book

FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual

Name: FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual
ISBN: 9780596514136

by Geoff Coffey, Susan Prosser

August 2007

Beginner to intermediate

799 pages

28h 12m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual
A Note Regarding Supplemental Files
Introduction
Why FileMaker Pro?
What’s New in FileMaker Pro 9
The Very Basics
About This Book
About the OutlineLiving ExamplesMacintosh and WindowsAbout → These → ArrowsAbout Missing Manuals.comSafari® Enabled
I. Introduction to FileMaker Pro
1. Your First Database
1.1. A Very Quick Database Tour
1.1.1. Content Area1.1.2. Mode Pop-up Menu1.1.2.1. Status area and the status area controls1.1.2.2. Zoom control1.1.2.3. Scroll bars

1.2. Creating a New Database
1.2.1. Choosing a Starter Solution
1.3. Opening and Closing Database Files
1.3.1. Opening a Database1.3.2. Closing a Database
1.4. Saving Your Databases
1.4.1. Saving a Copy of Your Database1.4.1.1. Saving a clone of your database
1.5. Adding Records to Your Database
1.5.1. Creating a Record1.5.2. Editing a Record1.5.2.1. Moving between fields1.5.3. Adding More Records1.5.3.1. Duplicating a record1.5.3.2. Deleting records1.5.3.3. Revert the record
1.6. Navigating Your Database
1.6.1. Navigating Record by Record1.6.2. Keyboard Shortcuts1.6.3. Finding Records1.6.3.1. Performing a find1.6.3.2. FastMatch
1.7. Same Database, Multiple Windows
1.7.1. Automatically Arranging Windows1.7.2. Hiding Windows1.7.2.1. Closing hidden windows
2. Organizing and Editing Records
2.1. Views
2.1.1. Form View2.1.2. List View2.1.3. Table View
2.2. Advanced Find Mode
2.2.1. Finding by Omitting2.2.2. Constraining and Extending the Found Set2.2.2.1. Constraining the found set2.2.2.2. Extending the found set2.2.3. Refining Searches with Find Symbols2.2.3.1. The wildcard (*)2.2.3.2. Less Than (<), Less Than or Equal To (<), Greater Than (>), and Greater Than or Equal To (>)2.2.3.3. Exact Match (=), Literal Text (“”), and Field Content Match (= =)2.2.3.4. Range (…)2.2.3.5. Duplicates (!)2.2.3.6. Today’s Date (//) and Invalid Date or Time (?)2.2.3.7. One Character (@), One Digit (#), and Zero or More Characters (*)2.2.3.8. Relaxed Search (~)2.2.4. Refining a Found Set with Omit Commands2.2.4.1. Omit Record2.2.4.2. Omit Multiple2.2.4.3. Show Omitted Only
2.3. Changing Multiple Records
2.4. Sorting Records
2.4.1. Multiple Sort Fields
2.5. Editing What’s in Your Fields
2.5.1. Find and Replace2.5.2. Fields for Lots of Text2.5.3. Drag-and-drop Editing2.5.4. Text Formatting2.5.4.1. Font2.5.4.2. Size2.5.4.3. Style2.5.4.4. Text Color2.5.4.5. The Text Format dialog box
2.6. Paragraph Formatting
2.6.1. Align Text2.6.2. Line Spacing2.6.3. The Text Ruler2.6.4. Detailed Formatting in the Paragraph Box2.6.5. Tabs2.6.5.1. Setting tabs in the Text Ruler2.6.5.2. Setting tabs in the Tabs dialog box2.6.5.3. Editing tab stops in the Tabs dialog box
2.7. Beyond Text: Container Fields
2.7.1. Pictures2.7.1.1. Copy and paste2.7.1.2. Insert → Picture2.7.2. QuickTime2.7.3. Sound2.7.3.1. Recording sound2.7.4. File2.7.4.1. Exporting data from container fields
2.8. Checking Spelling
2.8.1. Spell Checking in One Pass2.8.2. Spell Checking as You Type2.8.3. Managing Spelling Dictionaries2.8.3.1. User dictionaries
2.9. Printing and Preview Mode
3. Building a New Database
3.1. Tables and Fields
3.1.1. Tables: The Foundation of Your Database3.1.2. Figuring Out What Fields You Need
3.2. Defining Fields
3.2.1. Changing a Field’s Name3.2.2. Duplicating a Field3.2.3. Deleting a Field3.2.4. Reordering the Field List3.2.5. Printing Field Definitions3.2.6. Field Types3.2.6.1. Text3.2.6.2. Number3.2.6.3. Date3.2.6.4. Time3.2.6.5. Timestamp3.2.6.6. Container3.2.6.7. Calculation and summary
