Synopses & Reviews
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 authoritative, jargon-free book that should have been in the box.
FileMaker Pro: The Missing Manual approaches FileMaker the way FileMaker approaches you: it's user-friendly and seemingly straightforward enough, but it offers plenty of substance worthy of deeper exploration. Packed with practical information as well as countless expert tips and invaluable guidance, it's an in-depth guide to designing and building useful databases with the powerful and pliable FileMaker Pro.
Covering FileMaker for both Windows and Macintosh, FileMaker Pro: The Missing Manual is ideal for small business users, home users, school teachers, developers--anyone who wants to organize information efficiently and effectively. Whether you want to run a business, publish a shopping cart on the Web, plan a wedding, manage a student information system at your school, or program databases for clients, this book delivers.
Author Geoff Coffey has many years of experience using FileMaker Pro (he was, in fact, an early beta tester for the product). Author Susan Prosser is a FileMaker Certified Developer who trains other developers. Together, Coffey and Prosser show you how to:
- Get FileMaker up and running quickly and smoothly
- Import and organize information with ease
- Design relational databases that are simple to use, yet powerful
- Take advantage of FileMaker Pro calculation capabilities
- Automate processes with scripting
- Customize FileMaker Pro to your needs and preferences
- Share information with other people (coworkers, clients, and customers) and other programs
- Understand and select the best security options
What could easily come across as dry and intimidating--things like relational theory, calculations, and scripting--are presented in a way that is interesting and intuitive to mainstream users. In no time, you'll be working more productively and efficiently using FileMaker Pro.
About the Author
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 [email protected].
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.
Table of Contents
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;