Tabbed Navigation FM8 How-To?

[tarheel]

Is there a Tabbed Navigation How-To for FM-8?

I searched this site and could not fine an answer.

I followed the example in "Using FileMaker 8 Special Edition" (page 360-361) but couldn't get it to work.

Thanks,

Bob...

[Brudderman]

Maybe you could describe what didn't work and what kind of results that you got. If you have the Special Edition book, there is a Navigation.fp7 demo file on the CD that illustrates the scripting involved. The demo uses buttons instead of tabs, but the principle and the script would be the same.

James

www.james-mc.com

[tarheel]

Thanks for the response James, I will try to describe what I did. First place three gray curved-corner rectangles above a white square rectangle. OK so far, A fourth curved rectangle in white serves as the "currently selected" tab. OK so far. now the problem...Then it's a matter of overlaying objects, using the Arrange menu's Send Forward and Send Backward commands. I don't know how to do that. I'm guessing I need to script it but don't know how. I checked the Navigation example on the CD but I can't see the scripts because they are 'grayed out'

Bob...

[Brudderman]

The scripts are not "grayed out" on mine. Is your file still on the CD or have you copied it to the HD?

[tarheel]

OOPS I was looking at the demo files on the CD. I copied them to the FM8 directory and I can now see the scripts but they don't help me solve the Tab Navigation problem much.

Bob...

[m-sky]

I'm not sure that this is what you mean, but Tabs in 8.0 and above allow you to navigate WITHIN a layout; using the tab tool, you drag the tab box to the layout and create titles for each of the tabs in the resulting dialogue. Then, in layout mode, you can click on each successive Tab to add fields, etc.

The older notion of Tabs before 8.0 was simply scripting a tab-shaped button to move to a different layout. If you wanted to show just a few different fields than your current layout, you'd have to copy the whole layout and change just those fields. You can still make tab-like buttons to navigate BETWEEN other layouts - the 8.0 Tabs feature is not meant for that.

[tarheel]

I'm referring to Tabbed Navigation not Tabbed Control as described on page 360 of Using FileMaker 8 Special Edition.

Bob...

[m-sky]

Well, you still haven't given much indication of what's tripping you up. What you need to know is that you can make any graphic or text object (or field itself) a button; and a button can perform one function on the list presented when choosing the menu item Format-->Button Setup in layout mode.

There is a lot of graphic work to be done to make tabs appear to change from gray to black (or highlighted or selected or whatever), but it's relatively simple and tedious. A simple example would be to create navigation, say, with four buttons. The active one would be black text in a white box and the not selected would be white text on a black box. Clicking on an not selected one would trigger the button action or script that takes you to the next layout in browse mode. Your job to make it look "right" would then to make the previously active into a black box with white text, and the new currently active into a white box with black text.

The example in "Special Edition..." probably uses a slightly more complex graphic with several parts, some of which may be grouped. You could make a copy of the layout or file (so that you have the original to return to) and Ungroup the graphic objects of a particular button/tab to move them around or change their characteristics. Play with sending individual parts forward and back.

But I'm doing the work here - you haven't said much about what part of the Arrange menu is giving you grief and what the specific result is.

[Brudderman]

I don't know whether you're having problems with the tab navigation (button, script parameter, and script) or just the coloring of the the tabs (buttons). So you need to be more specific.

But first, you might try this: dissect a file that works the way you want it to and see how it's put together. In layout mode you can see what script parameters are assigned to the various tabs and then look at the navigation script to see how it works when fed that parameter.

You can get a demo file put together by the same folks who wrote your Special Edition book here . It is the Job Time Tracker and has the kind of tabs that you want and a navigation script similar to the one in your book. You should be able to see how it was done and then be able to do the same sort of thing.