User Interface Question??

[raymanj]

The other day, I was looking at a Filemaker solution for accounting called "EasyAccounting with Filemaker". I found a very interesting implementation of user interface in this solution.

They were able to dim fields, portals and buttons on the fly depending on what field or checkbox was filled. I did not know this could be done in Filemaker Pro. This is a great way to help users understand your solution and do error checking without all the dialog boxes saying, "You forgot to fill...".

At first I thought they were switching to other layouts that had the dimmed widgets, but I do not think this was done. Too many widgets on the screen would mean a separate layout for each widget. I also noticed that if I typed into a field and TAB out of it, all the other fields and widgets would dim or undim.

Second, maybe they used calculation fields for the buttons, etc. and this might have been the way they did it until I noticed a flaw in this assumption. When a button or any widget is clicked on while dimmed, no reaction is made by Filemaker. Usually some kind of cursor change or flash of the screen will occur to signify a script is being run. No script is run when the dimmed items are clicked. Scripts are only run if not dimmed.

You can download a free demo of the solution and see what I am talking about, before you guys respond. One of the layouts I had looked at was (path: Journal > Sales > Pay/Credit).

All I want to know is how do I do this for my FM files. This has been a wish for a long time and I found someone doing it. Any help would be great.

Thanks

[Kurt Knippel]

While I have not looked at the solution, most of then this kind of thing is done with calculated interface elements. Get into layout mode and the whole interface is nothing but calculation container fields. When you are in a given field it is illuminated, the others are dimmed. Other options may also turn off and on.

I once worked on a HUGE solution where only a small portion of the screen was static, the rest was dynamic, based upon where you were, how you got there and what your access was. Even all of the field labels, colors and borders and such were calculated.