How to create user-friendly export menus?

[bells_theorem]

Hello-I am looking for some help, maybe even a starting point.

I would like a user to be able to select either single or multiple fields from multiple menus, and then have each of the selected fields exported to Excel. For example, say the user selects #'s 123,125,126 from a "Product" menu, a range of dates (6/5/07-6/8/07) from a second ("Date") menu, and selects the desired output from a third menu (say, "Total # sold") for each Product ID. I would like Filemaker to then take only the user requested data and export it to Excel. I already know how to do this with Filemaker's "Export" menu, but I was hoping to make it more of a "user-friendly" function.

Any ideas?

[Vaughan]

This can be done but it's a bit of work.

It invloves hard-coding several calculation fields that get exported (as many as you want to users to be able to select). Each calculation is based on the entry in a field which the user selected a field name from.

[Vaughan]

The date range is easy to implement and a good idea.

However I like to remind clients that is it far, far cheaper and faster for users to get a one-size-fits-all excel export file and delete the dcolumns thet don;t want, compared with a developer haning to sit down and create a kama-sutra like web of export options for each user (because each user will want something different, and some might want more than one).

[bells_theorem]

Thanks for your help Vaughan.

I suppose you're right; exporting to Excel is a more efficient means of filter/sort. Sometimes I get into the habit of creating "exotic" design ideas that become complex, time consuming projects not worth the while!

Common mistake for a novice, I'm sure.

[BobWeaver]

Don't know if this is any help, but here is a link to a sample file that does a user defined import. Perhaps you could use a similar technique to do a user defined export.

http://fmforums.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/87713

Edited September 11, 2007 by Guest