Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Saving Your Database
Everybody knows it's important to save files early and often. So you're working along in
FileMaker entering information about your office birthday roster, and as good habit dictates,
you type the keyboard shortcut that saves in practically every program in the known universe
(Ctrl+S in Windows and
⌘
-S on the Mac). Up pops the wrong dialog box. This one's asking
you how you want to sort your data! What's going on?
What's going on is FileMaker doesn't need a keyboard shortcut to save your changes, be-
cause every time you commit a record, the program automatically saves all your work in a
cache
, which is part of your computer's RAM (random access memory). Then, periodically,
FileMaker transfers the information from the cache to your hard drive, where it's less likely
to be lost in case of a crash.
You can control how much work is held in cache before it's saved to your hard drive, as de-
scribed in
Figure 1-20
. In Windows, choose Edit→Preferences and then click the Memory
tab. On the Mac, choose FileMaker Pro→FileMaker Pro Preferences and then click the
Memory tab.
