User manual

Creating a database 5-9
3. In the Options for Field dialog box, click the Auto-Enter tab and
select options. (The available options depend on the field type.)
Important To avoid confusion when using dates in FileMaker Pro,
set field validation options to make sure dates are always entered
with four-digit years. (See the next section.)
4. Click OK to close the Options for Field dialog box, then click Done.
For more information about automatically entering data, see
FileMaker Pro Help. Choose Help menu > Contents and Index, click
the Index tab, and type automatic data entry.
Defining field validation
You can select field validation options to ensure that data is entered
into the field correctly. FileMaker Pro displays a message if you
enter data incorrectly.
Important To avoid confusion when using dates in FileMaker Pro,
set field validation options to make sure dates are always entered
with four-digit years. For more information on how FileMaker Pro 5
handles Year 2000 issues, see www.filemaker.com.
1. Choose File menu > Define Fields.
2. In the Define Fields dialog box, double-click a field name.
To Do this
Enter the date, time, or
user name when the record
is created or modified
Select the first checkbox (the), then choose an
option from the list.
Assign a sequential
number to the field in each
record
Select Serial number. For next value, type a starting
value (for example, 1001), then type the number to
increment by.
Enter the value from the
previously accessed record
Select Value from previous record.
Enter data you specify Select Data, then type up to 255 characters.
Enter the result of a
calculation in the field
Select Calculated value, define the formula in the
Specify Calculation dialog box, then click OK.
For information about the Specify Calculation
dialog box, see “Defining calculation fields” on
page 5-5.
Enter a value that’s copied
from a field in the same or
a different file
Select Looked-up value, define the lookup, then
click OK. See “Defining lookups between files” on
page 8-13.
Prevent users from
changing an automatically
entered value
Select Prohibit modification of value.
Turn off automatically
entered data
Clear all selected checkboxes.
Select options for
entering default
data in the field
Click Auto-Enter