User manual

4 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Chapter 2
Creating databases
Planning a database 35
Creating a FileMaker Pro file 38
Defining database fields 39
About naming fields 39
About choosing a field type 40
Defining text, number, date, time, timestamp, or
container fields 41
Defining calculation fields 41
Defining summary fields 43
Setting options for fields 44
Defining automatic data entry 45
Defining field validation 46
About storage and indexing options 47
Defining database tables 47
Creating layouts and reports 48
About layout types 49
Setting up a layout to print records in columns 51
Working with objects on a layout 52
Selecting objects 53
Working with fields on a layout 54
Placing and removing fields on a layout 54
Deciding where to place related fields 55
About merge fields 55
Formatting field data on a layout 56
Allowing or preventing entry into fields 59
Working with parts on a layout 59
About layout part types 60
Chapter 3
Working with related tables and files
About relationships 61
Relational database terminology 63
About the relationships graph 64
About match fields for relationships 64
Types of relationships 64
Planning a relational database 68
Working with the relationships graph 68
Creating relationships 68
Changing relationships 69
Summarizing data in portals 70
About lookups 71
Creating lookups 71
Editing lookups 72
Chapter 4
Sharing and exchanging data
Sharing databases on a network 73
Enabling file sharing and hosting files 74
Opening shared files as a client 74
Closing a hosted file 75
Importing and exporting data 76
Supported import/export file formats 76
ODBC and JDBC 76
Methods of importing data into an existing file 76
About adding records 76
About updating existing records 76
About updating matching records 77
About the importing process 77
Converting a data file to a new FileMaker Pro file 78
About the exporting process 78
Publishing databases on the web 79