If you’re a numbers person, this method is for you. Using the Object Size palette, you can resize or reposition any layout object with pixel-perfect precision. To learn how to tackle it, you first check the exact size of the header part on the People layout, then adjust the new header so its size matches.

If you prefer less typing and more mousing, you can use the T-Squares instead.

In the last chapter, you learned about the T-Squares (Section 4.4.2.5). These handy liner-uppers don’t just help you keep objects on the layout straight. They can also help you make sure parts and objects are in the same place on different layouts. Start on the People layout, and then follow these steps:

Now that the header is the right size, you can fill it with the necessary objects. You could drag objects into the header manually, just as you did in the last chapter when you built the People layout. But you’ve already done that work once. Why not take advantage of it here as well? You can easily reuse these items: Copy and paste them from the People layout. You use copy and paste a lot when you design layouts.

Your header part is nearly complete. To finish it, give it a colored fill (Section 4.4.4.4). Finally, since you’re not making a detail layout, it probably shouldn’t say “[Detail]” in the header. Change that text object to say “[List]” instead, so it matches the name of the layout. Figure 5-6 shows how your layout should look now.

Figure 5-6. Now that your header has been gussied up, this is how your layout looks. It has a nice-looking header, but the body could still use some work—it’s empty right now. Since this is a list layout, you need to give it a short body without a lot of wasted space. This body appears once for each record in the found set, producing an attractive scrolling list.

Knowing what you know now, if you set out to build this layout yourself, you’d probably jump right for the field tool and start dragging new field on the layout. But look closely at Figure 5-7 first.

Figure 5-7. The window at top uses normal fields, which are always in the same place on the layout, no matter what record you’re on. Notice how the spacing between the contents of each field looks odd. By using merge fields, you can even out such awkward spacing for a more professional result, like the bottom window.

When you put a field on a layout, you’re putting it exactly where you want it. No matter what record you’re on when you look at the layout, that field value is in the same spot. Usually, that’s where you want it to be, but sometimes—like in the new list layout—you want something a little more flexible. You want the Last Name field to start where the first name ends. Since some first names are longer than others, this spot changes from record to record.

In FileMaker, you solve this problem using merge fields. These work a lot like a mail merge in a word processing program. You create an ordinary text object on your layout (not a field object), and then tell FileMaker to merge different field values into the text. For example, to put the first and last names together on your new layout, you create a text object like this:

	<<First Name>> <<Last Name>>

Merge fields always show up in Layout mode with angle brackets around their names, just like <<this>>. When you look at this text object in Browse mode, though, you see the value of the First Name field, then a space, then the Last Name field. Since all these values show up in a single text object, FileMaker sorts out the exact positions for you.

Merge fields have a downside, though: They’re for display only. You need a real field if you want your users to be able to get into a field and change its contents. Your database already has a layout with real fields just for editing data (the details layout), so in this case, merge fields are just what the doctor ordered.

Putting merge fields into a text object is easy:

You now have a text object that shows the first and last names with a single space between them (you can switch to Browse mode and try it out if you want). You just need to put it into place.

The address, phone, and email information should also be in a merge field (study Figure 5-7 to see why—they all flow together in a nicely formatted line). In this case you want Verdana, 9-Point, Plain. You can also select a gray color (or any color you like) from the Format → Text Color menu. Repeat the steps above to build a text object like this:

	<<City>>, <<State>> / <<Phone Number>> / <<Email Address>>

Merge fields aren’t the only things FileMaker can squeeze into a text object on the fly. You can also insert a handful of special symbols—stand-in characters that you can replace with useful information when you view your database in Browse or Preview mode. For instance, notice in Figure 5-7, how each record in the list is numbered. You can accomplish this effect with the record number symbol.

Since you’re creating a list layout, it would be nice to show record numbers. That way you can easily see where you are in the list at any time, even if you’ve scrolled down from the top. You use the record number symbol to make it happen.

You now have a text object that contains “@@.” But if you peek at it in Browse mode, you see that FileMaker actually puts the current record number in its place.

Now that you’ve added three new text objects to the body part, you can arrange them on the layout. Using Figure 5-8 as a guide, use the techniques you learned on Section 4.4.9 to move the text objects into a clear, attractive arrangement. Once they’re in place, you just need to add the Goodness Rating field and make a few adjustments to the body part. You’re almost done!

Figure 5-8. Here’s how to arrange your text objects on the layout. As you’re dragging text objects around, you see a dotted line near the bottom of the item. That’s an imaginary line called the baseline. You can use it to make sure your rows of data are neatly lined up.

The Goodness Rating is always a single-digit number, so unlike the First Name and Last Name fields, you don’t need a merge field (Section 5.2.3.1) to get its spacing right. You use an ordinary field object instead.

Unfortunately, the new field and label aren’t formatted properly. They have the wrong font, size, style, and color. Instead of fixing each object manually as you learned in Chapter 2, you can use the format painter.

