User manual

Adding and viewing data 2-7
Entering and changing data in fields
You can enter data up to the character limit for the field type (for
example, 255 characters in a number field). You can view and print
only the data that fits within the field boundaries.
Keep these points in mind:
1 A field can be defined to make sure you enter data in a specific
format, or within a certain range. See “Defining automatic data
entry” on page 5-8 and “Defining field validation” on page 5-9.
1 You may not be able to enter or change data in some fields (for
example, calculation or summary fields, or fields that are formatted
to prevent entry). You can copy the contents of calculation and
summary fields to other fields. See “About choosing a field type” on
page 5-4 and “Allowing or preventing entry into fields” on page 7-8.
1 If you don’t type a year in a date field, and haven’t typed a
separator character for a year, FileMaker Pro enters the current year
for you. (This can’t be done if 4-Digit Year Date validation is defined
for the field options. See “Defining field validation” on page 5-9.)
1 For more information on how FileMaker Pro 5 handles Year 2000
issues, see www.filemaker.com.
1 To return the current record to the way it was before you added or
changed data, choose Records menu > Revert Record before you
select a different record or leave the current one.
1 You can paste a value from the field index, which contains all the
values in the selected field. Field indexes are documented in Help.
Choose Help menu > Contents and Index, click the Index tab, and type
index.
To Do this in Browse mode
Enter data in a text field Click in the field, then type the text (up to
approximately 64,000 characters).
Enter data in a number field Click in the field, then type up to 255
characters.
Enter data in a date field Click in the field, then type one date on one
line in the field. Type the day, month, and year
as numbers (for example, 2/3/2002), separated
by a nonnumeric character like – (minus) or /
(forward slash).
Important To avoid confusion when using
dates, always use four-digit years.
Enter data in a time field Click in the field, then type the time of day (or
a time duration) as:
1 hours
1 hours and minutes
1 hours, minutes, and seconds
Separate hours, minutes, and seconds by a
nonnumeric character like : (colon).
Type the time of day in 24- or 12-hour format,
with or without AM or PM. (AM is assumed
for a time less than 12:00.)
Add data to a container field See “About working with graphics,
sounds, and movies” on page 2-11 and
“Working with OLE objects” on page 2-15.
Insert a tab character in a field Click where you want to insert the tab. Press
Ctrl+Tab (Windows) or Option+Tab
(Mac OS).
Add data to fields formatted as
radio or option buttons,
checkboxes, lists, or menus
See “Entering preset data from a value list” on
page 2-8.
Delete data from a field Select the data, then press Backspace or
Delete.
Edit, format, or check the
spelling of text in a field
See “About working with text” on page 2-13.
Change data quickly, using
commands in a pop-up menu
See “Using context menus” on page 1-5.
To Do this in Browse mode