User manual

16 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Closing windows and files
You can close FileMaker Pro windows and files as you would in most
Windows and Mac
OS applications.
To close a window, do one of the following:
1 Windows: Double-click the document icon in the upper left corner
of the document window.
1 Windows: Click the close box in the upper right corner of the
document window.
1 Mac OS: Click the red close button in the upper left corner of
the
document window.
1 Choose File menu > Close.
To close a file, use the procedures above to close all the open windows
for a file.
Note Even if you close a file, it may remain open as a hidden file if
the window of any other file is displaying data from that file. (For
example, another window may be displaying related data from the file
you attempted to close.) FileMaker Pro will close the file when you
close all the dependent windows.
Saving files
FileMaker Pro saves the changes you make to your file as you work.
You can save a copy of your file as a backup or save a clone of your
file with no data. To save a copy of your file in a non-FileMaker
format, see
“Saving and sending data in other formats” on page 84.
Some minor changes to files are not always saved with the file. For
details, see the next section,
“When FileMaker Pro saves a file.”
Important Always save a copy before you make extensive changes.
You can’t restore data after you delete a field from the Define
Database dialog box or remove records using the
Delete Record or
Delete All commands.
To save a copy of your file:
1. Make the file you want to save the active file, and choose File
menu
> Save a Copy As.
2. Navigate to where you want to save the copy on your hard disk.
3. For File name (Windows) or Save As (Mac OS), type a filename.
4. For Save as type, choose FileMaker Files (Windows only).
5. For Save a (Windows) or Type (Mac OS), choose one of the
following options:
6. Click Save.
Choose To
Copy of current file Duplicate the entire file, including the tables, field
definitions, layouts, scripts, page setup options, and data.
Duplicating a file is useful before you make extensive
changes.
Compacted copy
(smaller)
Compact the entire file into less disk space by reclaiming
unused space in the file. Saving a compacted copy is useful
if you edit many records frequently.
Clone (no records) Save a file’s tables, field definitions, layouts, scripts, and
page setup options, without the data. Make a clone when
you want a template of the file.