User manual
Table Of Contents
- Contents
- Chapter 1 Introducing FileMaker Pro
- Chapter 2 Using FileMaker Pro
- About fields and records
- Opening and closing files
- Opening multiple windows per file
- Saving files
- About modes
- Viewing records
- Adding and duplicating records
- Deleting records
- Entering data
- Working with data in Table View
- Finding records
- Sorting records
- Previewing and printing files
- Backing up files
- Setting preferences
- Chapter 3 Designing and creating solutions
- Planning a solution
- Creating a FileMaker Pro file
- Creating and changing fields
- Setting options for fields
- Creating database tables
- Creating layouts and reports
- Working with layout themes
- Working with layout object, part, and background styles
- Setting up a layout to print records in columns
- Working with objects on a layout
- Working with fields on a layout
- Working with layout parts
- Creating and editing charts
- Chapter 4 Working with related tables and files
- Chapter 5 Sharing data
- Sharing databases on a network
- Importing and exporting data
- Supported import/export file formats
- Setting up recurring imports
- ODBC and JDBC
- Methods of importing data into an existing file
- About adding records
- About updating existing records
- About updating matching records
- About the importing process
- Converting a data file to a new FileMaker Pro file
- About the exporting process
- Working with external data sources
- Publishing solutions on the web
- Chapter 6 Protecting files
- Protecting databases with accounts and privilege sets
- Creating accounts and privilege sets
- Viewing extended privileges
- Authorizing access to files
- Security measures
- Enhancing physical security
- Enhancing operating system security
- Establishing network security
- Backing up databases and other important files
- Installing, running, and upgrading antivirus software
- Chapter 7 Using FileMaker Pro Advanced
- Index
Chapter 3
Designing and creating solutions
This chapter explains the basics of how to:
1 plan a FileMaker Pro solution
1 define and modify fields
1 define tables
1 create layouts
1 work with fields, objects, and parts on a layout
Note See Help for detailed, comprehensive information and step-by-step procedures about
using FileMaker
Pro.
Planning a solution
The first step in creating a solution is to plan the content, structure, and design. Then, you create
a FileMaker
Pro database file and define tables and fields.
A well-designed solution promotes consistent data entry and retrieval, and reduces the existence
of duplicate data among the database tables. Relational database tables work together to ensure
that the correct data is available when you need it. It’s a good idea to plan a solution on paper first.
Follow these general steps:
1. Determine the purpose for your solution, or the problem you want to solve. For example, “to
keep a list of my customers,” “to manage my inventory,” “to grade my students,” or “to work with
data on my desktop computer, on my iPad, and in a web browser."
If other people will use the solution, be sure to talk with them about the data they will need.
2. Consider the information you will store in your database. Typically, information falls into broad
categories. Accurately identifying these categories is critical to designing an efficient database,
because you will store different types and amounts of data in each category. For example, a
solution intended to track sales has categories such as “customers,” “products,” and “invoices.”
A database that records student grades has categories such as “students,” “classes,” and
“assignments.”
3. After you’ve determined the broad categories, consider how these categories are related. This
can be done by writing simple sentences that describe how the categories interact, such as,
“customers order products” and “invoices record customers’ orders.” Each of these pairs
suggests a relationship between the data in one category and the data in the other category.