Installation and New Features Guide

18 Installation and New Features Guide
1 Improved relational capabilities
You can now work with a graphical view of your database structure
in the relationships graph.
You can base relationships on one or more match fields in each table.
Match fields should be the same type; for example, number fields or
a calculation field that returns a numeric result.
Relationships are always created between two tables, or, in the case
of self-joining relationships, two occurrences of the same table in the
relationships graph. You can connect relationships together in a
series and access related data from any point within that series, but
each relationship is created between only two tables.
Two or more related tables cannot form a cycle. Each series of
relationships must have a beginning table and an ending table.
Relationships are bi-directional, although you can set independent
record sorting, creation, and deletion options for each table in the
relationship. You can add pairs of match fields to a relationship as
necessary until you are able to establish the relational criteria you
want.
You can create comparative relationships and use the following
relational operators: = (equal),
≠ (not equal), < (less than), ≤ (less
than or equal to), > (greater than),
≥ (greater than or equal to), and x
(cartesian product).
The number of relationships is limited only by disk space.
1 New way to control access to database files
You can restrict what users can see and do in a database file by
defining accounts and privilege sets.
Accounts authenticate users who are attempting to open a protected
file. Each account specifies an account name and usually a password.
Any user who cannot specify valid account information won’t be
able to open a protected file.
A privilege set specifies a level of access to a database file. There are
many options available to limit database access, such as which
layouts are viewable, which menus are available, and whether
printing is permitted. Privilege sets can also restrict access to
particular tables, records, or fields within a file. Each account is
assigned a privilege set.
1 Multiple file conversion
Files that were created using previous versions of FileMaker Pro
need to be converted for use with FileMaker Pro 7. You can use
multiple file conversion to convert all the files that comprise a
relational database solution or any number of standalone files.
During conversion, FileMaker Pro won’t overwrite any of your
existing files.
Relationships graph
Drag a line between tables
to create a relationship