FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual

Switching Between Layouts

The ever-helpful status area tells you what layout you’re on and lets you switch to another one. The Layout pop-up menu (Figure 4-3) is one of the most prominent elements of the status area. You can also see the same list of layouts in the View → “Go to Layout” menu.

Figure 4-3. In the status area, click the Layout pop-up menu to see a list of layouts in the database. To switch to a layout, choose it from the list. The Layout pop-up menu also shows you which layout you’re using when you haven’t clicked it.

Note

The Layout pop-up menu doesn’t necessarily show every layout. You can actually tell FileMaker to hide certain layout names in this menu. You’ll learn how on Layout name.

Your People database has only one layout, making for a poor demonstration. To get a feel for how layouts work, you can use the Contact Management database instead (you created this database from a template in Chapter 1).

1. Open the Contact Management database.

   If you need a sample database to play with, you can find it on the “Missing CD” page (www.missingmanuals.com/cds), complete with sample data.

2. If the status area isn’t showing, click the status area control to show it.

   You now see the status area. (The status area control is explained back in Figure 1-2.)

3. From the Layout pop-up menu, choose List View.

   Now that you finally understand the difference between layouts and views, the silly database ...