When inserting imagefiles into a database you can either choose to do that as images or as files. When doing it as images you can view them but not edit them, or you can edit them but not view them. You can choose to have the user insert a file twice but this is not very nice.

*** THIS ONLY WORKS WHEN YOU INSERT A FILE/IMAGE WITH REFERENCE NOT WITH EMBEDDED FILES/IMAGES

***RIGHT NOW THIS IS MAC ONLY, DUNNO HOW THIS WORKS ON A PEECEE (pcfile? pcimage?)

The folowing calculations are used in a calculation, set to type container, to change images in one field to file references in your calculation, or to change file references to images in yor calculation.

*IMAGES TO FILES:

Substitute(RightValues(GetAsText(FilesDB::ImageField); 1); "imagemac:"; "file:")

*FILES TO IMAGES:

Substitute(RightValues(GetAsText(FilesDB::FileField); 1); "filemac:"; "image:")

Might be covered before but could not find it here, only the bits that led me to it.

... and it only works in fmpro 7 $

I guess I'm having trouble understanding why anyone would insert the file rather than the picture, since the file doesn't print - just a little reference note. What use is the "insert file" option?

it works in xp also

just change imagemac with imagewin and filemac with filewin

anyway very nice tip thanx...

hi,

i am extremely new at filemaker pro (as in 2 days new) and I've made a database to help with the sequence breakdown of a film I'm working on. in every record I have an picture taken from the film to guide me.

I need to be able to click on this image file in FM and have it open in preview or photoshop when needed -- is this possible? From your post it seems like it isn't, but I dont quite understand scripting yet. I'm using FM7. I apologize for the newbie question, and would appreciate any help :P

I'm assuming, since you say Preview, that you're on a Mac. In that case you can use AppleScript to open a picture which you have inserted using the command: Insert [x] As reference only

You cannot open a "file" which has NOT [ ] been inserted as reference only; because FileMaker does not store the filepath in that case. To open such a picture you must first use Export Field Contents.

If it has be inserted as a reference, you first you need the path to the picture, which you can get from container field using a calculation, _cFilepathMac, result text, =

Substitute(MiddleValues(GetAsText(PictAsRef); 3; 1); [ "/"; ":"]; ["imagemac::"; ""]; ["¶"; ""] )

(PictAsRef is the container field showing the picture. Put your field there.)

Then you can use a simple AppleScript, in a Perform AppleScript step (from the layout with the picture in this case)

set theFile to cell "_cFilePathMac" of current record

tell application "Finder"

open file theFile

end tell

 

 

Edited September 9, 200520 yr by Guest

Interesting solution. I tried this in a network situation where I hope to view PDFs residing in the public folder of the host from a remote client machine (regular FM version, not server). Do you have a solution for this? I don't know how the client machine can follow a path to the host? Whatever the path, it seems that client has a different one than the host has.

Thanks Fenton.

Edited September 14, 200520 yr by Guest