FileMaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual

Chapter 14. Script Steps

Now that you know how to create scripts (you did read the previous chapter, didn’t you?), it’s time to expand your repertoire. FileMaker has a script step for just about everything you can do from the menus and status area. You can use any combination of these steps with script techniques like looping, branching, custom dialog boxes, and more to automate just about anything FileMaker can do. Major areas of scripting include working with field data and records, finding, sorting, working with windows and files, and printing. This chapter is a compendium of steps—and boatloads of scripting possibilities.

Go to Layout

The Go to Layout script step was introduced on Section 13.1.3. Its purpose is simple: Change layouts. It works just like making a choice from the Layout pop-up menu in the status area, except that the script can go to any layout (even if it doesn’t show in the menu).

Go to Layout has just one option, a pop-up menu labeled Specify. In addition to every layout in your database, this menu also has three special choices:

• Theoriginal layout option causes FileMaker to switch to the layout your user was on when the script started. After all, you can run lots of scripts anywhere, especially if they’re on the Script menu. Since scripts often change layouts as they run, this option makes sure folks end up back where they started.

• The Layout Name by calculation option lets you specify a typical FileMaker calculation. The result of the calculation must be text, ...