3.3. Advanced Field Options
3.3.1. Auto-Enter Options3.3.1.1. Creation values3.3.1.2. Modification values3.3.1.3. Serial number3.3.1.4. Value from last visited record3.3.1.5. Data3.3.1.6. Calculated value3.3.1.7. Looked-up value3.3.1.8. Prohibit modification of value during data entry3.3.2. Validation Options3.3.2.1. When to perform validation3.3.2.2. Overriding validation3.3.3. Validation Requirements3.3.3.1. Strict data type3.3.3.2. Not empty3.3.3.3. Unique3.3.3.4. Existing value3.3.3.5. Member of value list3.3.3.6. In range3.3.3.7. Maximum number of characters3.3.4. Storage Options3.3.4.1. Global storage3.3.4.2. Repeating fields3.3.5. Indexing3.3.5.1. Automatic indexing3.3.5.2. Controlling indexing manually3.3.5.3. Indexing language
3.4. Bringing It All Together
II. Layout Basics
4. Layout Basics
4.1. What Is a Layout?
4.1.1. Types of Layouts
4.2. Switching Between Layouts
4.3. What Makes a Layout
4.3.1. Layout Parts4.3.1.1. Parts in form view4.3.1.2. Parts in list view4.3.1.3. Parts in Preview mode4.3.1.4. When to use ‘em4.3.2. Layout Objects4.3.2.1. Text objects4.3.2.2. Lines and shapes4.3.2.3. Images4.3.2.4. Fields
4.4. Layout Mode
4.4.1. The Status Area4.4.2. View Options4.4.2.1. Go to Layout4.4.2.2. Page Margins4.4.2.3. Graphic Rulers4.4.2.4. Text Ruler4.4.2.5. Ruler Lines4.4.2.6. T-Squares4.4.2.7. Object Info4.4.2.8. Buttons4.4.2.9. Sample Data4.4.2.10. Text Boundaries4.4.2.11. Field Boundaries4.4.2.12. Sliding Objects4.4.2.13. Non-Printing Objects4.4.2.14. Tooltips4.4.2.15. Toolbars4.4.2.16. Status area4.4.2.17. Zoom in and out4.4.3. Layout Setup4.4.3.1. Layout name4.4.4. Layout Tools4.4.4.1. The drawing tools4.4.4.2. The control tools4.4.4.3. The field and part tools4.4.4.4. The line and fill tools4.4.5. Working with Parts4.4.5.1. Deleting a part4.4.5.2. Resizing parts4.4.5.3. Coloring a part4.4.6. Adding and Editing Text4.4.6.1. Adding new text4.4.6.2. Changing text font, size, and style4.4.6.3. Editing existing text4.4.7. Formatting Fields4.4.7.1. Text formats4.4.7.2. Other field type formats4.4.8. Field Controls4.4.8.1. Field/Control setup4.4.8.2. Field borders4.4.9. Laying Out the Layout4.4.9.1. Resizing objects4.4.9.2. Aligning objects4.4.9.3. Moving objects4.4.9.4. Adding images4.4.10. Adding a Dividing Line Between Layout Parts4.4.11. Finishing Touches4.4.12. Autoresize4.4.12.1. Anchors4.4.12.2. Making Autoresize work for your layout4.4.12.3. Keeping it small4.4.13. Wrapping up
5. Creating Layouts
5.1. The Lowdown on Layouts
5.1.1. Standard Form5.1.2. Columnar List/Report5.1.3. Table View5.1.4. Labels or Vertical Labels5.1.5. Envelope5.1.6. Blank Layout
5.2. Creating a Layout from Scratch
5.2.1. Adding a New Layout5.2.2. Set Up the Header5.2.2.1. Matching part sizes with the Object Info palette5.2.2.2. Matching part sizes with the T-squares5.2.2.3. Adding the finishing touches5.2.3. Set Up the Body5.2.3.1. Making data flow with merge fields5.2.3.2. Using symbols to show important info5.2.3.3. Arranging the objects5.2.3.4. Adding a field5.2.3.5. Copying formatting with the Format Painter5.2.3.6. Alternating the body color5.2.4. Setting Layout View5.2.5. Setting Anchors in List Layouts
5.3. Creating Layouts for Reports
5.3.1. Visualize the Result Preview Mode5.3.2. Creating a Report Layout with an Assistant5.3.3. Print Margins5.3.4. Improving the Report Layout5.3.4.1. Tidy up the header5.3.4.2. Rearrange the body5.3.4.3. Tweak the footer5.3.5. Sliding Layout Objects5.3.5.1. When to use sliding5.3.5.2. Choosing the objects to slide5.3.5.3. Setting sliding options5.3.5.4. The Sliding/Printing dialog box5.3.5.5. Using sliding on the report layout5.3.6. Setting Layout Order
