U.M. (Mac OS)

2-12 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Indexing fields
FileMaker Pro indexes each value in fields used for these tasks (unless
you deselect the automatic index option):
1 validating fields with unique or existing validation criteria
1 matching fields in a related or lookup file
1 matching fields in a master file (to find data in a field based on the
relationship)
You can index all field types (except container, summary, or global) to
improve performance for tasks like finding data. Indexing uses
additional disk space and can slow performance of some operations,
especially in large files.
1. Create a new file, or, in Browse or Layout mode, choose Define from
the File menu and then choose Fields.
2. In the Define Fields dialog box, double-click the name of the field to
index.
3. In the Entry Options dialog box, click Storage Options.
4. In the Storage Options dialog box, for Indexing, click On. If you are
working with a text field, choose a language from the pop-up menu.
In most cases, keep Automatically turn indexing on if needed selected.
Otherwise, tasks like finding take much longer on unindexed fields.
Choose the
language to index
and sort values by
Index each value in
the current field
Select this to speed up
finding on unindexed fields