User manual

10 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
For more information about creating layouts, see “Creating layouts
and reports” on page 48.
Finding, sorting, and replacing data
Features for finding, sorting, and replacing data allow you to
manipulate your data in many ways.
You can find records that meet criteria you specify, such as records
entered on a certain date or addresses in a particular city. You can
open another window in order to perform different searches on the
same data.
You can rearrange records in order to view or print them in a different
sequence. You can sort fields alphabetically, numerically, by date, or
by a custom sort order.
You can search for and replace data across multiple fields, similar to
the way you find and replace data in word processing applications.
For more information about finding, sorting, and replacing data, see
“Finding records” on page 23, “Sorting records” on page 30, and
“Finding and replacing data” on page 30.
Protecting databases with accounts and privilege sets
You can restrict what users 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 that 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. Each
account is assigned a privilege set, which determines the level of
access when someone opens a file using that account.
Extended privileges determine the data sharing options that are
permitted by a privilege set, such as whether a privilege set permits
users to open a shared file or view a database in a web browser.
For more information about accounts and privilege sets, see
chapter 5, “Protecting databases with accounts and privilege sets.”
Creating scripts to automate tasks
Scripts can do simple tasks like setting print orientation or complex
tasks like preparing a customized mailing to clients.
For example, you could define a script that creates a thank you letter
to clients in your clients database who have made a purchase in the
last week. The script composes a letter customized to each client.
The script then switches to Preview mode and pauses so that you can
see what the letter looks like before it prints. The whole task is started
by clicking a button on a layout.
You use the ScriptMaker™ feature in FileMaker Pro to build scripts
by selecting from a list of FileMaker Pro script steps, specifying
options, and arranging the steps in the correct order to perform the
task.
For more information about scripts, see “Automating tasks with
scripts” on page 34.