Database Reference
In-Depth Information
▪
<Missing Privilege Set>
. Referenced privilege set is missing.
▪
<Missing Extended Privilege>
. Referenced extended privilege is missing.
▪
<Missing Custom Menu>
. Referenced custom menu is missing.
▪
<Missing Custom Menu Set>
. Referenced custom menu set is missing.
Once you find a broken element, return to your database and then fix it manually. The DDR
doesn't update itself to show your fix until you run another one. And since you can't mark up
the electronic version of your DDR, a good way to keep track of your work is to print it out
and then mark off each item as you fix it. Then, when all the broken elements are fixed (or
you've deleted all the unused stuff), run another DDR. This time it should be clean, but if it's
not, you've got the tools to fix it.
POWER USERS' CLINIC: AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION
Why use the DDR to fix your mistakes when you can prevent them in the first place? Here's a tech-
nique you can use next time you want to delete a field, script, layout, or any other important ele-
ment. If you're not completely certain you don't need the element, you can use the DDR to check
for you.
First, in FileMaker,
rename
every element you plan to delete. Put something noticeable and consist-
ent in each name. For example, you might put “TO_BE_DELETED” before each element's name.
Once you've renamed every doomed element, run a fresh DDR. Choose the HTML type. When the
report is finished, search it for the code words you put in each name (“TO_BE_DELETED,” in this
example). FileMaker should find each element you've marked for deletion. But it also finds this ele-
ment in the list of dependencies if it's still in use. For example, a field you're pondering deleting
might show up in a script. Unless that script is also marked for deletion, you have a situation you
need to investigate further. Once you're sure the things you're deleting aren't used by anything else,
you can delete them with confidence.
Custom Functions
No FileMaker feature is quite so pervasive as the calculation. Calculations show up in field
definitions, scripts, custom menus, security settings, and conditional formatting. Chapters
Chapter 9
,
Chapter 10
,
and
Chapter 11
are all about employing FileMaker's calculation en-
gine to manipulate your data. But you, the red-hot developer that you are, can do something
with FileMaker Pro Advanced that takes calculations to a whole new place.
Functions are the primary building blocks of a calculation. You can build basic calculations
around two or three of FileMaker's 250 or so built-in functions, while some of the most com-
plex may draw on a dozen or more. But as your databases grow more complex, you'll inevit-
