Texts As Globals

[Genx]

Righto, im currently utilizing text globals as critical relational fields... i know they are session specific but ive got them set as auto enter calculations... is there any reason they would disapear despite being setup as auto enter ... ?

Cheers in advance, genx

[CyborgSam]

Does the auto-enter calculation replace existing values? If so, could it be replacing the existing value with blank data. Perhaps you could set these using the Opening Script?

[Genx]

...the opening script, that seems like an ok idea but a bit extensive, could you explain to me exactly how globals work? and exactly when a text calculation will recalculate?

[CyborgSam]

IMO, an Opening Script is essential. A good GUI should resize the window to fit content, show/hide the Status Area, zoom to 100%, etc. It's very easy to setup, a basic one takes a couple of minutes.

Globals have a single value regardless of which record is current. Every user will have a private copy of a global. Globals are also commonly used to store graphic elements of the GUI in container fields (which users never modify). In a multi-user environment, the OpeningScript should initialize any globals that the user will manipulate to avoid problems with who-did-what-when.

Global calculations will recalculate if any of the fields within change. It's common to use a trigger field to force recalculations, and a common trigger field is a field set to auto-enter the modification time. An example is:

Left( GetAsText ( TriggerField ) ; 0 ) & SomeOtherStuff

The Left.. does not add anything to the string, but it's presence will cause the calculation to reevaluate when the trigger field changes.

I'm a bit brain dead tonight, so if my explanations are not clear enough, do speak up!

[Genx]

no, that was all clear, i do have an opening script and a fairly complex one at that, i was just refering to setting the globals (there are a fair few) every time the file was opened...

Speaking of which are globals user specific then?... or session specific?

Cheers, genx

[CyborgSam]

Globals are user specific because in a multi-user situation each user has their own private copy of globals.

Session specific is trickier. A guiding principle is that globals are only "saved" into the file when the file is closed. In FileMaker Pro, when the host user closes a file, their values of the globals are what gets saved (since they're the last to close the file). Until they close it, other users get the value of the global from when the host user opened the file. In Filemaker Server, since there is no host user, the globals are never saved, the value in the file when opened by Server is always the value all users get.