This intuitive tool copies all the formatting from one object and applies it to another. Here’s how to use it:

The format painter is certainly easier than choosing each formatting option individually, but it seems to work for only one object at a time. There are actually a couple of ways to extend Format Painter’s abilities. If the objects you want to format together are close enough, you can rubber band them with Format Painter and they all change together. Just like the regular rubber band, you have to fully enclose each object for the change to take place. But pressing the Ctrl (⌘) key lets you merely touch an object with the rubber band to get the same effect.

But maybe even that method doesn’t work for you, because your objects are all over the place. Wouldn’t it be nice if Format Painter were a button like the other tools? Then you could double-click it to lock it. Well, you’re in luck, because that’s just how it works.

You now just need to make the Goodness Rating field smaller (just wide enough to hold one number) and put it in its place on the right side of the layout. Delete the word “Rating” from the Goodness Rating label, and then add a “-” to the end and position it just to the left of the field. Figure 5-9 shows where you’re at.

Figure 5-9. With the Goodness Rating field in place, your layout is almost complete. In fact, you could stop here. But with just a few more steps, you can make your list much easier to scan and read. Simply add a gray background to every other record.

As Figure 5-5 plainly shows, the rows on this list layout are supposed to alternate between gray and white. FileMaker gives you this effect for free; you just have to turn it on. To do that, you pay a visit to the Part Definition dialog box via the Part Setup dialog box.

Figure 5-10. The Part Definition dialog lets you configure every nitty-gritty detail of any layout part. Here, the “Alternate background fill” checkbox is turned on, telling FileMaker to use different fill color and style for even and odd records in list view.

When you use the “Alternate background fill” option, the settings you make in the Part Definition window apply to the even numbered records. You can still control the fill for odd numbered records by adjusting the body part fill right on the layout, just like you did with the header part. In this example, you tell FileMaker to color the even rows gray, and leave the odd rows white. You can use this feature any time you want to make it easier to see where one record ends and another begins, in a list.

Now all you need to do is resize the body part so it just fits its contents, using any of the methods described earlier in this chapter. When you’ve done that, your layout design is nearly finished.

Your first job is to clean up the header part. As shown in Figure 5-23 for guidance, your tasks involve mostly text formatting and dragging things around.

In Figure 5-23, you can also see before and after shots of the report’s body. Again, you know everything you need to rearrange things. You want to replace the First Name and Last Name fields with larger merge fields (Section 5.2.3.1), rearrange the rest of the fields, and give them new font, size, and style formatting. This time, though, there are a few extra steps.

Figure 5-23. To fix up the header, you need to do a little rearranging and change some fonts. For the look shown here, resize the “People I Know” title to 18-point. Simplify the column headings and change them to 11-point bold italic. Slide the date stamp (the “//” text object in the top-right corner) left so it doesn’t extend off the page. Finally, add a 1-point black line the full width of the page along the bottom of the header. (Instructions for the line are in the box below.)

First, you can delete the First Name, Last Name, City, State, and Zip fields. In their place, add two new text objects. One—formatted as 14-point bold text—should hold merge fields for the First Name and Last Name fields, with a space between them. In the second, add City, and comma and space, State, another space, and Zip. Finally, change the font on the remaining fields to 10-point and italicize the notes field.

Once you’ve made these changes, you can rearrange the fields and objects using Figure 5-30 as a guide. (Don’t worry about matching the example exactly. Periodically inspect your work in Browse mode and adjust the arrangement until it pleases your eye. Use your individual sense of style!)

With the fields in place, you have just one finishing touch to add to the body. It’s hard to see in Figure 5-30, but there’s a hairline-width line along the bottom edge. You can save some effort by duplicating the horizontal line you added to the header. Select the line and choose Edit → Duplicate. A new line appears just below the first. Move it into position, and use the Line Thickness tool to make it a hairline.

Next up is the footer part. It’s already almost perfect. But it would be nice if the report showed "Section 1.1" on the bottom of the third page, instead of the mysterious “3.” Use the text tool to edit the page number text object (“##”), typing Page and a space before the page number symbol.

Since the data in a field changes from record to record, the amount of space it takes up often changes too. Usually this behavior doesn’t cause a problem. After all, you might want that empty space because you’re printing onto a preprinted form, and everything needs to go in just the right spot on the page, or maybe your report design counts on consistent field sizes so things line up properly. But sometimes you can’t get the effect you want without adjusting the layout based on the amount of data—usually when you’re trying to tighten things up on the printed page to avoid wasted paper or excessive spacing around data.

Sliding does three things to help in this situation. First, it lets fields shrink to just the right size for their data. After a field has shrunk, any object on the layout can slide up or to the left to fill the space left behind.

Figure 5-24. The report is looking better, but it sure wastes a lot of space. Only one record on this page has anything in the notes field, and even that is only two lines. But when you were arranging fields on the body, you told FileMaker to make the notes field about five lines tall, and that’s how much space it reserves.

Finally, whole layout parts can shrink vertically to compensate for their shrinking contents. It’s an idea that’s much easier to see than to explain, so turn your attention to Figure 5-25.

Figure 5-25. These windows show the same thing: a page with two product records. The version on the left uses sliding to get rid of unsightly extra space. The width of the name field shrinks to fit its contents. The height of the description field shrinks to fit as well. The icon and category both slide left. The notes field, shipping info field, price field and shipping price field all slide up. Finally, the entire body part shrinks to fit its contents (notice how the second product record starts higher on the page in the right window).

Object sliding in FileMaker is notoriously hard to figure out. It’s a bit like that board game “Go.” The rules take a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master. Here goes:

Sliding exists for only one reason: to compensate for changing field data. Therefore, unless you set at least one field to shrink, nothing on the layout moves. Unfortunately, you can’t explicitly set a field to shrink. Instead, you set it to slide—and FileMaker makes sure it shrinks too. This seemingly simple principle is guaranteed to confuse you at least 36 times in the near future. You’ve been warned. Figure 5-26 shows how this field shrinking business works.

Once you’ve figured out which fields should shrink to fit their contents, you need to decide which objects should slide. What does that mean exactly? Normally, when you add an object to a layout, you specify exactly where it goes. But when the object is set to slide, its position is no longer fixed at an exact spot on the layout.

Instead, it moves up (or to the left) if other objects above it (or to the left of it) move or shrink. Figure 5-27 illustrates this concept.

Figure 5-26. In the top window, the line and text object are set to slide up…but as you can see, there’s no sliding going on. That’s because the field above them isn’t set to slide. In the bottom window, the field has been set to slide up too, and now things are clearly sliding and shrinking.

Figure 5-27. Sliding objects (like the field and text object on this layout) position themselves relative to other objects on the layout. For example, since this field shrinks, and the text object slides up, the text object is always the same distance from the field. Its position on the page, though, changes from one record to another. The picture isn’t set to slide, so it doesn’t move at all.

Once you have a general idea of which elements need to slide (and which fields must shrink accordingly), you can start telling FileMaker.

The general process works like this:

Since sliding affects the way your layout looks only in Preview mode and when printing, your layout won’t look any different after you’ve made these changes. You can choose View → Show → Sliding Objects to identify the objects that will slide. With this option turned on, FileMaker draws tiny arrows on each sliding object, showing the direction it will slide.

Figure 5-28. The Sliding/Printing dialog box is where you go to tell FileMaker how an object should slide, if at all. (You can also turn on “Do not print the selected objects” which does exactly what it says. Hence the “/Printing” in this dialog box’s name.) You’ll learn about all those other buttons soon.

Now that you’ve seen the Sliding/Printing window, it’s time to learn how to make sense of all those options.

The Sliding/Printing dialog box has several options to control just how the selected objects slide (and shrink if appropriate). In general, an object can slide left, up, or both.

If you want something to just slide left, you’re in luck. Simply turn on the “Sliding left” checkbox and you’re done. When you print or preview the layout, the objects slide to the left when field data isn’t long enough to fill the full width of the field.

Objects that slide up, on the other hand, need a little more thought. To start, turn on the “Sliding up based on” checkbox.

When you turn this checkbox on, you make three more options available.

The “All above” and “Only directly above” radio buttons are hard to explain in words. Luckily, FileMaker gives you a picture to help you understand what they mean.

Remember an object that slides up stays the same distance from the object above it. But which object? See Figure 5-29.

Finally, if you turn on “Also reduce the size of the enclosing part,” the part the object is on shrinks to fit its contents. This setting is a little misleading, though. For example, imagine you have two sliding objects on the body part. One of these is set to reduce the body part, while the other isn’t. How can the body both reduce and not reduce at the same time?

Figure 5-29. Everything on this layout is “above” the Do Not Contact checkbox. But for the purposes of sliding, only two count. From FileMaker’s perspective, the Address field is directly above it, while the email field is just above it. If the Address field and the Do Not Contact checkbox are both set to slide up, the “All above” or “Only directly above” choice becomes important. If you choose “All above,” the checkbox never slides because the Email field doesn’t. If you choose “Only directly above,” it sticks with the Address field, even if that means sliding up alongside the Email field.

In truth, the “Also reduce the size of the enclosing part” setting only matters for the lowest object on the part. If that object wants the part to reduce, it will. If it doesn’t, the part won’t. Anything you set on any other object doesn’t matter. The lesson: If you’re trying to get your part to reduce, focus your attention on the bottom- most object on your layout.

The report layout you’ve been working on provides a dramatic example of how sliding can both save space and produce a more attractive printout. You might have lengthy notes about some of the people you know, and no comment about others. Here are the specific steps for shrinking the notes field to avoid wasting space.

If you stop here, you won’t quite have your problem solved. Even though the hairline slides up as much as possible, the body part itself doesn’t shrink, and your report still wastes paper. To solve this problem, turn on “Also reduce the size of the enclosing part.” When you’re done, click OK.

If you view your report now (Scripts → Report), things should look much better. Figure 5-30 agrees.

Figure 5-30. Now each record in the People database is small and paper-efficient. When a record does have notes, like the last one here, FileMaker makes just enough room to hold them, with no wasted space. If you choose File → Print while viewing this report, you get a printout that looks surprisingly like what you see onscreen.