenever FileMaker is not running. ... then what about if a man is standing in the middle of the forest speaking, and there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?

I believe I followed the intent of Phil's statements, and that they were not of a nefarious character, although I can't speak to whether Phil is a character. For me, the thread took a direction that triggered my post. Should I have not submitted a post? I can't disagree with you that "[T]here is a difference between between copying and being inspired." but the selection of Picasso's quote differs peculiarly from this latest position. And while "[A] rock-and-roll song is not necessarily a derivative of the Rolling Stones," it doesn't take much. George Harrison paid handsomely when the court ruled a relatively small portion of My Sweet Lord merely sounded reminiscent of a similarly-sized snippet of He's So Fine (can't remember the MoTown girls group, anybody know?) in violation of the holder's copyright. Can you agree with me that there's a difference between being inspired and copying? If you're relying on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for authority, may I suggest you direct your research toward the reporter series for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Hi Matt: I'm glad you asked that question. I don't have an answer, but I'm glad you asked in hopes someone, somewhere knows something (sans plug-in). It's a frustrating, little pest of a problem. (One user said my dialogs were too wordy. Huh? Me, wordy? Can you believe that?) The default size of a custom dialog box allows for only a handful of lines. Once we add in some pilcrows to make a message more readable, we've used up the default space. And I think the default space is even more limited on the Windows platform where the dialog box has a larger "header" portion, if I recall correctly. Short of creating our own dialog layouts, I just haven't had any luck solving this problem. I sure hope you get some responses/ideas.