Database Reference
In-Depth Information
1.
First, you find all the North Carolinians. Switch to Find mode and, in the State
field, choose NC from the pop-up menu, and then click Perform Find
.
FileMaker shows you a found set of all your North Carolina residents.
2.
Switch to Find mode again using your favorite method
.
Be careful
not
to choose Records→Show All Records, and don't do anything to
tamper with the current found set, or else the Constrain search won't work. You're
now in Find mode again, ready to enter a request.
NOTE
In Find mode, you can't see your current found set. You just have to remember that you last
searched for NC in the State field. If you need to see the found set, just switch back to
Browse mode and then flip through the records.
3.
In the Status field, select Active
.
Since the found set already has only North Carolinians in it, you don't need to repeat
that information.
4.
Choose Requests
→
Constrain Found Set
.
FileMaker searches, but this time it looks only
within
the current found set of North
Carolina residents.
At this point, you're probably thinking that Constrain Found Set is just like doing an AND
search. In fact, an AND search is usually easier. But sometimes, you don't know all the con-
ditions you need until you do a search and scan through the list of found records. And if
you've just done a complex search with seven conditions and tricky spellings, and then you
omitted some records manually, you don't want to have to redo all that stuff, so Constrain
Found Set saves the day.
NOTE
Once you're in Find mode, FileMaker is just itching for you to perform a find. If you press Enter, it
assumes you want to abandon your last found set and make a new one. Fortunately, FileMaker re-
members more than just your last find request. In Browse mode, click the triangle on the Find button
(on the Mac you can also click and hold the Find button itself) in the status toolbar to see a list of
your saved and recent finds and then choose the appropriate item listed under Recent Finds. Faster
than you can say “flux capacitor,” your old found set is restored and you can try again. See
Using
the Find Pop-Up Menu
for a complete description of the Find pop-up menu.