6. Advanced Layouts and Reports
6.1. Value Lists
6.1.1. Creating Value Lists6.1.1.1. Values from a field6.1.1.2. Value list from another file6.1.2. Editing Value Lists
6.2. Advanced Field Controls
6.2.1. Edit Box6.2.2. Drop-down List6.2.3. Pop-up Menu6.2.4. Checkbox Set6.2.5. Radio Button Set6.2.6. Drop-down Calendar6.2.7. Auto-Complete6.2.7.1. Auto-Complete in Edit Boxes6.2.7.2. Auto-Complete in drop-down lists6.2.8. Repetitions6.2.9. Display Data From
6.3. Field Behavior
6.3.1. Field Entry6.3.2. Select Entire Contents of Field on Entry6.3.3. Input Method6.3.4. Field-level Visual Spell Checking6.3.5. Go To Next Field Using
6.4. Conditional Formatting
6.4.1. Conditional Formatting of Fields6.4.2. Conditional Formatting of Text Objects6.4.3. Multiple Conditions6.4.4. More Formatting Options6.4.5. Removing Conditional Formatting
6.5. Print-related Layout Options
6.5.1. Non-printing Objects6.5.2. Columns
6.6. Format the Number/Date/Time/Graphic
6.6.1. Number Formatting6.6.1.1. General format6.6.1.2. Leave data formatted as entered6.6.1.3. Format as Boolean6.6.1.4. Format as decimal6.6.2. Date Formatting6.6.2.1. Leave data formatted as entered6.6.2.2. Format as6.6.2.3. Custom6.6.3. Time Formatting6.6.3.1. Leave data formatted as entered6.6.3.2. Format as6.6.4. Timestamp Formatting6.6.5. Graphic Formatting6.6.5.1. Scale6.6.5.2. Alignment
6.7. Adding Buttons
6.7.1. Creating Buttons with the Button Tool6.7.2. Turning an Existing Layout Object into a Button6.7.3. Making a Button Not a Button6.7.4. Button Actions6.7.4.1. Go to Layout6.7.4.2. Go to Record/Request/Page6.7.4.3. Go to Field6.7.4.4. Go to Next Field and Go to Previous Field6.7.4.5. Enter Browse Mode, Enter Find Mode, and Enter Preview Mode6.7.4.6. Editing actions6.7.4.7. Field actions6.7.4.8. Record actions6.7.4.9. Found Set actions6.7.4.10. Window actions6.7.4.11. Print actions6.7.4.12. Open actions6.7.4.13. Exiting FileMaker
6.8. Tab Order
6.8.1. Buttons in the Tab Order6.8.2. Customizing the Tab Order6.8.3. Fixing the Tab Order in the People Database6.8.4. Preserving the Automatic Order
6.9. Web Viewer Controls
6.9.1. Putting a Web Viewer on a Layout6.9.2. Web Viewer Options6.9.2.1. Allow interaction with Web viewer content6.9.2.2. Display content in Find mode6.9.2.3. Display progress bar6.9.2.4. Display status message
6.10. Tab Controls
6.10.1. Creating a Tab Control6.10.2. Editing Tab Controls6.10.2.1. Adding, removing, and reordering tabs6.10.2.2. Default front tab6.10.2.3. Tab justification6.10.2.4. Appearance6.10.2.5. Tab Width6.10.2.6. Dismissing the Tab Control Setup dialog box6.10.2.7. Formatting a tab control6.10.3. Deleting a Tab Control
6.11. Reports and Summary Fields
6.11.1. Summary Fields6.11.2. Creating a Summary Report6.11.2.1. Adding a summary part6.11.2.2. Sub-summary parts6.11.2.3. Creating a sub-summary part6.11.3. Other Summary Field Types6.11.3.1. Total of6.11.3.2. Average of6.11.3.3. Count of6.11.3.4. Minimum and Maximum6.11.3.5. Standard Deviation of6.11.3.6. Fraction of Total6.11.3.7. Summarizing repetitions
III. Multiple Tables and Relationships
7. Multiple Tables and Relationships
7.1. Relational Databases Explained
7.2. Modeling Your Database
7.2.1. Choosing Entities7.2.2. Finding Relationships7.2.2.1. One-to-many relationships7.2.2.2. One-to-one relationships7.2.2.3. Many-to-many relationships7.2.3. The Entity-relationship Diagram7.2.3.1. Creating an ER diagram7.2.4. Keys7.2.4.1. Choosing a good key field7.2.4.2. Primary and foreign keys7.2.5. Join Tables
