FileMaker® Pro 9 Bible

Glossary

We assume throughout this book that you're familiar with your computer's operation as well as the user interface elements provided by your computer's operating system, be it Mac OS X or Windows (XP or Vista). What we don't assume is a background with Relational Database Management Systems and, in particular, with FileMaker Pro. As a result, we introduce a number of terms and concepts particular to data processing, databases, and FileMaker. This glossary collects those terms and named concepts, accompanied by definition and/or explanation.

access privileges

delineate the records, fields, layouts, value lists, and scripts an account (or group of accounts) can access and the operations the accounts users are able to perform.

account

An identifier, with associated password (Note: the password may be null, or the account may be configured for external authentication), allowing access to a database. Each account has associated access privileges (including extended privileges). See also external authentication and security.

active

~ Used to refer to a window, record, or layout object, active means currently having focus. For example, the active field is the one that is currently holding the cursor; the active window is the frontmost window.

ActiveX

A Windows scripting and programming protocol allowing external control of specified operations in FileMaker Pro, including running scripts and opening or closing files.

Admin

The default account name associated with a newly created database (initially, ...