Automating a major change

[normanicus]

Hello,

I'm changing the way some stuff works in a large system. About 30 fields that were globals in a file before tables were introduced I am moving to a one record table. Trouble is the said fields are referenced in many calculation fields and numerous scripts. Is there anyway to automate the substitution of the old fields with the new?

[LaRetta]

Not that I know of - not that will change them for you. But you can use Developer Assistant by DracoVentions to quickly find occurrences of those fields throughout your calculations, field definitions, graph, scripts and layouts as easy as find/replace search.

https://www.dracoven...?products_id=29

It is worth the price. It is the only way, short of stopping your work and running a DDR to quickly know where all references exist. I start at top script step and can find/replace a global through 40 scripts in less than a minute. :^)

BTW, this does not replace tools such as Base Elements or more advanced tools but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't use this tool at least once every day.

[LaRetta]

Wait. You might also check FM_Clips at campsoftware.com.

sorry, system was crashing. Here is link:

http://campsoftware....oducts/fmclips/

I have not tried it yet it it reports that it saves a lot of time in copying script steps ... well, you just might want to read it. But Developer Assistant rocks in find/replace through everything FileMaker. It does other things also but that one feature alone is worth it.

[normanicus]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful. I've looked at the FM_Clips video and seeing that FM internals seem to be in a form of XML makes me wonder whether an external scripting/construction environment would not be possible. Also, it would not appear a radical extension of its functionality to say, export a bunch of scripts and have FM_Clips update them all. One could also imagine an FM_Clips bases editor.

Thanks again,

Norman

[Lee Smith]

Hi Norman,

makes me wonder whether an external scripting/construction environment would not be possible

Maybe, but I haven't heard of this being done like that. My question would be - why? It would seem very time consuming compared to using the tools available. Unless it is your intension to develop a commercial product for us to purchase.

Here are a couple of links at filemakermagazine.com that may be of help:

http://www.filemakermagazine.com/videos/time-saving-developer-tools.html

http://www.filemakermagazine.com/videos/two-cool-developer-tools.html

I have use Clip Manager since it was first released, covered in the 2nd video listed.

These two videos are listed as free, let me know if they are not.

Hope this helps,

Lee