Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Moving Between Fields
Efficient data entry is all about typing something in a field and then moving right along to
the next field. Lather, rinse, repeat. You can use the mouse to click the next field, but unless
you're eager to burn that extra half a calorie, you may want to try a quicker, less exercise-in-
tensive way, like the following:
▪ Press the Tab key to move to the next field. If you're not in any field, then the Tab key
puts you in the first field.
▪ Press Shift-Tab to move to the previous field. This time, if you're not in any field, then
FileMaker puts you in the
last
field.
But FileMaker gives you so much flexibility to determine how it behaves that you can ex-
NOTE
Who decides which field is
next
or
previous
? You do. When you design a database, you get to set
the
tab order
. That's the order FileMaker follows when you press Tab or Shift-Tab to move among
fields. See
Tab Order
for details.
Editing a Record
You're not stuck with the data you enter in a record if something changes. For example,
when people move, you can change their address data. Just click in the field to be updated,
select the data and then start typing the new information.
NOTE
If you try this on the sample People file provided on the Missing CD page, then you'll notice that a
field called “Modified changes” appears when you click out of the record. You'll learn what that
field is used for later.
Reverting a Record
As you edit a record, you may decide you've made a mistake and wish you could put things
back the way they were before. That's no problem for the Revert Record command. Its pur-
pose is simple: When you choose Records→Revert Record, FileMaker throws away any
changes you made since you began editing the record. This trick comes in handy when you
accidentally modify a field by bumping into the keyboard, or realize you accidentally entered
