text boundaries, Aligning options, where did they go?

[serzone]

I've been using FileMaker Pro 5.5 and 7 for a while now... and I'm currently working on recreating the database I have in 5.5 in 8.

I wish i had the Advanced version but i'm stuck with the no so advance one for now.

Questions:

1. Text Bounderies: As i started creating layouts in 8 i noticed that when you add some text in a layout the text boundaries don't shrink to the size of the text when i click on "Line Spacing, Single" like it used to do in 5.5. This is really annoying when trying to align text. What's the workaround?

2. Aligning: in 5.5 there was a dialog box that let you decide the aligning options along with the vertical or horizontal distribution. You were able to set the option and they would stay that way till you changed them, you could get to those setting by Ctrl+Shift+K and then apply those setting whenever needed by pressing Ctrl+K. Now what? 10 more clicks for each alligning operation?

3. If i were to get FM 8 Advanced. The database i create in Advanced... would it work (with tooltips and everything) for everyone in the office if they have the basic version installed?

[Lee Smith]

I've been using FileMaker Pro 5.5 and 7 for a while now... and I'm currently working on recreating the database I have in 5.5 in 8.

I wish i had the Advanced version but i'm stuck with the no so advance one for now.

Questions:

1. Text Bounderies: As i started creating layouts in 8 i noticed that when you add some text in a layout the text boundaries don't shrink to the size of the text when i click on "Line Spacing, Single" like it used to do in 5.5. This is really annoying when trying to align text. What's the workaround?

2. Aligning: in 5.5 there was a dialog box that let you decide the aligning options along with the vertical or horizontal distribution. You were able to set the option and they would stay that way till you changed them, you could get to those setting by Ctrl+Shift+K and then apply those setting whenever needed by pressing Ctrl+K. Now what? 10 more clicks for each alligning operation?

3. If i were to get FM 8 Advanced. The database i create in Advanced... would it work (with tooltips and everything) for everyone in the office if they have the basic version installed?

1), just select the text box and then hit bold twice.

2). Much improved tool. You should be able to View this Pallet in layout mode by selecting it under View In menu, or Arrange in the Menu.

3). Yes.

Lee

[serzone]

3. Thank you for the good news (regarding item number 3)

1. I'm afraid that hitting bold twice doesn't work, it won't shrink the text boundary to the actual text. So if i had a text that said: Contact Phone and was 85 px long to fit that text when i delete the word phone the bounday won't shrink to just Contact i gotta do it manually... and when you've got a whole buch of fields... that's crazy!

2. I don't see how it's improved. The only pallete you can add and view is called Arrange and show only options for aligning, distributing is missing. And you can't apply again and again with just one keyboard shortcut the last setting used (for example: align left AND top edges or align bottom edges AND distribute horizontally) and that sucks!

Edited March 3, 2006 by Guest

[Lee Smith]

1. I'm afraid that hitting bold twice doesn't work, it won't shrink the text boundary to the actual text. So if i had a text that said: Contact Phone and was 85 px long to fit that text when i delete the word phone the bounday won't shrink to just Contact i gotta do it manually... and when you've got a whole buch of fields... that's crazy!

2. I don't see how it's improved. The only pallete you can add and view is called Arrange and show only options for aligning, distributing is missing. And you can't apply again and again with just one keyboard shortcut the last setting used (for example: align left AND top edges or align bottom edges AND distribute horizontally) and that sucks!

1). Are you using the Selecting Arrow? It works for me.

2). If the Arrange is blank, the there is something wrong here. How about The Layout Mode >> Menu >> View >> Tools >> Arrange (see screen shot)

A grayed menu item usually means Access & Privileges.

Lee

[SteveB]

Lee: Serzone is on a Win platform. I've experienced the same problem in #1 above, and have never found a solution. They've done a couple of other bizarre things, which may be Windows related. If you change the size of an object, you can't subsequently move it unless you de-select and re-select it.

Steve

[Lee Smith]

Holy Cow.

That's enough to make me switch to a Mac.... Oh, that's right I am on a Mac.

I hope that all of you are reporting these things to M$ and FM.

Lee

[serzone]

i was afraid that you'd say this is Mac vs. Windows related It's just wierd to have something working in an old version and then instead of improvements you get less features.

Thank you for the replies and help. I found the Arrange toolbar, that's not a problem it's just that, like i said it does not include the horiz. or vert. distribute options, and even if it would it still wouldn't apply them at the same time and repeatedly with other objects as you work on a layout. And that is just plain idiotic!

As for reporting this to MS and FM... how do i do it?

[Lee Smith]

No, this isn't a Mac v Windows, that was a joke.

And you don't have any of these items available either?

Edited March 3, 2006 by Guest

[serzone]

I saw those too... i'll have to experiment with them a bit. They probably work with single words.

But if you have Contact Phone and email and click on Smallest width and Height it will work on the email boundary box but for the Contact Phone... well it will try to make the width small so instead it will break the text in two lines:

Contact

Phone

[Oldfogey]

Like you serzone, I was really cranky about the terrible V8 replacement of the arrange stuff .... UNITL I found the toolbar. Have a look. It is great; leaves pre-V7 for dead. Also check out 'Distribute'.

