FM14 : setting TabStops on Ruler?

[xochi]

In older versions of FileMaker Pro, I could click on a field, show the text ruler, and graphically set tab stops - as illustrated in the picture here:

http://www.filemaker.com/help/12/fmp/html/edit_layout.10.44.html

 

In FM14 Pro Advanced (Mac OS X) I can't for the life of me figure out how to get into this mode.  I've tried showing and hiding every toolbar I can think of, but nothing seems to get me the magical TabStop ruler mode.

 

I know I can edit the TabStops numerically  (Inspector/Appearance/Tabs) but I like the old graphical way.

 

Did they remove this feature?

[Lee Smith]

In BROWSE Mode, View >> Ruler

[xochi]

Yes, you can edit tab stops in BROWSE mode, but that only affects the data in a single record.  

It used to be possible to graphically set the tab stops for a edit field on a layout in LAYOUT mode.

 

[Lee Smith]

Layout >> Inspector >> Appearance >> Tabs (it’s at the bottom)

Edited July 19, 2015 by Lee Smith

[xochi]

Layout >> Inspector >> Appearance >> Tabs (it’s at the bottom)

Right, just like I said in my original post    That's the new, numerical way of setting tabs, but it's cumbersome.

I'm under the impression (delusion?) that we used to be able to do Layout-mode tab stops graphically in an older version of FileMaker.

 

 

 

 

[doughemi]

I'm seeing the numeric tab setting screen in FM10A under Format->Text...->Paragraph->Tabs, but I don't see (or recall) a graphical tab setting mechanism.

[xochi]

I appears that in recent versions of FM, you can edit TabStops on the Ruler, in Layout mode, but only for Text boxes (made using the "T" text tool icon, but not for Fields).       Whether one could ever do it for Fields or not, I don't know: possibly I am mis-remembering.

 

In my case, I'm trying to display formatted text from a Calc field, and the user can't edit it, so I could display the data in a Text box using the <<FieldName>> merge field technique.   Unfortunately this text data is also taller than the field, so I need it to be scrollable, and Text objects aren't scrollable.

I suppose I could do the formatting using a Text object using the Graphical ruler, then switch to Layout mode and manually copy the TabStop positions over to a Field object?   Not terribly elegant but would work.

 

[Peter Wagemans]

Thanks for this question Xochi. Even if this topic is 4 years old. I am missing that possibility as well, and before reading thi posts, I thought I was misremembering how things used to work. . In the end I abandonded using tab stops and used fields, because this is very hard to make and maintain if you do not see what you are doing.

Since I am currently working on a list layout, this multiplies the number of objects on the layout by 7. Which is not a good thing.

[comment]

38 minutes ago, Peter Wagemans said:

In the end I abandonded using tab stops and used fields, because this is very hard to make and maintain if you do not see what you are doing.

But you can see what you're doing. If you're merging multiple fields into a single text block, you only need to show the ruler and click into the text object. The problem is only with setting tab stops in field objects placed on the layout as such, not merged.

[Peter Wagemans]

Quote

3 minutes ago, comment said:

The problem is only with setting tab stops in field objects placed on the layout as such, not merged.

Exactly my point. Merge fields are a pain to use with tab stops, because their name is most of the time way to long, and this interferes with a wysiwyg experience. I last experienced even that the little trick to make the text font really small between the brackets, is not working anymore.

[comment]

I am afraid I don't understand your point then. This thread is about not seeing tab stops in the ruler in Layout mode. You do see tab stops in Layout mode, when you're using merge fields.

 

25 minutes ago, Peter Wagemans said:

Merge fields are a pain to use with tab stops, because their name is most of the time way to long

 That's a different issue altogether.

 

27 minutes ago, Peter Wagemans said:

the little trick to make the text font really small between the brackets, is not working anymore.

It's working if you select everything except the leading bracket.

[Peter Wagemans]

1 minute ago, comment said:

It's working if you select everything except the leading bracket.

Thanks for the tip.

My point is, that it used to be possible to put a field on the layout, and, still in layout mode, assign tab stops to that field, not using the info panel, but using the tab ruler above. As the OP indicates:

On 7/19/2015 at 1:56 AM, xochi said:

In older versions of FileMaker Pro, I could click on a field, show the text ruler, and graphically set tab stops ...

Indeed, this thread started about a field, not a text box with merge fields. I understand the issue can get a bit confusing ... 🙂 You indicate that i am getting off topic, but I was just comparing the workarounds.

[comment]

2 minutes ago, Peter Wagemans said:

You indicate that i am getting off topic

I was merely confused by your saying:

1 hour ago, Peter Wagemans said:

In the end I abandonded using tab stops and used fields

...

this multiplies the number of objects on the layout by 7.

which I think describes frustration with merged fields - which I tried to explain is not justified. So now you moved to working with field objects, where trying to set tab stops in Layout mode will lead to a justified frustration.

[Peter Wagemans]

This really triggered my curiosity and I fired up my old win7 VM where I still have a 5 version. Even there, I could not find any graphical interface (using the tab bar on top of the window) that would give me a way to set tab stops for text fields (vs text boxes).

So... I clearly misremembered that this was an option before.

This is from the html file the OP refers to (this is from the 12 help):

Quote

•	You can use the ruler to set margins or tabs for text data in Browse mode or for text in Layout mode. You can't use the ruler to format fields in Layout mode, you must use the Paragraph and Tabs dialog boxes.

Well... that settles it 🙂

[comment]

This is strange, because I too have a vague memory of being able to do this.

[Ocean West]

One tip that is helpful.... Say you have a field in layout mode and you wish to set tab stops and see how it will affect the data in in the field,  it's difficult to visualize the outcome...

• copy some text that will appear in the field that you wish to format
• place that text on the layout
• use the format painter to format that text block to match the field format
• make the text block the same dimensions as the field
• click in to the text block and enable the rulers
• you can now put the tab stops or margins where you wish.
• use the format painter to apply the text block back to the field
• toss the text block off to the right of the layout if you need to tweak the tabs later.