The Separation Model – Part 2

by Matt Petrowsky

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This second video in the series about the Separation Model doesn't exactly talk data strategy quite yet. The tables are there, the files are ready, but in order to start, you need to have a rough idea of what things will look like. How users will start to interact with the data. The first thing to solve is getting the data into the database!

In this video, I talk about the design approach and how I quickly get started on this new solution. I present a number of timesaving tips about working in Layout mode and focus on how conditional formatting is going to be a critical part of developing a separation model based solution.

Using a straightforward approach to your visual design and factoring that into your solution design, you can accomplish a lot of power with FileMaker without a lot of complexity and overhead. One primary example of this is shown in the video. The simple use of the word "Students" is used in every place where it will make immediate sense. This is in contrast to the fact that the data model is using the word "People" to track and manage the data its holding.

Watch this video to grab a number of great tips about using conditional formatting and how you can move ahead with the separation model for your own solutions.