The database works fine until I try and access the pop up list (5000 entries) and type in the first letter of the last name to get to the place in the list I want. Then I get the spinning colored ball of death. I can scroll through this list manually but as it is a big list I want to get to i.e. Smith, James and so I press in "S".

I am using OS 10.4.1. and FileMaker Pro 7.0.3 to access a database across a VPN (using OS 10.4.1 built in VPN software) the databases are hosted on a Macintosh G4 with FileMaker Server 7.0.3.

Stef

'spinning coloured ball of death' - I love it!

I believe that slow pop-ups is a known issue with 7. It is apparently affected by how many windows are open at once and so closing as many windows as poss should help. The other suggestion is to change from a list to a menu. These apparently do not suffer the same problems.

HTH

Phil

Maybe you're just not waiting long enough (seriously) and it's not really crashed or hung.

A pop-up menu is the way to go, as Phil suggests.

Of course "type-ahead" does not work with popup menus.

I've observed the same behavior with popup lists of 2500. On OS X the SBOD goes for a few seconds after I type the first letter for a value, then it goes there. Until I close the file, subsequent type-ahead requests for the same value lists are fast. (must be some sort of caching)

On windows, the behavior is similar, but worse on the first type-ahead. It actually misses the first character typed and jumps ahead to the point in the list for the second character typed. Once again, subsequent access to the same value list (even in different records or on different layouts) work normally and much faster.

I've reproduced this across >15 installs of FMP with either FMP, FMS, or FMSA as the host. All installs are patched to the most current release, and I've filed a bug report to FMI, so hopefully it will get fixed someday.

Dana