FileMaker® Pro Design & Scripting For Dummies®

Chapter 2. Creating a Database

In This Chapter

• Creating a database

• Using field options for more control

• Making relationships between tables

• Using the relationship graph

Say you've got a zillion, colored, sticky notes all over your office, and you're thinking, “I need FileMaker to help me keep track of all these molecular composition formulas stuck everywhere!”

Of course, FileMaker is designed just for those types of special needs, and this chapter helps you get started. Here, you find out how to create a blank database, set up fields and tables so they're ready for data, and sort out your parent-child relationships (among tables of data, of course). I also guide you through the important field options FileMaker has to offer — options that enable you to build a real solution for a real need.

Speaking of real solutions. . . . I want to use an example database for this chapter that you, personally, can use. Almost everyone, at some point in her life, is faced with the situation of having to search for a job. If you have ever gone through the job-search process, you know what I'm talking about. So, you can follow along in this chapter to create the Hey, Look at Me! example database either for getting the hang of using FileMaker or for finding that next, high-paying job. Just don't tell your boss! But you can also use the information in this chapter to build whatever custom database suits your needs.

To build a good database solution, you first need to know what it is that you want to keep track ...