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 44
About choosing a field type
When you define a field, you select a field type based on the kind of information the field will
contain. The field type determines what kind of data can be entered and what kinds of operations
FileMaker
Pro can perform with the data. FileMaker Pro uses the field type to interpret the data for
tasks like sorting records and performing calculations.
Select this
field type
If the field data will be
Text Letters, symbols, and/or numbers used as text per field repetition, limited by available RAM and
disk space. Indexes are nominally based on the first 100 characters of each word or value. Text
fields may contain carriage returns.
Number Values up to 800 digits or other characters, and the negative values of the same range. Number
fields can also contain Boolean values (0 or 1), to indicate, for example, true, false, yes, and no.
Number fields can’t contain carriage returns.
Date Dates only. Uses the Gregorian calendar with a range of 1/1/0001...12/31/4000. Month, day,
and year order is based on system settings when the file is created.
Time Times only. A time field can contain the hours, minutes, and seconds portion of a time. A time
field can contain a negative time duration, for example, -08:40:00.
Timestamp Dates and times to reference a fixed point in calendar time. For example, 10/25/2014 2:39:46 AM
Container A file of any type, such as a picture, a PDF, or a multimedia file. You can set up storage and
display options for the field. You can reference container fields in calculations and summary
fields. You can't find or sort records based on container fields, but you can define text fields to
describe or identify them. Then, you can find or sort records based on the description or
identifying number in the text field. Files in container fields can be embedded, stored as a
reference, or stored externally.
Calculation The result of a calculation formula that uses field values from the current record or related
records. The formula can use values of all field types. The result can be one of these types of
data: text, number, date, time, timestamp, or container.
Summary A value that’s produced by summarizing field values from more than one record in the same table.