Help

Editing objects, layout parts, and the layout background
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 329
Related topics
Renaming a layout theme
Saving a layout theme
Managing layout themes
Formatting and setting up field objects in Layout mode
Use FileMaker Pro field formats to control how data appears on a layout. The formats you specify
don't change the data as it's stored in the database, and you can specify a different format for each
time you place a field on a layout (whether it's on the same layout or a different layout). For example,
if you enter -5123 into a number field, you can format it in one place to display as -$5,123.00 and in
another place as <5123>.
You can also have field formats change automatically when data meets criteria you specify. See
Defining conditional formatting for layout objects.
FileMaker Pro applies field formatting in the following precedence:
• If you don’t specify formats, FileMaker Pro displays numbers, dates, and times based on the
system formats set in the Clock, Language, and Region control panel (Windows) or the
Language & Text pane in System Preferences (OS
X) when the file was created.
• Once you place fields, you can select one or more fields and specify formats.
Notes
• You can specify number, date, time, and timestamp fields to display data based on the
current system formats when the file is opened. For more information, see the Help topics
for specifying formats for each field type.
If a field uses system formats to display data, FileMaker WebDirect uses the default system
formats for the location in which the database file was created.
• You can set up a field as a pop-up menu, a drop-down list, or a series of checkboxes or
radio buttons. See
Defining value lists.
• You can set up a field to auto-complete during data entry. See Setting up a field to auto-
complete during data entry.
• You can set up a field to display as a drop-down calendar. See Setting up a field to display a
drop-down calendar.
• You can set up a field to display a context-specific keyboard in FileMaker Go. See Setting
up a field to display a keyboard.
• You can set specific formats for number, date, time and timestamp fields, but users can still
enter data with extraneous characters (like “per pound”). To control the type of data users
enter in a field, specify validation options. See
Defining field validation.
• In Layout mode, to set default field attributes from the attributes of an existing field (for
example, to specify that all new text fields you place have text attributes that match an
existing field or all new number fields you place have number formats that match an existing
field), Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (OS
X) the existing field. Then create the new
fields that you want.
• To display sample data in fields formatted with the specified field formats, in Layout mode,
choose View menu
> Show > Sample Data. FileMaker Pro replaces the field names with
sample data from the record currently being browsed.
• Files created with different system formats for numbers, dates, and times can affect the
appearance of data. For example, if you're in the United States and you open a database