Image Catalog Layout?

[macguys]

One of the tables in a database I'm currently working with is a collection of images. The images are mostly logos and are associated with records in related datases. I'd like to be able to present a "catalog view" of image thumbnails. I can do this now with one big column of one image per row, but I'd like to have several rows on a layout. Is this possible? This is FMP 8 running on a Windows server with a mixed Mac/XP workstation environment.

Thanks

Dave

Edited May 22, 2006 by Guest

[John Mark Osborne]

If you are willing to view the images in preview mode, it's very easy to setup columns using the Layout Setup dialog. But, I'm guessing you still want to be able to use scripted buttons so this probably won't work very well. I can't think of any easy or clean way to do it in browse mode. Your best bet would be to use a relationship and a portal. The relationship is going to have to look at every 5 records as a group of records to display them in one row. If it were me, I would not attempt the solution even though I can understand why you want to do it.

[macguys]

I was afraid that was going to be the answer. Thanks

Dave

[Lee Smith]

Hi Dave,

Take a look at this old file by Russ Baker, maybe it can help.

Click Here

Lee

[Fenton]

I think there are several possible ways to present several related images on a layout. There is also the ability to to specify how many records to show in a portal. So you could show 5 related records across using 1-row portals, starting at 1, then 2, etc.. Or 2-row portals, etc..

What is not so easy is to show something like "all related images belonging to the found set of parents, on a 'contact sheet' layout, with ability to flip through them." FileMaker did this, in their earlier Photo Catalog by, as John alluded to, using multiple columns in Preview mode, copy/pasting that into a global field (one page at a time). Invisible buttons over the apparent location of each image were used for selection.

I improved FileMaker's method (added backwards navigation), in this sample file:

http://www.fmforums.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/175893/post/201820/hl/+Fenton/#201820

I can also conceive of using a Custom Function and the Get(NthRecord) to produce a multi-line key for the found set, to use for the multiple portals idea. Look at:

http://www.briandunning.com/filemaker-custom-functions/list.php

Specifically the GetNthRow and GetRows functions, by Bruce Robertson. Awesome. There are others, but I like his 'cause it returns the rows in the correct order (rather than reversed).

[comment]

What is not so easy is to show something like "all related images belonging to the found set of parents, on a 'contact sheet' layout, with ability to flip through them."

I don't know about easy, but I believe the demo I posted here can do just that (without a custom function, BTW). Just split the portal into any shape you like.