Text Field: Can I Get a Specific Text String to Repeat?

[Peterteneldas]

Hello, everyone, I am using FileMaker 16 on Windows 10 64-bit.

I’m a novice database designer and not really an expert. But I find FileMaker so much easier to use than Access. I’ve managed to figure out a lot of things on my own, with a minimal amount of research. So, thank you FileMaker designers and engineers. As I create more complex databases, I may need some help. With this being said...

Here’s my first question:

I have a text field that I’m going to be adding a combination of letters and numbers into. However, I want this field to repeat the text I type into it, until I choose to type in something else.

For example, if I create a new record, and type R-15 into that text field, I want R-15 to be displayed in that field for every subsequent new record I create, until I type something else into it, such as G-28.

Is this possible? If so, what is the procedure? Is doing this a fairy simple task?

 

Thank you.

PT

[bcooney]

Yes, it's simple. Look at the Manage Database> Field Options >AutoEnter> Data. 

[Peterteneldas]

Thank you for replying.  I used the "Value from last visited record" option, and it appears to be exactly what I want.  Thank you.   PT

[bcooney]

Not sure where you're heading with this. Hope this isn't a key field.

[Peterteneldas]

Well, I didn't really say what I was doing.  I'm really just experimenting right now.  I'm planning on making a flat-file movie database that does nothing more than list the movie's title, and location in my house.  The movies are color coded to help me find them easily, and they are numbered.

So, R-15 would stand for RED 15, meaning that particular movie is in the RED section, and is number 15.  I'm actually going to separate the color and number into two different fields.  I'm also going to use conditional formatting to add fill colors to the DVD COLOR field.  I'm pretty sure that will make doing finds and reports easier, if they are broken up.  So, only the DVD COLOR field will have that auto-enter option.  Obviously, the numbers won't have that.  But I think it's possible to create an auto-enter field to enter numbers incrementally.  That would help my data entry, but only if I enter records in numerical order, which I may not do.  I hope that makes sense.

I don't see anything relational in this particular database.  So, no, I don't believe this will be a key field.  Unless I'm misunderstanding this.

 

PT