User manual

Chapter 2
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Creating databases 47
8. Build a formula for your calculation.
Click where you want the item to appear in the formula box, then do
the following.
You can also type the formula into the box.
Procedures for working with formulas and a reference to all
FileMaker Pro functions (organized alphabetically or by category) are
available in Help.
9. Select calculation options for the field.
To add a Do this
Reference to a field In the field list, double-click a field name.
To display field names from another table, choose a table
from the table list.
Mathematical or text
operator
In the keypad in the dialog box, click an operator.
(Quotation marks and parentheses are copied to the
formula as a pair, with the insertion point blinking in the
middle).
Comparison or
logical operator
For Operators, choose an operator from the list.
Constant value Type the value. A constant can be text, number, date, or
time. Use date constants with the functions Date and
GetAsDate, time constants with the functions Time and
GetAsTime, and timestamp constants with the functions
Timestamp and GetAsTimestamp
Text constants can be up to 29998 characters long.
Function In the functions list, double-click a function (a predefined,
named formula that performs a specific calculation and
returns a single, specific value). In the formula box,
replace the placeholder parameter with a value or
expression.
To Do this
Set the field type of
the result
Choose a data type for Calculation result is <value>. Choose
the correct type for the result you want. See “About
choosing a field type” on page 44.
Make a calculated
field repeating
Select Number of repetitions, then type the number of
repetitions.
Perform the
calculation only
when all referenced
fields have a value
(so you don’t
display zero as a
result)
Select Do not evaluate if all referenced fields are empty.
When enabled, FileMaker Pro does not evaluate a
calculation if all fields used by the calculation are empty.
This typically improves performance. Clear this option if
you always want FileMaker Pro to calculate a result, even
if a referenced field is empty or has never been modified.
Choose field
references
Formula box
Select comparison and
logical operators
Select
functions
Choose a
formula
result type
Choose
indexing and
storage
options
Make the calculated
field repeating
Choose a table
from the list
Calculate only if at least one
field in the formula has a value
Select mathematical
and text operators
Choose the
way
functions
are listed in
the dialog
box
Choose the table from which the
calculation will be evaluated