Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Removing Conditional Formatting
If an object has conditional formatting behavior that you don't want anymore (which often
happens if you duplicate one field and change it to another), then you can easily turn it off.
Just select the object, choose Format→Conditional and then delete the conditions from the
list. You can Shift-click to delete them all at once, or just click the first and then click Delete
repeatedly until they're all gone.
If you spent long hours adding complex conditions and you're not quite ready to commit to
losing them forever, then you can
turn them off
instead. Each condition in the list has a
checkbox beside it. If you turn off a condition's checkbox, FileMaker no longer uses that
condition. You can always get the condition back later by turning it back on. You can turn
multiple checkboxes on or off at once as well: Just Shift-click the conditions you want to
switch so they're all selected. Then turn off the checkbox beside
one
of them, and FileMaker
turns all the others off as well.
Basic Charting (Found Set Charts)
Summary reports are just dandy, but there comes a time when text and numbers just don't cut
it. Often, the people who want the summary information don't take the time to study and in-
terpret those numbers. Other times, you may need to punch up the presentation to make a
point. That's when charts come in handy. Consider
Figure 15-15
. If you're trying to impress
upon the Lawnmower Museum's curator just how little enthusiasm the public is displaying
for the “Pull Cords Through the Ages” exhibit, which approach do you suppose will have the
greater impact?
FileMaker offers 10 fundamental chart types, each with some formatting options to make
them your own.
Column
The Column chart is the classic method for visualizing data: a column for each thing you're
counting, and the taller it is, the more there are. You can set your Bars to be flat or 3-D,
shaded or solid-colored. When you have multiple data series (see the steps on
Advanced
Stacked Column
Stacked charts are used to illustrate how multiple series of data combine to create a whole.
For example, if each column represents a month of sales, each series making up a column
could represent one particular product's share of the sales.
