Menu Error

[Bushwacker]

Hi Everyone,

I've recently acquired Filemaker Pro 9 Advanced and I'm setting up my first database on this version. Right away I've hit this very frustrating snag with the New Record and Duplicate Record commands. I've set up several tables and I noticed that on most of them, when I'd call up either of the above commands (using any of the means possible: Ctrl-N, from the menu, the icon, etc.) they'd work, BUT I'd get this annoying pop up error saying:

"The menu item you have choosed (their spelling, not mine) can't be found in the menu table OR this menu item is not unique. Reference of your menuitem is "

I did a runaround this problem by creating scripts to duplicate the commands, and using the Custom Menu Set1, overrode the commands with these scripts. That seemed to work, except when I try to create a new PORTAL record. Now I know I can disallow the creation of new records in a portal and create a "New Record" script that pops into the related table, creates a new record then pops back into the original layout and the last portal row, but I JUST DON'T WANNA!

Has anyone else experienced this problem? I did an error report to Filemaker over a week ago, but no response.

This problem seems to be isolated to this one solution, which REALLY has me scratching my head. I'm not sure if it came about before or after I created a new copy of the Record menu (I wanted to override the New Record command in one table with a script). It has a different name and the menu set which uses it is isolated to the one table - nevertheless I deleted it, and still the problem persists.

If anyone has any insight, I'd be SOOOOOO grateful!

Thanks,

Geoffrey

Edited August 20, 2007 by Guest

[Vaughan]

"I did a runaround this problem by creating scripts to duplicate the commands, and using the Custom Menu Set1, overrode the commands with these scripts."

Are you sure the weird error diaog didn't start appearing *after* you played around with the custom menus, and not before?

"... I'm not sure if it came about before or after I created a new copy of the Record menu..."

Ahhh, I only had to read a bit further. :

Rest the file to use the FileMaker Default menus, then rty it out again.

[Bushwacker]

Vaughan said: Reset the file to use the FileMaker Default menus, then try it out again.

Hey Vaughan,

Thanks for the reply. I did try that, to no avail: I deleted the custom menus entirely, including the one Record menu I invented, reset the default file menu and reset every layout I've created thus far back to Standard Filemaker Menus. Still get that error message. The weird thing is that the program will actually carry out the commands, just with the extra annoying popup error message.

What I did initially was dirt simple, and nothing that I shouldn't be able to do, as far as I can see. The problem probably DID start after that, but reversing it seems to do me no good at all.

Geoffrey

[Vaughan]

Post a zipped copy of the file so we can take a look.

I gotta see me that "choosed" dialog for meself!

[Bushwacker]

Hey Vaughan,

Here is a zipped clone of the file. The "links" won't work because they require global fields that got lost when I cloned it, and the zippscript extension...

You can just use the layout picker to get around. This is the copy I stripped the custom menu sets from and, in the custom menu commands restored the New Record and Duplicate Record back to the way they started (had 'em on scripts to run around my problem); also deleted the extra Records Menu which I had copied, renamed and used exclusively in one table (whoops, just noticed I hadn't done that in your copy - well, I did it now in my own, makes no diff). As you'll see, both the New Record and Duplicate Record commands work but give the popup error message EXCEPT (don't ask me why) in the Database Notes table (go to one of the "DN" layouts), where they work just fine.

It's like in all the other places the program is confusing the two... hmmm, wonder if I get rid of one... nope, that didn't work.

Bleah! Anyway, thanks for taking a look! I have to hit the sack now, gotta get up early....

Geoffrey

Gravity_Clone.zip

[Bushwacker]

Thanks to Dave McKee at Filemaker, who saw my posts at Tech Talk, and responded:

"This does not seem like one of the standard FM error strings ( even those relating to the custom menus feature, which never refers to anything as a "menu table". ) Custom Menus also does not require menu items to be "unique".

You should check to see what plug-ins you have installed, disable them, and check to see if this dialog goes away."

He was bang-on, it was a problem with my zippscript plugin (which is a drag, because I'm using it extensively in my solution). Here's hoping I can work this one out.

Cheers,

Geoffrey

[David Jondreau]

Well, no, the zippScript isn't the problem. zippScript is doing just fine. The problem is the script that's being called by zippScript.

You have 9 Advanced. Turn on your script debugger. When you hit ctrl-N, go one step at a time through the script and see what happens. Turns out there are no records in the table in which you're attempting to do a Find and that error is captured in the script resulting in the custom error message.

I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish in your relationship graph, but it's kinda frightening. God speed.

[Vaughan]

Don't automatically begin every script with "Allow User Abort [off]" and "Set Error Capture [on]".

The SEC [off] is particularly stupid: this prevents FMP from issuing an error message when something is wrong. Not a good way to work out when problems are occurring, or where they are occurring: this could be part of your problem.

Setting AUA [on] indiscriminately makes it really easy to create infinite loops that cannot be broken out of. Force-quitting a file can cause corruption: it shouldn't be used again if that happens.

[David Jondreau]

One new feature of the FM9 script debugger I like is that you can turn it on while a script is running! Clearly this is useful when you have a script that pauses, but even better....you can use it to jump out of loops!

Yep. If you've got yourself stuck in a loop, you can go up to the Tools menu and click-mouse down a hair-click (you'll rarely be able to actually see the menu item) and booya! the debugger opens up pausing the script.