Developer’s Guide

Creating a database solution 4-13
If you put a left-aligned label over a column of right-aligned
numbers, for example, the report might look fine on your computer.
But font substitution could cause field labels to shift when the file is
opened on another computer. If a wider font is substituted on the
second computer, your column heading will shift to the right. If a
more narrow font is used, the text will display too far to the left.
• Avoid mixing text and fields because character spacing may vary.
If necessary, use merge fields—for example, to place a field in the
middle of a sentence.
Using a common color palette
When 256 or more colors are available, FileMaker Pro will offer an
88-color palette that is virtually identical across platforms. (Close
substitutes are used for 13 colors that do not match exactly.)
Windows computers using a standard VGA driver will only display
16 colors. Some older Mac OS computers may also be limited to 16
colors. The 16-color palette in FileMaker Pro varies slightly between
Windows and the Mac OS, depending on the Windows color scheme
you are using.
If you are building your files on a 256-color computer, you might
want to use colors that will map well to 16-color systems. It also
helps to know which colors map to black and which map to white for
monochrome displays.
The dotted colors are This palette indicates which
systems
available on 16-color colors map to black or white
Using graphics in cross-platform solutions
If you’re storing and displaying graphics across platforms, be sure to
select the document preference for Store compatible graphics before
importing each graphic into your database file:
Choose Edit menu > Preferences > Document.
Mac OS X: choose FileMaker Developer application menu >
Preferences > Document.
Two copies of the graphic image will be stored: the original version
(for example, bitmap, metafile, or GIF) and one in PICT file format.
Graphics with gradients that are imported and stored as bitmaps will
redraw faster on the screen than graphics imported and stored as
PICT images. Additionally, PICT images containing gradients may
have some quality degradation when displayed on Windows
machines.
If your graphic image has an undesirable white border surrounding
an irregularly shaped graphic, you should create a mask for the
bitmap image. Refer to the documentation that came with your
graphics program for more information.
Using QuickTime movies in cross-platform solutions
To use a Mac OS QuickTime movie with FileMaker Pro for
Windows, first save the movie in a format playable on non Apple
computers using a QuickTime editing application. For more
information, visit the Apple web site at www.apple.com.
To save a QuickTime movie in a cross-platform format:
1. On your Mac OS machine, start your QuickTime editing program.
2. Open the QuickTime movie you want to convert.
3. Choose File menu > Save As and save the file with a new name and
the .mov filename extension.
4. Select Make movie self-contained.