Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Timestamps support the same fraction-of-a-second accuracy as time fields. They're dis-
played as a date followed by a time with a space in between.
NOTE
If you're formatting a timestamp field, you have to apply
both
a date and a time format. If you apply
only one type of format, then that formatting change won't show up.
Container
Use container fields to store graphics, movies, sounds, or files—text documents, spread-
sheets, PDFs, or even other FileMaker files. Container fields have such specific behavior that
a whole section in this chapter is dedicated to explaining how to use them.
NOTE
Unlike with text and other kinds of fields, you can't sort records by using a container field, and you
can't perform finds on them. (But you can create a companion text field with
metadata
or manually
entered keywords that will let you find and sort.)
Calculation
Unlike the other field types discussed so far, you don't enter data in
calculation
and
summary
fields. The results of calculation fields do have types, too, like fields themselves, because
FileMaker calculations aren't just for numbers; their results can be text, dates, and other
types of data.
Calculation fields' values are based on the settings you give them, when you specify a spe-
cial
formula
that determines its value. For instance, if you had a field called Birth Date, you
could create a calculation field that shows the person's age. The Age field automatically up-
dates to stay correct as time goes by, so you don't have to change it. Three chapters of this
topic are dedicated to calculations. You'll start plumbing their depths in
Chapter 9
.
Summary
Calculation fields typically perform math on fields that are in the same record. But Summary
fields collect data from across sets of records. So even though summary fields can be defined
in a table, and thus may seem as if they refer to a specific record as other fields do, summary
fields get their values from found sets of records. You used the layout wizard to create a sum-