7.3. Creating a Relational Database
7.3.1. Creating the Tables7.3.2. Creating the Fields7.3.2.1. Adding primary keys7.3.2.2. Adding foreign keys7.3.3. Defining the Relationships7.3.4. Cleaning Up the Relationship Graph7.3.4.1. Selection tools7.3.4.2. Arrange the graph7.3.4.3. Color your table occurrences7.3.4.4. Adding notes7.3.4.5. Printing the graph7.3.4.6. Deleting relationships7.3.5. Finishing the Field Definitions7.3.5.1. Customers table fields7.3.5.2. Jobs table fields7.3.5.3. Expenses table fields7.3.5.4. Timeslips table fields7.3.5.5. Invoices table fields7.3.5.6. Line Items table fields7.3.5.7. Payments table fields
7.4. Relational Databases
7.4.1. One Table Occurrence, One Found Set7.4.2. Viewing Related Fields7.4.3. Adding or Editing Data with Relationships7.4.4. Editing Related Data7.4.4.1. Portals7.4.4.2. Editing fields through a portal
8. Advanced Relationship Techniques
8.1. Creating Related Records
8.1.1. Value Lists Based on Fields8.1.2. Creating Related Records Through a Portal8.1.2.1. Preparing the relationship8.1.2.2. Adding a portal to a layout8.1.2.3. Adding records in a portal8.1.3. Navigating Between Related Records8.1.3.1. Go to Related Record8.1.3.2. GTRR with a found set
8.2. Table Occurrences
8.2.1. Understanding Table Occurrences8.2.2. Relationships with Table Occurrences8.2.2.1. Adding a new key field to a table8.2.2.2. Adding a table occurrence8.2.2.3. Adding fields for new table occurrences
8.3. Managing Data with Data Tunneling
8.3.1. Understanding Data Tunneling8.3.1.1. What you need in your data tunneling interface8.3.2. Understanding Table Occurrence Groups8.3.3. Managing the Relationships Graph
8.4. Building a Data Tunneling Interface
8.4.1. Creating a Global Field8.4.2. Creating a New Table Occurrence Group8.4.3. Building a Global Field Layout8.4.3.1. Using a global pop-up field to change the display in a value list
8.5. Connecting Databases
8.5.1. Adding a Table Occurrence from Another File8.5.2. Defining Data Sources Using a Path
8.6. Lookups
8.6.1. Creating Lookups8.6.2. Triggering a Lookup
8.7. Advanced Relationships
8.7.1. Relationships with More than One Criterion8.7.2. Other Relationship Operators8.7.3. Creating the Invoice Finder
IV. Introduction to Calculations
9. Introduction to Calculations
9.1. Understanding Calculations
9.1.1. Creating a Calculation
9.2. The Structure of a Calculation
9.2.1. Fields9.2.2. Constants9.2.2.1. Number constants9.2.2.2. Text constants9.2.3. Operators9.2.3.1. Mathematical operators9.2.3.2. The concatenation operator9.2.3.3. Comparison operators9.2.3.4. Logical operators9.2.3.5. The ^ Operator9.2.3.6. Parentheses9.2.4. Functions9.2.4.1. Text functions9.2.4.2. Text formatting functions9.2.4.3. Number functions9.2.4.4. Date functions9.2.4.5. Time functions9.2.4.6. Timestamp functions9.2.4.7. Aggregate functions9.2.4.8. Summary functions9.2.4.9. Repeating functions9.2.4.10. Financial functions9.2.4.11. Trigonometric functions9.2.4.12. Logical functions9.2.4.13. Get functions9.2.4.14. Design functions9.2.4.15. Custom functions9.2.4.16. External functions9.2.5. Expressions
9.3. Creating a Calculation Field
9.3.1. The Specify Calculation Dialog Box9.3.1.1. Table occurrence context9.3.1.2. Field list9.3.1.3. Operators9.3.1.4. Function list9.3.1.5. Result type9.3.1.6. Calculation box9.3.1.7. Repetitions
9.4. Auto-Enter Calculations
9.5. Validate Data Entry with a Calculation
9.6. Replacing Data Using a Calculation
9.7. Comments
10. Calculations and Data Types
10.1. Number Crunching Calculations
10.1.1. Number Operators10.1.2. Number Function Types10.1.3. Precision
