Multiple/Alternate Images in Same Container/Area?

[Dorion]

You all seem nice and definitely know what you're doing, so maybe you can point me to the right path. I haven't really used FM since around version 4 and just picked it up again on a hobby level. Now let me tell you exactly what I'm trying to do.

I have around 200 sewing patterns and am attempting to use FM to organize them. Everything is working exactly as I had hoped, except for one thing I'd like to do that I just can't get my hands on.

There is a main image container for each pattern record. For each pattern, there will be at least one image, but in some cases there may be 3 or 4. Right now I haven't accommodated for more than the one main image, but it would be helpful if I could store those alternate images in the same record, at the same location in the layout, without adding additional containers (or at least not appearing to). The images do live in the database and have no particular organization of their own. I get them as I find them online or scanned, then delete the originals after importing them into the database.

I've looked around here and even scanned through some training disks, but didn't see this particular topic visited. I don't mind doing a little scripting, but I am VERY new at this. My first question is, can I do this at all? If the answer is yes, I'm willing to do the work to make it happen. I don't want to change the layout to display, say, 3 or 4 different containers on each record, since some may only have one image while others may have 5. Ideally, I would like to have that one large main image container static in placement, with eg. buttons to scroll through however many images that are in that same container/area.

Hopefully I gave enough background as to what I'm trying to get to, but I'd be happy to explain further if it'll help.

I appreciate everyone's help.

Thanks!

-Dorion

[Raybaudi]

Hi

you have to have six containers ( 5 normal container and 1 calculation ) in every record, but only display one ( the calculated one ).

You need two format too, the first one holding those normal containers, the second one holding the calculated container

[Dorion]

Thank you -- good, so that means I CAN do it.

Sounds like I would have a main layout with all my information, and a secondary layout into which I would enter any alternate views, right?

I don't understand how to use the calculations, however, or how I would cycle through the five different images on the main layout.

[Fenton]

I wouldn't use multiple container fields. You only need at most 2, one for the image, (optionally) another for a thumbnail.* Both container fields would be in a related table, based on the main record's unique ID. The thumbs would show in a portal. Clicking one of them would show the related full-size image.

*Ideally the thumbnail would be resized from the full-size image, at say 128 pixels. This can be done on-the-fly by FileMaker's Import Folder command. It can also be done with AppleScript. However, since you are not likely to show these thumbs in a list view (for sewing patterns), you could just show the full-size image in the portal, but turn on "Reduce" size. It's slower, but simpler.

For that matter, maybe you'd just want names in the portal, no image at all. I imagine the thumbs wouldn't show much anyway. The relational tie and functionality is the same no matter what's actually in the portal.

ThumbsImages.fp7.zip

[Fenton]

Here is an alternative "fake" thumbnail method. That is, what looks like a thumbnail is only the full-size image "reduced" by FileMaker to look like a thumbnail. It makes it a little slower, but eliminates a few steps. It also allows you to turn on "Allow creation of related records", so you can just Insert Picture right in the "thumbnail" field in the portal.

Since you're also using that field to click on to show the full-size image, the script can check to see if it's that last empty row, in which case it goes into the field, so you can Insert, or whether its got an image already, in which case it just sets the key to show it.

You could also have buttons to do these things separate from the field itself, but this is more pretty :-]

ThumbFakeImages.fp7.zip

[Dorion]

Thank you for the suggestions and examples. I'm going to have to investigate more, because these techniques are already a bit beyond me. But I know what to work toward.

Thanks!

-Dorion