"Undo" feature in FileMaker??

[robbiefiler]

Hi,

Sorry for such an elementary post but I'm completely new to FileMaker. In any case, I'm using FileMaker Pro 6.0v1 for Windows and am a bit startled that there doesn't appear to be any way to "undo" the last action (i.e., if you accidentally delete something, most programs will have an "undo" button or command that will undo the most recent action).

So, does FileMaker not have this? Or, by chance is it availabe in a newer version? I did notice there's an update to 6.0v4 so I didn't know if this might have this feature. I'm simply terrified of deleting an entire database and not being able to retrieve it.

Thanks for your help.

[Lee Smith]

Hi Robbiefiler,

There is a very limited undo feature in FileMaker(Menu - Edit - Undo (Cmd Z)) .

Most of the time, the undo is only available if you haven't left the field. However, if you have done a replace or substitute, it is also *not* available.

It is always a good idea to upgrade your applications to the most recent version, although doings so in this case will not provide any new features.

HTH

Lee

[kenneth2k1]

I would like to see a multiple undo feature. Even in layout design it would be nice. Maybe like a step backward or step forward like in Photoshop

[Paolo]

>> I'm simply terrified of deleting an entire database and not being able to retrieve it.

Just be carefull and backup your data frequently.

[Johds]

Paolo said:

>> I'm simply terrified of deleting an entire database and not being able to retrieve it.

Just be carefull and backup your data frequently.

Or allways work on a COPY of the actual database...

Personally I never EVER do any developmentwork on a production system,

I do that on a test system, make the changes there, test it, and if satisfied, import the data from the productionsystem, and copy the new DB over.

Saves downtime on the production system, makes for a safer development cycle, and is just good common sense IMHO.

Just mty 0.02

[Anatoli]

It depends on situation. Multiple undo will be great. But that will be very difficult to implement for FMI.

Sometimes I must do changes in live system, because the update will be too long. Then first will be backup of live system and after backup the work.

Best thing is data and programming separation, because then users are just receiving new program and I don't have to worry about data.

[-Queue-]

Here's a link to Ray's solution to this problem, similar to a field auditing system.

[ernst]

As long as you stay in one record you can undo chances to several fields at once by choosing 'Revert Record'.

Multiple levels of undo in Browse mode is difficult, if not impossible, to implement in a multi-user environment. In Layout mode it could be possible.

Ernst.

[CobaltSky]

Hi Queue,

Thanks for the mention.

You're right that the 'Multiple Undo' demo bears a relationship to audit trail techniques - and can, of course be implemented for all fields in the record if required, which provides an audit trail of sorts as well as a 'rollback' capability.

But of course whilst that works well enough within a record, it does nothing to address the issue of recovery of deleted records that robbiefiler has referred to. To do that, I suggest that in addition to a rollback system, a custom deletion script be provided in each file which archives the record in its entirety (ie writes it to a separate archive file) before deleting it from the file. This can be done in any of several ways - for example, as a series of set field steps via a relationship to the data archive file, or by isolating the record to be deleted, then calling an external script in the archive file which is pre-configured to import the found set from the current file.

Then user access privileges should be modified so that they don't have access to the delete record menu command and are thus constrained to delete records with the script provided. Once all this is in place, a special layout can be provided which displays deleted records in a portal , with a button in each row with which the user can re-instate the record (the button would link to a script which was the inverse of the archiving procedure in the deletion script, writing the data from the archive file to the current file then deleting the record from the archive file).

A combination of the above options, can give the security of a multiple 'undo' capability at both the record level and the field level - providing potential improvements in both data security and accountability. There's a bit of work involved, though...

[Lee Smith]

Hi Robbiefiler,

Along the lines of what Ray was suggesting, check out this file by Don Wieland called: Archive at the URL:

http://www.dwdataconcepts.com

HTH

Lee