In FileMaker Pro 7, you have two options when creating a database...

You can 1) Create a new file using a template, or 2) create a new empty
file

Now when using a template, the interface has a certain updated look.
But when creating an empty file, once the fields are entered, it looks
very basic, old looking.

Is there a way to make an empty file database look as nice as one of
the templates?

Thanks.

RyeTronics wrote:

You do it the same way they did: you create it from scratch.

The design concept, the color combinations you use, the effects you apply
to objects (emboss, engrave, shadow, multiple objects combined to make
one, etc.), the fonts you use, images, scripted behavior, everything. It's
all up to you.

Matt

RyeTronics <ryetronics (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Yes. You design the objects using the tools in layout mode. You settle
on colors for background and headers, you pick lineweights and spacing
for portals, and shading/effects for buttons.

You pick the text fonts and colors and sizes to be appealing and appear
clear on all platforms, and decide which goes where (fields, labels,
buttons).

And then you use these designed objects on every layout. This is what
the designers of the templates do. It's also what professional
developers do when they design their own look & feel for a interface.

If you're not an interface design professional, it's unlikely your
layouts will be as attractive or logically laid out as a template.
(remember when everybody thought they could be a page layout designer
when desktop publishing was new? Most of them were dead wrong.) But
that doesn't mean you can't come up with something nice looking and
functional if you work at it. However, you can spend your life tweaking
"just one more thing". Please, I beg of you, do not use neon colors or
more than three of ANY color on a screen. :/

Or you can start with a template, strip out all the existing tables and
fields, leaving the layout objects in place. Then you define YOUR data
structure, and use the pre-designed objects.

If you already have your data structure, there's no reason you can't
copy and paste layout objects into your files from a template, and then
reassign scripts and field names as necessary.

Lynn Allen
--
Allen & Allen Semiotics www.semiotics.com
FSA Associate Filemaker Design & Consulting

Thanks for the replies Lynn and Matt!

One thing I am confused about is this old database they gave me.
Whoever built it put many different forms/templates into one file.
This file has a Main Menu with portals to all of the different data
entry forms and whatnot. I can't seem to find a way to do this when
working with a template. The only way I have figured it out is by
creating multiple files.

Does anyone know of a good website that has a basic walk-through of how
to build such a database? And for starters, is there a template for a
main menu, or must they be crafted from scratch?

Thanks again!

RyeTronics wrote:

Just a guess, but it sounds to me like you need to set up a relationship
between your main file and whichever one you're trying to get through a
portal. Like the question about how to get the look, it's not something
that happens automatically.

Perhaps you should spend some timelooking at how the templates are built.
They'll give you an idea of how tables, relationships, portals, etc. work.

There are a number of very good books on using FM7. The FileMaker 7 Bible
comes to mind as one that has been recommended here more than once.

But even before that, there is a lot of good information in the manual you
received with the software. If you can't locate it, Help has essentially
the same info.

Two methods are available:

1. Take an existing file that has features you like and modify it to your
need.

2. Build from scratch, which can include copying elements you like from
existing files.

Thanks Matt...

To further describe what I'm having difficulty with, in the old
database this company has provided, when looking at a table in Browse
mode, I can choose from the dropdown list under Layout: and go to one
of 12 different tables.

When I try this in the templates I have changed for my own needs, all I
can choose are tabs within the same table (or file, such as Primary
Address and Secondary Address). So I'm trying to find a way, using the
method described above, to access my Personnel table, my Facility table
and my Inventory table. As they are now, they're all seperate files,
but I need them all consolidated into one.

I have tried the Import function, but all that seems to do is import
the information in the table, and not the table itself.

What I'm getting at is they have a system set up where their Personnel,
their Facility and Inventory are all linked together, and they can
create a report from any of these tables to print out. They managed to
do this by combining everything into one large file.

I know I'm probably repeating myself, but that's how my mind feels
right now (as I am a database novice). : )

RyeTronics <ryetronics (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

What you're talking about are all issues that can be clarified through
reading the online documentation, the FM paper User's Manual, or some
third party manual regarding database design in general and Filemaker
specifically.

I recommend highly Special Edition Using FileMaker Pro 7
by Steve Lane, Bob Bowers, Scott Love, Chris Moyer. Great book.

FM 7 cannot import whole tables into the same file. It can make links
(Table Occurances) in one file to show data from other files as if they
were native. How to do all that is in the documentation.

I might also recommend that you either take some of the available
training, or hire a local developer for a day of Basic Training. It
would be well worth your while and get you a long way toward doing what
you want to do with the files.

Lynn Allen
--
Allen & Allen Semiotics www.semiotics.com
FSA Associate Filemaker Design & Consulting

If you are looking to import an entire table with the fields and their
atributes intact, try FMRobot from newmillenium.com. It's not cheap but
it sure does the trcik.

Check out the Format Painter button. You can use it to "steal" particularly
attractive field formats, object formats, etc.

Also, note that once you get, say, a field exactly the way you want it to
look, you can hold control while dragging that field to make a copy of it
(formatting intact) and then change the specified field (or whatever else
needs to be unique). That's much quicker than dragging out new fields and
trying to format each one individually.

Hope it helps.

--

Shadenfroh
shadenfroh (AT) yahoo (DOT) com

"RyeTronics" <ryetronics (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote