NightWing Enterprises — Demo for FileMaker Pro™ 9 thru 11**
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To mark the release of a major update of the FileMaker Pro Bible!
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Unbreakable References
Build your code using references by id that won't break if an item is re-named.
For FileMaker Pro 9 thru 11**
As a courtesy to fellow developers and potential clients, the
following demonstration file is provided for free download.
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Frequently, calculations in your FileMaker Pro solutions may need to refer to a layout, script, field, value list or table occurrence by its name. In such cases, you would generally supply the relevant name as a text literal (enclosed in quotes) - however if the name of the item is subsequently edited, the literal value will no longer match and your code will break
This demonstration file was first made available to the FMDisc community in early 2008. It shows a technique that enables you to discover the hidden ID of a layout, script, field, value list or table occurrence, then use the ID rather than the name to create an unbreakable reference to the item. That is, using special Custom Functions supplied in the demo, the name of the relevant item can be determined as the calculation is evaluated (ie at runtime), so even if the name has changed since your calculation was created, your code will continue to work as intended.
The demo file contains a value list (referenced by a calculation) and a layout navigation button (accessing the layout by its name). Both are provided twice, once coded in the conventional way using a text literal reference to the names of the value list and layout respectively, and the other using the value list and layout IDs to reference them. When you change the names of the value list or the layout, the conventional code will break but the Reference-By-ID code will not!
The technique shown in this file requires a working familiarity with aspects of FileMaker discussed in the later (advanced) parts of the current edition of the FileMaker Pro Bible. If you're entirely new to FileMaker, this demo is *not* the place to start (read the book and work with the application for a while first). But do come back to the demo when you're ready to tackle some challenges!
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The technique operates in FileMaker Pro, but requires FileMaker Pro Advanced to install the required Custom Functions.
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NB: The system shown in this demo builds upon a technique that is described in the FileMaker Pro 9 Bible (Chapter 12 - Calculation Wizardry, pp443-444).
This demo file is unlocked and password-free, compliments of NightWing Enterprises.
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NB: If you may require assistance implementing procedures such as those shown in our
example files, please consider establishing an account with us for developer support.
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