FileMaker pro 8: The Missing Manual: The Missing Manual

Geoff Coffey has been helping people solve problems with FileMaker Pro for over 10 years. He is a partner at Six Fried Rice (http://sixfriedrice.com/), a FileMaker Pro consulting and training firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. Six Fried Rice brings the power and simplicity of FileMaker Pro to individuals, workgroups, enterprise, and the web through world-class training, expert advice, and custom development. He lives in downtown Phoenix with his wife of 14 years and his two daughters, Isabel (9) and Sophia (5). If you're a FileMaker fan, you can reach Geoff any time at geoff@sixfriedrice.com.

Susan Prosser is a reformed journalist who's stopped trying to bring information to the people and now helps them manage the data they already have. Susan is a FileMaker Certified Developer and has developed FileMaker databases for 12 years, but returns to her roots by training and writing curriculum for other developers.

Describes the fundamentals of FileMaker pro 8, covering such topics as editing records, creating layouts, calculations, scripting, and security.

Used by millions worldwide, FileMaker Pro is an award-winning database program for managing people, projects, images, assets, and other information. It's easy to use and totally customizable--so long as you know what you're doing. But FileMaker Pro doesn't come with a printed manual, so FileMaker Pro: The Missing Manual is the

Copyright; The Missing Credits; About the Authors; About the Creative Team; Acknowledgements; The Missing Manual Series; Introduction; Why FileMaker Pro?; What's New in FileMaker Pro 8; The Very Basics; About This Book; Part I: Introduction to FileMaker Pro; Chapter 1: Your First Database; 1.1 A Very Quick Database Tour; 1.2 Creating a New Database; 1.3 Opening and Closing Database Files; 1.4 Saving Your Databases; 1.5 Adding Records to Your Database; 1.6 Navigating Your Database; 1.7 Same Database, Multiple Windows; Chapter 2: Organizing and Editing Records; 2.1 Views; 2.2 Advanced Find Mode; 2.3 Changing Multiple Records; 2.4 Sorting Records; 2.5 Editing What's in Your Fields; 2.6 Paragraph Formatting; 2.7 Beyond Text: Container Fields; 2.8 Checking Spelling; 2.9 Printing and Preview Mode; Chapter 3: Building a New Database; 3.1 Tables and Fields; 3.2 Defining Fields; 3.3 Advanced Field Options; 3.4 Bringing It All Together; Part II: Layout Basics; Chapter 4: Layout Basics; 4.1 What Is a Layout?; 4.2 Switching Between Layouts; 4.3 What Makes a Layout; 4.4 Layout Mode; Chapter 5: Creating Layouts; 5.1 The Lowdown on Layouts; 5.2 Creating a Layout from Scratch; 5.3 Creating Layouts for Reports; Chapter 6: Advanced Layouts and Reports; 6.1 Setting up Field Controls; 6.2 Adding Field Controls to Layouts; 6.3 Field Behavior; 6.4 Tab Order; 6.5 Print-Related Layout Options; 6.6 Format the Number/Date/Time/Graphic; 6.7 Adding Buttons; 6.8 Tab Panels; 6.9 Reports and Summary Fields; Part III: Multiple Tables and Relationships; Chapter 7: Multiple Tables and Relationships; 7.1 Relational Databases Explained; 7.2 Modeling Your Database; 7.3 Creating a Relational Database; 7.4 Relational Databases; Chapter 8: Advanced Relationship Techniques; 8.1 Creating Related Records; 8.2 Table Occurrences; 8.3 Managing Data with Data Tunneling; 8.4 Building a Data Tunneling Interface; 8.5 Connecting Databases; 8.6 Lookups; 8.7 Advanced Relationships; Part IV: Calculations; Chapter 9: Introduction to Calculations; 9.1 Understanding Calculations; 9.2 The Structure of a Calculation; 9.3 Creating a Calculation Field; 9.4 Auto-Enter Calculations; 9.5 Validate Data Entry with a Calculation; 9.6 Replacing Data Using a Calculation; 9.7 Comments; Chapter 10: Calculations and Data Types; 10.1 Number Crunching Calculations; 10.2 Going Beyond Basic Calculations; 10.3 Text Parsing Calculations; 10.4 Date and Time Calculations; 10.5 Containers in Calculations; Chapter 11: Advanced Calculations; 11.1 Stored, Unstored, and Global Fields; 11.2 Logical Functions; 11.3 The Let Function and Variables; Chapter 12: Extending Calculations; 12.1 Custom Functions; 12.2 Plug-ins; Part V: Scripting; Chapter 13: Scripting Basics; 13.1 Your First Script; 13.2 The Importance of the Layout; 13.3 Running Scripts; 13.4 Branching and Looping in Scripts; Chapter 14: Script Steps; 14.1 Go to Layout; 14.2 Scripting for Fields; 14.3 Working with Records; 14.4 Finding Records; 14.5 Sorting Records; 14.6 Working with Windows; 14.7 Working with Files; 14.8 Printing; 14.9 Other Script Steps; Chapter 15: Advanced Scripting; 15.1 Commenting Scripts; 15.2 Asking and Telling the User; 15.3 Organizing Complex Scripts; 15.4 Handling Errors; 15.5 Putting a Complex Script Together; Part VI: Security and Integration; Chapter 16: Security; 16.1 How Security Works; 16.2 Privilege Sets; 16.3 Managing Accounts; 16.4 Extended Privileges; 16.5 Scripts and Security; Chapter 17: Exporting and Importing; 17.1 Exporting a File; 17.2 Export Formats; 17.3 Importing Data; 17.4 Import Data Sources; 17.5 Importing and Exporting in a Script; Chapter 18: Sharing Your Database; 18.1 FileMaker Network Sharing; 18.2 Sharing Over the Internet; 18.3 FileMaker Server; 18.4 Server Hardware; Chapter 19: Developer Utilities; 19.1 Script Debugger; 19.2 Disable Script Steps; 19.3 The Database Design Report; 19.4 Tooltips; 19.5 Copying Database Structure; 19.6 Custom Menus; 19.7 Developer Utilities; 19.8 File Maintenance; Part VII: Appendixes; Appendix A: Getting Help; A.1 Getting Help from FileMaker Itself; A.2 Getting Help from FileMaker, Inc.; A.3 Getting Help from the Community; Appendix B: FileMaker Error Codes; Colophon;