10.2. Going Beyond Basic Calculations
10.2.1. Preparing the Data10.2.2. Building the Calculation Fields10.2.3. Constructing the Calculation
10.3. Text Parsing Calculations
10.3.1. The Concatenation Operator10.3.2. Text Function Types10.3.3. Text Functions10.3.3.1. Character functions10.3.3.2. Word functions10.3.3.3. Text value functions10.3.3.4. Text counting functions10.3.3.5. Other text parsing functions10.3.4. Text Formatting Functions10.3.4.1. TextColor and RGB10.3.4.2. TextFont10.3.4.3. TextSize10.3.4.4. TextStyleAdd and TextStyleRemove
10.4. Date and Time Calculations
10.4.1. How FileMaker Looks at Time10.4.2. Math with Dates and Times10.4.2.1. Dates10.4.2.2. Times10.4.3. Parsing Dates and Times10.4.4. Calculations that Create Dates and Times10.4.4.1. The secret powers of date
10.5. Aggregate Calculations
10.5.1. Numerical Aggregate Functions10.5.2. The List Function
10.6. Containers in Calculations
10.6.1. Calculations with Pictures, Sounds, Movies, and Files10.6.2. Calculations with References
11. Advanced Calculations
11.1. Conditional Formatting
11.1.1. Understanding Boolean Functions
11.2. Using the Self Function
11.3. Stored, Unstored, and Global Fields
11.3.1. Stored and Unstored Calculation Fields11.3.1.1. Field dependencies11.3.1.2. Deciding when to store11.3.2. Global Calculation Fields
11.4. Logical Functions
11.4.1. Conditional Functions11.4.1.1. The If function11.4.1.2. The Case function11.4.1.3. The Choose function11.4.2. Constructing a Conditional Calculation11.4.2.1. Total Due calculation #1: Using the If function11.4.2.2. Total Due calculation #2: Using the Case function
11.5. The Let Function and Variables
11.5.1. Defining Calculation Variables11.5.1.1. Total Due calculation #3: Using the Let function11.5.2. The Life of a Variable11.5.2.1. Local variables11.5.2.2. Global variables11.5.3. Nesting Let Functions
12. Extending Calculations
12.1. Custom Functions
12.1.1. Defining a Custom Function12.1.2. Editing Custom Functions12.1.3. Recursion12.1.3.1. Step 1: Solve the first case12.1.3.2. Step 2: Assume your function already works, and use it12.1.3.3. Step 3: Find a stopping point
12.2. Plug-ins
12.2.1. Installing Plug-ins12.2.2. Old and New Plug-ins12.2.3. Finding Plug-ins12.2.4. Creating Your Own Plug-ins
V. Scripting
13. Scripting Basics
13.1. Your First Script
13.1.1. Preparing the Database13.1.2. Planning Your Script13.1.3. Creating Your Script13.1.4. Improving Your Script
13.2. The Importance of the Layout
13.2.1. When to Switch
13.3. Running Scripts
13.3.1. The Scripts Menu13.3.2. Defining Buttons13.3.3. Opening and Closing Scripts
13.4. Understanding ScriptMaker’s Windows
13.5. Organizing Your Scripts
13.5.1. Creating Script Groups13.5.2. Creating Menu Separators
13.6. Branching and Looping in Scripts
13.6.1. Branching with If, Else If, Else, and End If13.6.2. Testing Multiple Conditions13.6.3. Looping13.6.3.1. Using Go to Record/Request/Page to exit a loop
14. Script Steps
14.1. Go to Layout
14.2. Scripting for Fields
14.2.1. Navigating Fields14.2.1.1. Go to Field14.2.1.2. Go to Next Field and Go to Previous Field14.2.2. Editing Commands14.2.3. Selecting Text14.2.4. Editing Field Data14.2.4.1. Avoiding Cut, Copy, and Paste14.2.4.2. Set Field14.2.4.3. Insert Calculated Result14.2.4.4. Inserting other values14.2.4.5. Putting data in container fields14.2.5. A Field Script in Action14.2.5.1. Building the script14.2.6. Other Steps That Work with Fields14.2.6.1. Perform Find/Replace14.2.6.2. Replace Field Contents and Relookup Field Contents14.2.6.3. Set Next Serial Value
14.3. Working with Records
