Appendix A. Getting Help

This book provides a solid foundation in FileMaker and takes you well into power user territory, but it doesn’t cover everything there is to know about this vastly versatile program. (You wouldn’t be able to lift it if it did.) This appendix is a guide to the many resources available to help you plumb the depths of FileMaker database design and development.

Some of the resources in this appendix are available a variety of ways. For example, you can get to FileMaker’s online Knowledge Base by going to www.filemaker.com, clicking the Support menu, and then choosing Knowledge Base. But there’s also a quick link in the help files so you don’t have to remember the links to click. Read on to see some of the ways to get to the bountiful resources provided by FileMaker and from third parties.

Getting Help from FileMaker Pro

Like most commercial software packages, FileMaker has a Help menu. Choose Help→FileMaker Pro Help to launch the Help file. The main screen (Figure A-1) lets you choose from a variety of ways to find help on the topic you’re interested in. Major topics are listed on the left side of the screen, and some featured topics are listed on the top right.

The Mac Help Screen lets you click links to find the topic you want, but it’s usually faster to type a question in the search box in the upper right (where you see the words “relationships graph” in this illustration). Just type a few words that’ll identify your subject, and then press the Return key. The main screen changes to show a list of topics that relate to your search terms. Double-click the item that sounds closest to your issue. If it’s not quite right, scroll to the bottom of the page, where there are links to related topics. You can usually find what you need in a few clicks. (Windows fans, your search works a little differently. See Figure A-2 for your help window.)

Figure A-1. The Mac Help Screen lets you click links to find the topic you want, but it’s usually faster to type a question in the search box in the upper right (where you see the words “relationships graph” ...

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