v.7 tabs in v.8 Advanced

[Kayos]

Hello

I was quite dismayed when opening my Filemaker 7 database in Filemaker 8 Advanced to find that my navigation tabs created in 7 no longer show up as tabs but buttons.

I know there is a lot of talk about the new tabbed feature in v.8 but as I understand it, you cannot use them to navigate to different layouts.

Is there a way to import the old tab feature in 8? or make the the new tab feature work as it did in the old v.7 way? I can't believe Filemaker would disable something like this but did they?

I have some screenshots if nyone needs to see what I'm talking about...

Thanks for the help

[Ender]

I was quite dismayed when opening my Filemaker 7 database in Filemaker 8 Advanced to find that my navigation tabs created in 7 no longer show up as tabs but buttons.

It's not clear what you're having trouble with. As far as I know, in FM7 and earlier, a tabbed layout could only be created by using a set of buttons that look like folder tabs. And I haven't heard of anything that would change their graphic appearance in FM8.

Perhaps you can clarify and provide us a screenshot illustrating the problem.

[Kayos]

Here are some screenshots that illustrate my problems. The first shot is how the tabs looked in the FM7 browse mode and the second is the same database in FM8 browse mode. You will notice how the tabs look, well, like tabs in FM7 and like buttons in FM 8.

Of course, I wouldn't rule out the fact that I'm being a complete moron and ignoring the obvious but any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

FM7Tabs.pdf

FM8Tabs.pdf

[Ender]

It looks like you just need to adjust the layering or fill of those layout objects.

[comment]

I think I understand what happened here: your "tabs" are in the header, and the light green area below is the body. This indeed does not work in v.8, at least not in Form view. You need to create a light green rectangle to cover the lower part of the "tabs".

[Kayos]

Hey Ender

I've tried to adjust the layering and the fill for those objects but nothing seems to help. Just to be sure, I went back to Filemaker Pro 7 and created a new database to see if I did anything special to make them work correctly but I didn't. Once you create the button over the top of the body and switch from layout to browse or find mode it automatically makes the button a tab for you.

I did the same for Filemaker Advanced 8 but it does not turn them into a tab.

Do you have access to Filemaker Pro 7 anywhere? Are you able to create the same tabs from buttons in 8? Maybe there's a setting I'm missing in 8?

perhaps the issue is related to me having both v.7 and v.8 on the same system?

[Kayos]

Hey comment

Yes, the top part is the header and the bottom the body. That's disappointing that this does not work in v.8 and gives you no alternative. The new Tabs function does not allow you to navigate between Layouts.

While typing this I took note of your comment "at least not in the forms view" and can confirm that it does in fact work as it should while in the List view. Seems like a bug to me but Filemaker has yet to get back to my inquiries on it.

Edited August 15, 2006 by Guest

[comment]

this does not work in v.8 and gives you no alternative

The alternative is as I said: use a rectangle, or a thick line, to cover the bottom parts. To tell you the truth, I didn't even know you could do what you did in v.7. I have always done it this way - and it works without needing a header too.

[Ender]

I guess I never noticed it because I don't use the Header part on Form View layouts. There's no need.

[Kayos]

Thanks for your help Ender and comment.

It still seems to be a bug to me since it works in one view but not another.

I still can't seem to get any reply from Filemaker so I will just move forward with another solution.

[comment]

A largely semantic note:

A bug, according to Wikipedia, is "an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program that prevents it from working as intended, or produces an incorrect result." I am not at all convinced Filemaker,Inc. intended the program to work the way it works in v.7 - it seems just a mere coincidence. This behavior of version 7 is not documented - and consequently, neither is the change in behavior of version 8.

[Kayos]

If that was indeed a bug in v.7 then it was a pretty specific one to turn a button into a tab so cleanly. I can't believe that Filemaker wasn't aware of this capability. It would seem a pretty handy bug to keep since it was so easy to do and looked much nicer than buttons.

Are you saying that it was a bug in v.7 because it turned into a tab? In v.8 it works in one view but not another so they have yet to fix the bug?

If Wikipedia's definition would apply here it would either be a bug in v.7 or v.8 - I draw a button in v.7 and it turns into a tab which, if I wanted a button, would produce the incorrect result. If I wanted a tab in v.8 and draw a button as I did in v.7 and got only a button in the Form view but not in the List view then I'm getting an incorrect result in one view or the other.