Instant Web Publishing Guide

Chapter 4
Designing a database for Instant Web Publishing
With FileMaker Pro, data displayed on a web form with Instant Web Publishing looks and behaves similarly
to a FileMaker layout. When you design solutions that are accessed on the web, there are some limitations of
the technologies that you should be aware of. For example, FileMaker
Pro layouts are rendered on the web
using Cascading Style Sheets, which doesn’t offer graphics support as robust as the FileMaker
Pro application.
Tips for designing layouts for Instant Web Publishing
FileMaker Pro layouts determine which fields web users see, and how the data is formatted.
1 Like FileMaker Pro, default web layouts can be specified with startup scripts.
1 User accounts and privileges determine which layouts web users can view.
1 Web users can only search on fields that are present on the current layout.
1 If you’re designing layouts specifically for searching, note that web users can’t enter search criteria for
summary, global, or container fields.
1 If you create layout folders using the Manage Layouts dialog box in FileMaker Pro, all layouts in all
layout folders are listed at the same level in the Layout pop-up menu in Instant Web Publishing. Layout
folders are not displayed in Instant Web Publishing.
1 If users add too many leading or trailing spaces before or after the data in a text field, the data may not
appear in the text field when the database is opened in Instant Web Publishing. To prevent this, warn users
to avoid adding leading spaces. If extra spaces are necessary, you should make sure the text field length
is sufficient to accommodate the extra spaces, or you can add a scroll bar to the text field.
1 If a field in the layout is formatted as a drop-down list or pop-up menu that uses values from two fields,
the field control may appear cropped in Instant Web Publishing. To increase the width of the field control
in Instant Web Publishing, increase the width of the field in the layout.
Tips for rendering layouts in Instant Web Publishing
Layouts are rendered in web browsers using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Not all layout objects can
display with CSS. For example:
1 Avoid diagonal lines, pen patterns, fill patterns, and ovals. They do not display in web browsers.
1 Rounded objects created with FileMaker Pro tools cannot be rendered. For example:
1 Rounded rectangles are displayed as rectangles.
1 Buttons and tabs on tab panels are displayed as rectangles (without rounded corners).
1 Circles are not displayed.
However, Instant Web Publishing can display an image of a rounded object. You can use FileMaker Pro
layout tools to draw a rounded object, use the screen-capture feature of your operating system to create
an image of the object, then paste or insert the image onto your FileMaker Pro layout. This alternative
doesn’t work for rounded tabs, though.