[Gosub]

Not to pile on, but the issue with the text boundary not resizing in v8 for Windows is driving me crazy. I'm so glad I found this thread because I thought I was actually losing my mind trying to figure out why it wouldn't work. While I'm incredibly disappointed and frustrated that this isn't working, it's good to know I'm not insane.

One thing I'm curious about... are there really so few Windows users that rely on this functionality? I mean, it's such a staple in my everyday development that not having it is causing havoc with my development time, and I just can't believe there aren't others complaining. Is there perhaps a better/other method of resizing text boundaries that Windows users are using and that's why no one is complaining? If so, I'd really love to know what it is so I can stop pulling my hair out.

-G-

[serzone]

Well Gosub you are not the only one out there. Maybe other windows people didn't switch to FM8 yet.

For the others... thank you for the help but some of you keep insisting on the arrange toolbar and so on... maybe i wasn't speaking clearly so let me show you:

1.

see the first text and the second one? how do i get the boundaries for the first one to be like the second one? How do i shrink them? YOU CAN'T! Not even the Resize to works because if the boundary box on both field would've been larger than the text then that resize option would only resize the larger one to match the smaller one, not the actual text!

AARRRGGHHH!!! this is like going back to the stone age! I have to click on each piece of text and resize the box manually and you can only do it approximately because there IS NO PRECISE WAY TO DO IT... you don't know the width and height of the text to type it in... and even if you did... it would TAKE FOREVER!

2.

These are the old Alignment and Arrange option in FM 5.5 and 7.

I agree that the arrange toolbar is improved in that it has the align buttons on it... but that's it!

In the old version you got to the Set Alignment screen (CTRL+SHIFT+K), you set and applied the alignment and then later on you could reaply those settings again and again from the Arrange toolbar or simply with CTRL+K! IT WAS PERFECT! It was quick, you could use it and reuse it, and it included distribution!

Now:

To arrange:

1. I gotta click on one of the align buttons on the arrange toolbar

To distribute:

2. I gotta move mouse to Arrange

3. find and click Arrange

4. find and click distribute

5. find and click horizontally or vertically

and i have to do this EVERY TIME! EVERY TIME!!

How is that increased productivity!?

3.

How come it's STILL IMPOSIBLE to drag up and down more than one line of code at a time? If you do some scripting and use the duplicate command it places the new duplicate line at the end of the script and if you duplicate 4 lines at a time you need to drage all four of them one by one to the right place, you can't select them all and drag them! STOOPID!

4. This is more on the funny side but check out the autorun these people put on the FileMaker 8:

Oh my god! let me go back to the IT dude and ask for the stupid install manual cause i don't know what the hell those three buttons are!

Are those icons (and the mentioned "improvements" above) what mac people and developers call intuitive interface, ease-of-use and improved software?! You're jokeing right?...

Now then... who at Filemaker do i need to email about these things, cause i feel robbed!

Edited March 3, 2006 by Guest

[SteveB]

Your problem 3: Yes, you can only move 1 line at a time, but you can Copy and Paste as many lines as you'd like both within a script and between scripts. See the Copy and Paste buttons in the lower right below the script entry window?

They have screwed up a lot of little things which fortunately are mostly painful, but not catastropic. Given that you've pretty much documented the text issue, please report it to FMI at Filemaker Bugs.

Also, it would be nice to know whether it happens on a Mac (Lee!)

After writing this, I looked at Serzone's screen shots. Could those jokers have decided to put Copy and Paste buttons on v8 Advanced only? To put it mildly, they are a bunch of horse's patoots (my morning rant...better than a cup of coffee).

Steve

Edited March 3, 2006 by Guest

[Lee Smith]

Huh, I fell asleep while trying to figure what all of the screen shots where suppose to be telling me?

Take a look at the Online Help section and see what it says.

Resizing and reshaping objects

Lee

[Oldfogey]

Lee,

It doesn't cover serzone's main grizzle - inability to get FMP to reduce a text box to fit the text.

serzone is a lot better off than I am. At least he's saved a lot of time in the past. I haven't because I didn't know about that little trick. I've just been mentally abusing FMP. It really isn't a big deal, though.

serzone is quite correct in his abuse of FMI for some of their really weird stuff, appearing with V7. They obviously employed some kook who eats a lot of funny mushrooms - or, worse, a "graphics interface CONSULTANT". The icons for the installation are something else again! I know I had to refer to the bit of paper.

[LaRetta]

I agree on the Installation graphics. I felt like a totally dummy looking at them trying to figure out what they meant. But as usual, I didn't grab the book, I just selected one to find out what it did. Whatever happened to the concept of TEXT to explain the options? It's not like they were out of space. Even *I* could come up with better icons to explain the choices...

I LIKE the new text feature (of boundaries not collapsing). I center my text labels above my fields and they are the same width as the field. When I changed the wording and it used to shrink the boundaries, it drove me nuts! I guess FM should have given us an option in Edit > Preferences.

LaRetta