Help

Creating a database
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 183
• You can also specify the auto-complete option for text fields to help ensure accuracy for
data entry. See
Setting up a field to auto-complete during data entry.
• Unique or existing validation on a field triggers when you exit the field, not when you commit
the entire record.
• You can set auto-enter and validation options for external fields for ODBC tables. These
field options only affect how you work with these external fields in FileMaker
Pro. The
options are independent of any options that might be set in the ODBC data source.
Related topics
Working with formulas and functions
Entering and changing data in fields
Committing data in records
Defining value lists
Defining global fields (fields with global storage)
A field that uses global storage contains one value that's used for all records in the file. Fields
defined with global storage are also referred to as
global fields.
To define global storage options for a field:
1. With the database open, choose File menu > Manage > Database.
Note To set options for fields in Table View, right-click the column heading for the field, choose
Field
> Field Options from the shortcut menu, then skip to step 6.
2. In the Manage Database dialog box, click the Fields tab.
3. If your database contains more than one table, select the appropriate table from the Table
list.
4. For Field Name, type a name for the field.
See About naming fields.
5. Click Options (or double-click the field name).
6. In the Options for Field dialog box, click the Storage tab, then select Use global storage
(one value for all records).
7. To create a repeating field, enter a value greater than 1 for Maximum number of
repetitions.
8. Click OK.
9. Continue to define fields or click Done.
Notes
• You can use a global field:
• as a fixed value in calculation formulas across all records in a file, or in conditional script
steps, such as If, Else, End If, Loop, End Loop, and Exit Loop.
• for fields that rarely need to be updated. For example, use global storage to put your
company address on several layouts. You can quickly update the value in a field with
global storage without having to update each layout.
• as a match field for a relationship.