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.)
To Do this
Enter the date, time, or Select the first checkbox (the), then choose an
user name when the record option from the list.
is created or modified
Assign a sequential Select Serial number. For next value, type a starting
number to the field in each value (for example, 1001), then type the number to
record increment by.
Enter the value from the Select Value from previous record.
previously accessed record
Enter data you specify Select Data, then type up to 255 characters.
Enter the result of a Select Calculated value, define the formula in the
calculation in the field 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 Select Looked-up value, define the lookup, then
from a field in the same or click OK. See “Defining lookups between files” on
a different file page 8-13.
Prevent users from Select Prohibit modification of value.
changing an automatically
entered value
Turn off automatically Clear all selected checkboxes.
entered data
Click Auto-Enter
Select options for
entering default
data in the field
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
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.