Portal scrolling has always been a bit of a struggle in FileMaker Go up until the release of version 12. This article outlines some of the changes to portal scrolling in FileMaker Go 12 and we give a couple of examples how it can be set-up to give a very nice native-application look and feel. We also cover field scrolling. Read more...
Most of the time when we print records in FileMaker, the output of every record appears pretty much the same, with similar formatting and design. But what if we want records to print with a completely different output design depending on the type of record? In this article we detail some of the various ways in which this can be achieved, and the pros and cons of each method… Read more...
Navigation of portals in FileMaker is a pretty simple affair, you either have a scrollbar, or you don't. In this article we demonstrate another way to navigate portals using a pagination style. We also demonstrate how it can be implemented at the relationship level, or the portal level using filtering… Read more...
When FileMaker sorts records it happens on the client machine. Consequently, sorting can be a very painful process for users over a slow connection to a database. In this article we show a very fast way in which records can be presented to the user in descending creation order, without sorting delays... Read more...
One of the shortcomings of FileMaker is its inability achieve easy cross-tabular reports and data entry in a normalized structure. There are various techniques to replicate cross-tabular interfaces, but they often involve many relationships for either the columns/rows, or are for display only. The goal of this article is to present a lightweight method for cross-tabular data entry using as few relationships & fields as possible... Read more...
There are many ways in which users can select records, so that each user can keep their own unique selection. This particular method uses a portal showing related records as a selection tool. The main technique involves using a value list & checkbox to easily achieve selection with no scripting required… Read more...
This article demonstrates how you can filter a relationship to one table, by using information located in a related table. The example I will be using is filtering a relationship to a Customer table, but by searching on a customers related Contacts, which are in an entirely different table… Read more...
In this article I will demonstrate a very nice way to format a portal using conditional formatting. This method is suitable for portals whose underlying relationship is sorted by a grouping/category field - similar to if it were like a sub-summary report. The easiest way to explain it is to just get stuck in with an example, so here we go.... Read more...
In part two, I demonstrated how to implement the basics of the join table solution in FileMaker. While the solution works fine as an illustration for join tables, it lacked many of the basic interface features that would make it a usable solution.
In part three, I will show how to implement some of these features, namely the following: Better selection of a Student for an Enrollment, Deletion of Enrollments & Prevention of “over-enrolling” a course… Read more...
Part two carries on from where Part one left off. This article outlines the construction of a basic join table solution from woe to go… Read more...
Perhaps one of the most asked questions that I see asked on the FileMaker Cafe is in regards to join tables. While some users have an understanding of what they are, they may lack the FileMaker skills to implement them. Others are unfamiliar with the concept altogether, but will explain their real word example. Usually it is a prime candidate for a join table. This article provides a real world example that will give you an understanding of why join tables are important, and in what circumstances they should be used. The example will then be implemented in a simple FileMaker solution… Read more...
FileMaker provides us with the ability to create related records directly from a portal. This is a great and easy way to generate records without the need to script the process, and for that reason it is a popular technique among both new users and Developers alike. This article extends this concept further and suggests various user interface improvements for making data entry in this method more user friendly… Read more...
Part two in this three-part series deals with constructing conditional value lists that are to be used within a portal. In part one, the conditional value lists built were for use on a single record on a layout. Portals however may contain many rows, each row being a record with it's own field values… Read more...
With the introduction of script triggers in FileMaker 10, live filtering or portals was made possible. Numerous techniques were introduced to help achieve this. In conjunction with existing filtering techniques, the "Live" aspect was achieved usually by introducing an OnObjectModify script trigger to the filter entry field. As soon as the user enters a value into the field, the triggered script would force a save of the fields contents, thus updating the relationship in question, which in turn updated results in a portal on screen… Read more...