14.3.1. Creating, Duplicating, and Deleting Records14.3.2. Navigating Among Records14.3.2.1. Go to Record/Request/Page14.3.2.2. Go to Related Record14.3.3. Opening, Reverting, and Committing Records14.3.3.1. Open Record/Request14.3.3.2. Commit Record/Request14.3.3.3. Revert Record/Request14.3.4. Copying Records14.3.4.1. Copy Record/Request14.3.4.2. Copy All Records/Requests14.3.5. Working with Portals14.3.5.1. Go to Portal Row
14.4. Finding Records
14.4.1. Performing the User’s Find Requests14.4.2. Static Find Requests14.4.3. Dynamic Find Requests14.4.4. Constraining and Extending the Found Set14.4.5. Omitting Records14.4.6. Modify Last Find14.4.7. Save Records as…14.4.7.1. Save Records as Excel14.4.7.2. Save Records as PDF
14.5. Sorting Records
14.6. Working with Windows
14.6.1. Creating Windows14.6.2. Bringing a Window to the Front14.6.3. Closing a Window14.6.4. Moving and Resizing Existing Windows14.6.4.1. Adjust Window14.6.4.2. Arrange All Windows14.6.4.3. Move/Resize Window14.6.5. Other Window-related Script Steps
14.7. Working with Files
14.7.1. Opening and Closing Files14.7.2. Save a Copy As14.7.3. Other File-Related Script Steps
14.8. Printing
14.9. Other Script Steps
14.9.1. Open URL14.9.2. Dial Phone14.9.3. Set Web Viewer14.9.4. Send Email14.9.5. Execute SQL14.9.6. Flush Cache to Disk14.9.7. Exit Application
15. Advanced Scripting
15.1. Commenting Scripts
15.2. Asking and Telling the User
15.2.1. Showing a Simple Message15.2.2. Asking a Simple Question15.2.3. Asking a Not-so-simple Question
15.3. Organizing Complex Scripts
15.3.1. The Perform Script Script Step15.3.2. Halt Script and Exit Script15.3.2.1. Exit Script (Result)15.3.2.2. Organizing scripts that use Halt or Exit Script15.3.3. Script Parameters15.3.4. Script Variables
15.4. Handling Errors
15.4.1. The Set Error Capture Script Step15.4.2. The Get ( LastError ) Function15.4.3. The Allow User Abort Script Step
15.5. Putting a Complex Script Together
15.5.1. Planning the Script15.5.2. Considering Exceptions15.5.3. Creating Subscripts15.5.3.1. Creating subscript placeholders15.5.3.2. Creating skeleton subscripts15.5.4. Finishing the Subscripts15.5.4.1. The “-find unbilled activity” subscript15.5.4.2. Copying and editing existing script steps15.5.5. Adding a Script Parameter to a Perform Script Step15.5.5.1. The “-create invoice record” subscript15.5.5.2. The “-process timeslips” subscript15.5.5.3. The “-process expenses” subscript15.5.5.4. Finishing the main script15.5.6. Testing Scripts
VI. Security and Integration
16. Security
16.1. How Security Works
16.1.1. Who Gets Access16.1.2. What They Can Do
16.2. Privilege Sets
16.2.1. Managing Privilege Sets16.2.1.1. Creating a new privilege set16.2.2. Other Privileges16.2.3. Data Access and Design Privileges16.2.3.1. Record privileges16.2.3.2. Creating record-level access16.2.3.3. Field-level access16.2.3.4. Layout privileges16.2.3.5. Value list privileges16.2.3.6. Script privileges16.2.3.7. Editing a privilege set
16.3. Managing Accounts
16.3.1. Adding a New Account16.3.2. External Authentication
16.4. Extended Privileges
16.4.1. Creating an Extended Privilege16.4.2. Checking for an Extended Privilege16.4.3. Assigning Extended Privileges
16.5. Scripts and Security
16.5.1. Detecting Privileges in a Script16.5.2. Handling Security Errors16.5.3. Running Scripts with Full Access Privileges16.5.4. Managing Security with Scripts16.5.4.1. Add Account16.5.4.2. Delete Account16.5.4.3. Reset Account Password16.5.4.4. Change Password16.5.4.5. Enable Account16.5.4.6. Re-Login
17. Sharing Data with Other Systems
17.1. Sharing Your Data with Others
