Paste from Clipboard to Container Field - file size issues

[davidnickerson]

I'm developing a solution for a Windows client; however, I'm a Mac developer and am building the database on a Mac initially.

The client needs to use certain container fields for copy/pasting screenshots. Thus, I can't use "store a reference" here.

I'm running into an odd file size discrepancy:

1. A screen image (1024x768) copied and pasted into a container field on the client's computer is roughly 3MB in size.

2. If I click the container field and copy the screenshot myself (on a Mac) and open in Preview it's around 72K.

3. If I then do a screen copy of the same image from Preview and paste it back to the container field it's 272K.

I can live with 272K for these images (I assume it's Mac's PNG format vs. JPG or something else for Preview), but what on earth would be causing a 1024x768 image to be 3MB? Again, the client is copy/pasting from his screen on Windows, not converting to TIFF or something. This is occurring in multiple container fields where the client needs to paste screenshots.

EDIT:

Tested another method and got yet another result:

Saving the 72k image in Preview as a PNG, file size moves up to 75k (as viewed in Finder). Choosing "Insert Picture" from the container field and then importing the 75k image converts it to 175k (by using Length (ContainerField).

Why so many file size variations? More importantly, how to preserve the small file size (eg 72-75k) of a screenshot, and what is FM doing with the image that causes the file size increase?

Client is using 11.0 v.2 for Windows

I'm on 11.0 v4 for Mac

DB is hosted on FMServer 11

Any ideas?

[davidnickerson]

OK, I've discovered that Windows (apparently) stores it's clipboard in Bitmap format, and thus the only option for pasting into a container field is "Paste Bitmap", is this correct? That's unbelievable to me. In this day and age, is there no way for Windows to convert clipboard data to a more modern format?

Next question, has anyone developed a solution for pasting screenshots into (Windows) container fields? The file size of this db will at some point become unmanageable.

Thanks.

[bruceR]

Pasting into container fields has always produced bloat; about 10X last I checked, years ago.

Don't paste. Import the files.

[comment]

I don't know about Windows. On a Mac, the clipboard will contain the copied image in more than one format, and the target application is supposed to choose which one/s to use.

In this day and age, is there no way for Windows to convert clipboard data to a more modern format?

Not sure what you mean by "a more modern format". IMHO, the clipboard should carry the copied data as is, without manipulating it in any way. That is up to the target application - and I believe Filemaker does compress the pasted image. That's why pasting is not recommended.

[davidnickerson]

On Windows, the only option when pasting from the clipboard into a container field is "Paste Bitmap" which I mentioned earlier. Of course, the bitmapped image is ridiculously large. On a Mac, there is no option other than "Paste". Not sure what "format" is actually pasted, but the resulting file size is about 3 to 4x of the original PNG screenshot (similar to what BruceR suggests above, but not 10x in my tests). 3 to 4x, which is about 270k for a 1024x768 screenshot, is manageable. 3MB (windows bitmap paste) is totally unacceptable, and I was wondering (still) if anyone has any workarounds for this.

[comment]

I am afraid you may be comparing apples to orange juice...

I was wondering (still) if anyone has any workarounds for this.

IMHO, you need to look at plugins, or perhaps VBS scripting.

[davidnickerson]

I am afraid you may be comparing apples to orange juice...

K. Not sure exactly what you mean, but...

IMHO, you need to look at plugins, or perhaps VBS scripting.

That's what I figured. There's some freeware out there that allows Windows users to copy/paste using other formats, so I guess I'll look at those. Thanks.

[comment]

IMHO, you should look for a solution that saves the image on the clipboard as a file (let's say GIF or PNG), which you can then insert into the container.

[dansmith65]

I think you can grab a screen shot with ScriptMaster plug-in. That might not be an included function, but I bet it's possible with Groovy/Java.