Database Reference
In-Depth Information
for revealing detail, but when the Lease Agreement List layout is sorted by Last Name, it's a
cinch to scroll to the record you need without entering Find mode, typing in search criteria
and then performing a find. But it could be easier to sort the records on the layout. As it is,
you have to choose Records→Sort Records, select the field you want to sort by and then
click Sort. Doing this routine is easy, but not a good use of your time. The solution is to write
a script to do these things automatically.
If you're familiar with
macros
in other programs, then you already have the idea of scripts in
FileMaker—you set up scripts to perform tasks for you. The task at hand—sorting—is just
one command, but it has several steps. They're all quick steps, but when you have to repeat
them several times a day and so does everyone else in your office, all that wasted time adds
up to real inefficiency. Also, any manual process leaves room for human error. When you
make a mistake, no matter how harmless, you have to undo or redo what you just did. A
script that handles your sort is more efficient and less susceptible to error.
