Hiding Buttons/Controls

[RevMK]

Hello all, I'm new to FM and I have a strange problem. I have a button which I wish to hide if a particular field is empty. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a way to do this as I can't find any general controls for the button (for example visible=false).

Is it possible to do this? If so how would I go about it?

Thanks very much.

[Søren Dyhr]

Look here:

http://www.databasepros.com/FMPro?-DB=resources.fp5&-lay=cgi&-format=list.html&-FIND=+&resource_id=DBPros000743

--sd

[Brian C]

You can also use tabs under FMPv9 to some extent...

It does however force you to create different views of the same fields/buttons.

If you create tabs in v9 you can set object names for each of the tabs.

When the user first encounters the layout, if your navigation is scripted, you can use "Go To Object[]" to place the user on the "view" that you want them to see.

To hide the tabs from the user, get rid of the borders first, then set the font size to 1 for the tab to minimize the height of the tab and keep it from interfering with your layout design.

Last, place a new invisible tab object across the top of the now very small tabs. Only tabs can be used to cover up other tabs and keep the user from accidently clicking on tabs that you don't want them to click on.

Make sense?

[RevMK]

Hi guys, I was hoping the answer was going to be easier. I downloaded the file and had a quick look. I can't work out exactly what has been done but I'll have a better look tomorrow.

I've been using realbasic until now for basic database work so I'm very much used to being able to control.....er controls in a more formal manor.

Does the tab system not get confusing? I'm assuming I would have to create the tabs x number of times in order to achieve the required result - if I needed 2 hidden fields for example to appear if different fields are true there are (at best) 4 possible outcomes, this would mean 4 tabs (I think)?!

Cheers

[Brian C]

That is correct.

As for the other solution, it uses portals and relationships in order to make items either "appear" or "disappear".

By inputting data into a key field, it validates a relationship that is setup specifically for the purpose of hiding/showing elements.

As soon as the relationship has a valid link, the portal can then "see" the related data and force the field(s) or button(s) to display in the portal. Does this make sense?

I suppose if you wanted to get really crafty with tabs you could make separate tabs for each element so that they could be hidden/shown individually.

You could also use a plug-in that would trigger as soon as you exit a field to cause things to happen a little more smoothly.

Check out the ZippScript plug-in here:

http://www.zipptools.com/