Field used on which layout?

[nikarc]

Is there a way to find out on which layouts a particular field is used? Our company is doing a database cleanup/overhaul and we need to identify the "obsolete" fields that are no longer being used.

Thanks in advance,

Kyle

[andygaunt]

Kyle -

If you have FileMaker Pro Developer edition you can use the DDR report in conjunction with either Analyzer from Waves in Motion www.wmotion.com or Brushfire from Chaparral Software www.chapsoft.com/brushfire

Another option which will be a lot more work for you is to create your own analysis of the database, using the Design Functions of FileMaker and then many scripts to create a full analysis of each field on each layout. I think there is some sort of analysis tool in the samples forum

HTH

[dbruggmann]

Yes, open Menu

[nikarc]

Thanks for the replies.

I think dbruggmann's idea will be best, as we just need to know once which fields are where (and if they aren't used anywhere we'll delete them). Plus it's cheaper!

Kyle

[Fenton]

If you have calculation fields, relationships or scripts, the simple fact that a field is not on any layout does mean that it's safe to delete it.

It really is best to buy one of the more complete analysis tools. There are also some free ones here and there that will do most of this. But not script steps, which are really the most difficult to find fields in.

One tip is to name suspected obsolete fields with a bunch of highly visible characters, such as "###field name."

That makes them a lot easier to find them manually.

[-Queue-]

Just for clarification, I believe Fenton means "doesn't". Don't want a user skimming the first part and misinterpreting it...

[Ugo DI LUCA]

Yeah....

I've made my own loop script using the design functions (Layout and Fields) and a calc using GetField() .

Then, I ended with lots of fields including global fields....

Lot of efforts, result = 0

[BobWeaver]

There are also some free ones here and there that will do most of this. But not script steps, which are really the most difficult to find fields in.

The one that I posted in the Samples forum does indeed cross reference field usage in scripts. However, it requires printing the scripts to a file and then importing them back in for analysis, The import procedure is semi-automated.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to test this on Windows machines because I don't have the hardware available. If anyone using Filemaker on Windows wants to provide some feedback to me I should be able to get it working on Windows.