17.1.1. Save/Send Records As17.1.1.1. Saving as Microsoft Excel17.1.1.2. Saving as Portable Document Format (PDF)
17.2. External SQL Sources
17.2.1. Setting Up ODBC17.2.1.1. The SQL database server17.2.1.2. Installing the ODBC driver17.2.1.3. Configuring the data source17.2.2. Connecting FileMaker to a SQL Data Source17.2.3. Adding SQL Tables to a FileMaker Database17.2.3.1. Creating relationships17.2.3.2. Shadow tables17.2.4. Using SQL Tables
17.3. Exporting Data
17.3.1. Exporting Data17.3.1.1. Grouped exports17.3.1.2. Export formats
17.4. Importing Data
17.4.1. Importing Over Existing Data17.4.1.1. Update existing records in found set17.4.1.2. Update matching records in found set17.4.2. Creating Tables on Import17.4.3. Creating a New Database from an Import File17.4.4. Converting Older FileMaker Files
17.5. Import Data Sources
17.5.1. File17.5.2. Folder17.5.2.1. Importing a folder of pictures or movies17.5.2.2. Importing a folder of text files17.5.3. Digital Camera17.5.4. XML Data Source17.5.4.1. XML export17.5.5. ODBC Data Sources
17.6. Importing and Exporting in a Script
17.6.1. Save Records Script Steps17.6.2. The Import Records Script Step17.6.3. The Export Records Script Step
18. Sharing Your Database
18.1. FileMaker Network Sharing
18.1.1. Setting Up a Host Computer18.1.2. Opening a Shared File18.1.3. The Open Remote File Dialog Box18.1.3.1. Choosing a host computer18.1.3.2. Choosing a file
18.2. Sharing over the Internet
18.2.1. Turning on Web Sharing18.2.1.1. Advanced Web Publishing Options18.2.1.2. Configuring file access18.2.2. Connecting from a Web Browser18.2.3. Custom Home Page
18.3. FileMaker Server
18.3.1. File Compatibility18.3.2. Installing FileMaker Server18.3.2.1. Single Machine Installation18.3.2.2. Multiple Machine Installation18.3.2.3. Configuring Your Server18.3.3. Administering FileMaker Server18.3.3.1. Installing a Database18.3.3.2. Scheduling a Backup18.3.4. Testing Your Server
18.4. Server Hardware
19. Developer Utilities
19.1. Copying and Pasting Database Structure
19.1.1. Importing Tables and Fields19.1.2. Copying and Pasting Tables19.1.3. Copying and Pasting Fields19.1.4. Copying Scripts and Script Steps
19.2. Script Debugger
19.2.1. Controlling Script Execution19.2.2. Breakpoints19.2.3. Examining Errors19.2.4. Pause on Error19.2.5. Active Scripts19.2.6. Working with the Debugger Window
19.3. The Data Viewer
19.3.1. The Current Tab19.3.2. The Watch Tab
19.4. Disable Script Steps
19.5. The Database Design Report
19.5.1. Generating the DDR19.5.2. Using the DDR19.5.3. Finding Broken Elements with the DDR
19.6. Tooltips
19.7. Custom Menus
19.7.1. Editing a Menu19.7.2. Creating a New Menu19.7.3. Removing a Menu19.7.4. Installing Custom Menu Sets
19.8. Developer Utilities
19.8.1. Using the Developer Utilities19.8.1.1. Renaming files19.8.1.2. Create Runtime Solution application(s)19.8.1.3. Remove admin access from files permanently19.8.1.4. Enable Kiosk mode for non-admin accounts19.8.1.5. Databases must have a FileMaker file extension19.8.1.6. Create error log for any processing errors19.8.1.7. Loading and saving settings19.8.2. Delivering a Runtime Solution
19.9. File Maintenance
VII. Appendixes
A. Getting Help
A.1. Getting Help from FileMaker Itself
A.1.1. The Learning CenterA.1.2. FileMaker Pro HelpA.1.3. TemplatesA.1.4. XML Examples
A.2. Getting Help from FileMaker, Inc.
A.2.1. Updaters and DownloadsA.2.2. Documentation and PublicationsA.2.3. Technical SupportA.2.4. FileMaker ApplicationsA.2.5. Developer Programs
A.3. Getting Help from the Community
A.3.1. Mail Lists and NewsgroupsA.3.2. Training/ConsultantsA.3.3. DevCon
B. Filemaker Error Codes
Index
About the Authors
Colophon
Copyright

