Dynamic Portal Spacing on Layout

[Bob476]

I have a client request to create a layout that includes a series of about 5 to 6 portals. Each portal may display anywhere from 1 to 6 records. I can define all portals with the max records of 6, but the client would like to have the portals evenly spaced top to bottom, so that a portal with 2 records, for example, would have the next portal appear directly below, not with spacing for potential of 6 records.

More akin to dynamic stacking, or like a portal of portals, the way you would have summary reports of dynamic length depending on the record count.

I had thought about just creating it via a summary report instead of portals, but the other requirement is that we have 2 columns of 3 portals each. Like a Menu display with 6 boxes of items, but not "boxed" evenly.

Is there any native option I'm missing or some other creative solution? Thanks!

[fmbiz.net]

Hi Bob476,

This behavior already exists natively in FileMaker. If you are using version 11 you will find a few check boxes at the bottom of the Position Inspector. Look for the Sliding and Visibility section. There you will see check boxes for 'Sliding Up Based on:' ...

Just choose the condition that you want the sliding to occur, but do not forget to also check the box for 'Also resize enclosing part'.

So to make this work for you you would Select the top and middle Portal objects and set these options described above. You don't really have to do this to the bottom row of Portals unless you really want to.

But here is the catch. You have to be in 'Preview' mode to see this, which means you cannot enter data. This may be a 'show stopper' for your client's requirement. Changing layout objects dynamically will not work in FileMaker.

Best Regards,

Charlie

FMBiz.net

[Bob476]

Thanks, Charlie.

The preview catch would not be a showstopper since the ultimate purpose for this layout is for PDF reports.

However, I'm still not clear how the sliding can be used on Portal placement. I am using 11, but the inspector appears to be available only for fields, can't see where you can adjust conditional sliding for entire portal objects.

[Bob476]

Never mind, got it. Will experiment and report back.

[Bob476]

Partial success so far.

Following Charlie's instructions, I can create a layout where I have two portals stacked and the bottom one will slide up in Preview mode. I need to define the portals to show the max number of portal records I might need to display (7 in this case). Then if the top portal has only 2 records, the bottom one slides up.

However, I am not yet able to do this for a stack of 3 portals. Setting the slide settings on all 3, the middle one slides up in Preview mode, but the bottom one does not appear at all. If I remove the sliding selection on the bottom portal object, it will appear in Preview but will not slide up.

[ESpringer]

Ten days late -- but just in case:

Two things can snag sliding:

(1) slide based on "all objects above" can get stuck by anything on the layout that starts above the thing you want to slide, including things off to the right outside the print area; try making slide up based on objects "only directly above".

(2) check for small or invisible objects within the layout that are above or vertically overlapping with the sliding object. Using "select all" from layout mode will show you the corner-drag-boxes for all objects. Sometimes I discover some layout clutter left over from prior edits.

[Bob476]

All's well. Thanks everyone! Got it working for multiple stacks.