this forum is great if you have some experience using relational dbs but its not my thing, i got filemaker a week ago and have knocked up a db that works!! its simple cause thats all i need,but im seriously frustrated at the lack of basic info,even filemakers own tutorial breezes over sections without any explanation at all,for instance how to set up a letter from your db that prints a4??? how to put a graphic in a container, or even what a container is and when to use it, it begs the question why do people use pirate software....cause its very often incomplete...whos gonna buy a car with no wheels....

The greatest teacher is experience. By the way, you can find out about what all types of fields do in the FileMaker Pro Help. "About defining database fields."

As far as a letter that prints a4, not sure what that is. The best way to learn FM (or any complex application, for that matter) is a combination of these forums and a good instructional series, like the cd-roms or class instruction offered by Mac/Windows Academy.

If you need specific, help, we're always glad to be of assistance.

Before using this forum, I had never created a relational DB in FileMaker or used portals, or many other features thinking about it.

I learnt not only by asking questions but reading others questions, sometimes if you do not know a feature is there you cannot ask a question about it, but by reading the questions and answers of other users you soon pick it up.

By learning from this forum I have now written many relational DB for myself, my company and clients.

There are some great experts here in the forum all of who are more than willing to help, that's why they come here!

As Kenneth said, all you need to do is ask

Bear with it, try things, read books, and most importantly ask for help when you need it!

Good luck with your DB's!

Best regards

Ed.

Making an A4 letter: use the Page Setup (or Print Setup) command to select the paper size and orientation. On the layout, set the header and footer part sizes first, then size the body until the bottom-of-page boundary appears. Make the body a pixel or two smaller than this.