FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual

Bringing It All Together

You’ve just learned a lot about the various options and settings in FileMaker’s Manage Database window. At this point, it would be a good idea to take them for a test drive by adding some more functionality to your database. While you’re at it, you’ll get a chance to add a new field to an existing database (something you haven’t done yet) and see how FileMaker responds—see the box on Bringing It All Together.

A private investigator has to deal with all kinds of characters. You’ve decided you may need a little help separating the good guys from the bad guys. Of course, Mom always said there’s some good in everybody, so what you really need is a field that holds a Goodness Rating: George Costanza gets a zero, Mrs. Cleaver gets a five, and everybody else gets something in between. You want to make sure the rating is between zero and five, and you’d like it to be three unless you manually change it.

1. In the Manage Database dialog box, type Goodness Rating in the Field Name box and, from the Type pop-up menu, pick Number. Click Create.

   You now have a field to hold the goodness rating, and the Options button is now available.

2. Click the Options button, and then select the Auto-Enter tab.

   The Auto-Enter options appear.

3. Click the Data checkbox, and then, in the text box next to it, type 3.

   This option tells FileMaker to place some fixed piece of information in the field when you first create the record. Since you’re assuming people are usually a three, it makes sense to ...