Display large text fields?

[pbarber]

I would like to display several fields in a tabular format where one of the fields contains varying amounts of text. I would like to have the layout diplay all of the text in the text field, wrapping it until all is displayed, and then starting the next record.

Something like this:

Blah 1    Blah 2    The Text to Display

------    -------   ----------------------

data1,1   data1,2   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

                    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

                    XXXXXXXXXXX

data2,1   data2,2   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

                    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

data3,1   data3,2   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

                    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

                    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

                    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

data4,1   data4,2   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

data5,1   data5,2   XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

                    XXXXXX

Is this possible? Currently, I only seem to be able to create a field size on the layout and display whatever leading text will fit in that field size.

[Fenton]

Basically, this is built into Preview mode. I don't know anyway else to do it. You would need to set Sliding/Printing to Slide up . With complex layouts it can be a bit of a black art to set it up correctly. But in your case the default options of "All objects above" and "Also resize enclosing part" should work.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Guest

[pbarber]

Thanks Fenton, but I don't get this behavior in Preview mode in FP9 or FP11 - is there some formatting that I have to do somewhere?

[Fenton]

Yes, in Layout mode, it is (in FileMaker 9) in the Format menu, Sliding/Printing (at the bottom of the menu). In FileMaker 11 it's in the Inspector's Position Tab, the bottom section.

[pbarber]

Thanks once again for your help.

Using your advice, I've been able to get something close to what I'm after by creating a large field in which to display the text and then using the sliding feature to reduce white space. However, it is still possible to enter more text than is visible in the text field on the layout, thereby losing text in the print/display.

The book I'm working from claims that a text field can hold 1 billion characters - what if I wanted to display a "full" text field. Would I have to create a field box on the layout that would hold all 1 billion?

I'm taking this to the extreme, but if there is no other way to do this, then I'm thinking that I'll have to limit the entry size via input validation or scripting. Also, it seems that an accidental change in font size on the layout design could result in a loss of text display as well.

I did this routinely in access - am I missing something?

[Fenton]

No matter what you do, you will limited by the maximum size of a layout, which is about 110 inches (you can find out, just try making one as long as FileMaker lets you). So, you can never show more text that can fit in that space, for any given table::field.

And, yes, you have to create each field box as big as the largest text (at least in the records you want to look at).

[P.S. If you desparately need to show more text on the screen, you could export the data out, as records/fields, and view it in via a (good) text editor. A billion characters is gonna be a big file.]

Edited June 22, 2010 by Guest

[Vaughan]

Use a web viewer.

This seems to be the standard answer for everything now. :

[pbarber]

Thanks guys,

My concern had more to do with ensuring that all text was displayed/printed, rather than the ability to handle absurdly large amounts of text. Fenton's guidance has left me with a reasonably plausible solution.

I'll look into the web viewer. I was also wondering about detecting the text overflow and doing some conditional formatting?

Anyway, thanks again for the advice, and I'll keep learning to do it the FMP way.