Structured data

This option is only applicable if you have multiple records with some kind of categories involved. Look at the screen below to see what that could be:

What happened to the body part?

The final records have the detailed information you look for. This is usually the body part of a layout. To exclude that information or layout part, and only reveal it later, you have to use three things:

1. Use subsummary layout parts (which need a field to relate to)
2. Move the fields from the body part to the subsummary reserved for that final information.
3. Sort.

Now sort according to any subsummary field, but leave out the subsummary part where the body fields are displayed. The sorting will now hide the subsummary part where the body fields are listed. Enhance the sorting with that very part, and the body information will show.

Sorting or not sorting, that is here the question. By sorting, you create different list views. You can hide certain parts or hide subcategories, by excluding those parts from the sorting.

This technique is shown step by step in the sample file. From a simple sorting, through the sorting of different categories, finally a drill-down-concept is shown, in which the layout stays the same, but the sorting reveals more or less information. In combination with some design-changes for each part, it will look like categories are expanding or collapsing.

Selecting by clicking

A clever list layout has multiple subsummaries. Each part can have a button and a script attached, which sorts to more fields, and thus expands the view. Selecting by clicking is an intuitive way to show users of your solution where they are and how to select a group of data or even a single record. For complex data, this is probably not the way to go. It can also be a help to get search parameters set.

Explore the options. Happy FileMaking!

Make it random, but manageable

Create random data yourself, with the help of FileMaker. That was the idea behind this little tool. It shows you how you can create random addresses, which you build from the specific information and languages you need. Adapt if you need to adapt. Create new options, as you have a need for it. You can manage, edit, create random data at wish. This might not be the fastest option, but who cares? You need good examples, fitting your needs. That’s what this file is about.

Create building blocks, then randomize

The concept is quite simple: Create building blocks as a basis for variety. Think of countries, genders, languages. Then you can create more complex building blocks, like “female english first names” or “german street names”. Once you have lists in the desired languages, you can randomize the data from these lists, while you build a set of random data.

ZIP Codes

One of the building blocks is about the ZIP codes. You create the structures you need for each country you need. Whatever kind of ZIP Codes you need to make, setup a structure and it will be filled with random data.

Age range

When creating addresses, a random birthday will be set. You can now create an age range, within which the random birthday will be generated.

Adapt this to your needs

We do not know where you live, what languages you speak or need and what it takes to create a perfect set of random data. For example: Each countries has districts, provinces, states or similar. In each state there are cities and villages. We have filled out some information for a few countries, but you know best what is needed for you. If you want to create your own set of data, build it step by step. We have filled out some data to get you up and running. Now adapt the solution to your needs by adding missing parts or optimizing the scripts.

It’s like magic.

The locale

The locale in any FileMaker file describes how certain information is used, saved and displayed. The result numbers or dates might create unexpected results in calculations and display.

The locale is set when you create a new file or open an empty clone.
The locale can be removed by saving a file as an empty clone. It will be reset when that file is opened.

The locale gives FileMaker a fixed point to relate to. That makes sense, as some settings differ widely across the world. To make a FileMaker solution work across the world, this file shows you what to look for.

Date as Number

FileMaker has a function to get a date as a number (SetField (text or number field): GetAsNumber (Date field) ). This overcomes the limitations of any locale, as it gives the number of days since the dawn of time, so to say. That “dawn of time” is the first of January of the Year “1”. It is easy to use that number for calculations or to recreate a date from it (use the function: GetAsDate).

Experiment

Use the files of this example to understand how it works, then apply to your solution(s).

Step by step

1. Use the script step “Insert File”, and
2. store the file as a reference in a variable.
3. This variable on Mac has 2 values. Get the 2nd value to extract the full path.

The first value is a relative path, starting with “file:”. The second value is an absolute and platform based path, starting with “filemac:”.

Use the path

The extracted path is a text string. You can mold the text if you need to, to create exactly the result you need.

Make it your own

This simple test file will probably not do all you need. Change it, enhance it, and make it your own.

Setting the order

It is quite easy to capture the current date in FileMaker. It also gives you the tools to extract day, month and year. As you have the building blocks readily available, it is possible to reconfigure these as you like. That’s what is done in this sample file. The current setup is focussed on a European style date:

Day/Month/Year

The scripts requires simple numbers and no separators. If you need any other setup, feel free to reconfigure the scripts.

4, 6 or 8 digits

The file requires a field with a script trigger. The trigger kicks off a script which evaluates the input. It will recognize the number of characters filled in and then build the full date around it.

• 4 digits = day+month. Adding “0104” will get you the first of april of the current year
• 6 digits = day+month+2-digit-year. Adding “010226” will get you the first of february of 2026.
• 8 digits = day+month+4-digit-year. Adding “05121725” will get you the fifth of december of the year 1725.

Activate the calculation by jumping out the field. Without leaving your keyboard, press [TAB], which usually jumps to the next field. Now you can work in lists or forms with a shorter and simpler way to add dates.

Make it your own

This simple test file will probably not do all you need. Change it, enhance it, and make it your own.

Where comfort begins

It is so basic to have a navigation in a solution, that it is hardly considered a requirement in any project discussion. Yet, there are vastly different ways to create a working navigation. Over time, we have created multiple variations. This sample file is our simplest version to date. It is fast, works well, is built with a table for maximum comfort and expandability, yet loaded into global fields for universal application.

The real challenge for any software development is the simplicity. Today there are more options available. This is just a single idea. The result is extremely reliable, fast and simple to use.

Beyond the sample files

If you are interested in a starter file for your next project, where the navigation already is included and heavily expanded, check out our products FM Starter and FrankCRM. In those solutions, a 2-level navigation can be collapsable on main entries, is fully multilingual, restricts access to user groups (if defined) and can trigger scripts (if activated).

Download

Download the sample file to see how it works. It is free, well tested and similar versions run in our main applications for years and are in use by many customers. Check it out.

Capturing the keystroke

Any key of your keyboard is recognized by the keyboard and operating system, but not by FileMaker. Thus, capture the keystroke first, then tell FileMaker what to do with it.

Productivity

Oftentimes, simple solutions like these will immediately boost productivity. If you do not need to get your hands off the keyboard, many people can work much smoother and quicker. This is the method to eliminate the mouse for repetitive work: Get the keystroke you want to use, build it into a script and let it run in the background. That last part is using a layout script trigger [OnLayoutKeystroke], which can be setup in the layout settings of any layout.

Keep your hands on the keyboard!

Using arrow keys in FileMaker

Once you captured the keystroke, you can combine this information with going to a previous or next record or anything else. Check the scripts how this is done.