Content preview from FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual

Running Scripts

At this point you’re probably starting to see how scripts can be really useful in your database. The fact is, most large database systems are loaded with scripts that do all kinds of things. But the only way you’ve seen to run a script is pretty tedious: Chose Scripts → ScriptMaker, select the script, and then click Perform. That’s lots of clicks to run a script that’s supposed to save you time! Thankfully, there are a few other ways to run scripts that are more convenient, and you can set them up when you first create a script.

The Scripts Menu

You can show some or all of your scripts right in the Scripts menu. If you have a script or two that you want quick access to from anywhere, then it makes sense to put it in the Scripts menu. That way, anyone can run it by simply choosing it from the menu. There are even keyboard shortcuts for the first 10 scripts in the Scripts menu: Ctrl+1 (⌘1) through Ctrl+9 (⌘9) for the first nine, and Ctrl+0 (⌘0) for number 10. Since only the top 10 scripts will get keyboard shortcuts, you’ll want to put frequently used scripts up at the top, so you can save time using the keyboard instead of the mouse. Figure 13-8 shows how to assign a script to this menu in the Manage Scripts dialog box.

Defining Buttons

When you use the Button tool (see Figure 13-9, left), to draw a button on a layout, FileMaker shows you a list of script steps like the ones you get in ScriptMaker (Figure 13-9, right). You can attach any single script step from that list ...

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