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New features in FileMaker Pro 13

FileMaker Pro 13 includes the following new features and improvements.

New layout styles and theme saving

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Enhanced options for managing styles and themes – Apply formatting styles to layout objects, parts, and backgrounds to promote a consistent look throughout your solutions. Define custom styles and save them to themes to apply formatting changes automatically, or import themes from other files. See Creating and working with styles for layout objects, parts, and the layout background and Saving and managing layout themes.

•	Enhanced and new themes – The existing 40 themes have been updated to add alternate style options. New themes in the Aspire family provide a variety of style options for extra versatility. See Changing the theme of a layout.

Improved layout creation

•	Redesigned New Layout/Report assistant – Create layouts and reports that are optimized for the devices they'll be used on, with predefined screen dimensions, views, and themes for viewing on computer, iPhone, and iPad screens, or for printing in a variety of formats. See Creating a layout.

Improved layout design tools and controls

•	Control object visibility – Hide or show layout objects by indicating whether an object is hidden or displayed depending on a specific condition or calculation. See Hiding or showing layout objects.

•	Define fields in Layout mode – Define fields in Layout mode using the Field Picker dialog box, then drag the fields to the layout. See About defining database fields.

•	Slide controls – Create multi-panel slide controls to allow you to group objects in separate slide panels. See Adding a slide control.

•	Popovers – Create popovers to allow you to work with fields and other objects without having to move to another layout or window. See Working with popovers on layouts.

•	Object type selection – Use the drop-down list in the Appearance tab of the Inspector to select and style objects with multiple parts (such as portals or slide controls). See Specifying the display state for an object.

•	Layout design enhancements:

•	Undo and redo changes to layouts even after you've saved the layout or previewed the layout in Browse mode. See Saving and reverting layout changes.

•	Screen stencils now include dimensions for the 4-inch screen on iPhone 5. See Sizing layouts for different devices.

•	Show or hide page breaks in Layout mode by choosing View menu > Page Breaks. See Defining page breaks and numbering.

•	Enhanced effects for layout objects:

•	Shadows and padding – Apply shadows and padding to objects in the new Advanced Graphic area of the Inspector. See Adding shadows and padding to layout objects.

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New object display states – The fill for the current record in List View or an active portal row is specified by the Active display state. The primary and alternate fills in List View or a portal are specified by the Primary and Alternate display states. See Specifying the display state for an object.

•	Text baseline – New options for modifying text baselines are available in the Text area (previously in the Graphic area) in the Inspector. See Adding borders, fill, and baselines to fields.

•	Layout background – Customize the layout background with full-screen images, colors, or gradients. See Filling objects, layout parts, or the layout background with a color gradient and Filling objects, layout parts, or the layout background with an image.

•	Improved object moving and resizing:

•	Duplicating objects with “snap-to” – When you Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (OS X) to duplicate an object, the duplicated object “snaps to” the grid, guides, or dynamic guides as needed. See Copying, duplicating, and deleting objects.

•	Resizing multiple objects – Resizing multiple objects maintains the difference in objects’ lengths or widths, and opposite edges of the objects remain fixed in position. See Resizing and reshaping objects.

•	Dynamic guides – Dynamic guides appear when you use the keyboard arrow keys to move objects on a layout. See Using guides and dynamic guides.

Sharing and collaboration

•	Upload files to FileMaker Server – Upload FileMaker Pro databases and externally stored container data to FileMaker Server. See Uploading files to FileMaker Server.

•	FileMaker WebDirect ™ – Use FileMaker WebDirect technology to access layouts from FileMaker Pro databases in a web browser. FileMaker WebDirect solutions are hosted by FileMaker Server. See FileMaker WebDirect Guide.

Integration with other applications and data sources

•	Enhanced support for FileMaker Go – FileMaker Pro includes new script steps, functions, and script triggers, as well as new layout themes optimized for the iPad and iPhone, that support the use of FileMaker Go.

•	Container fields in ODBC and JDBC – When files are inserted in container fields via ODBC or JDBC, FileMaker Pro can detect each file’s format based on its file extension. See FileMaker SQL Reference.

•	SQL statements – FileMaker Pro supports range query syntax with the FETCH FIRST and OFFSET keywords. See FileMaker SQL Reference.

Improved performance and usability

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Getting Started tour – You can explore FileMaker Pro through this interactive tour. Practice creating, modifying, and deleting records; and learn about searching for data values and sorting records, displaying data in charts and reports, and importing and exporting data between files. You'll also get to know the rich features FileMaker Pro provides for creating your own custom solutions. See Using FileMaker Quick Start to learn more about FileMaker Pro.

•	Improved iOS device usability – Swipe with two fingers to move to the next or previous record in FileMaker Go. Define text, number, date, time, and timestamp fields to use a specific type of keyboard to let you quickly enter values. See Setting up a field to display a keyboard.

•	Importing data from a URL – You can use an HTTP POST request when you specify a URL for importing from an XML data source, import XML data using the Import Records script step or Convert File script step, or insert data in a field using the Insert From URL script step. See Importing XML data.

•	New badges in Layout mode:

•	A badge on a layout object indicates that the object on which the badge appears is a popover button.

•	A badge on a layout object indicates that a calculation has been specified to hide the object when View menu > Show > Hide Condition is selected.

See Identifying badges on layout objects.

•	Current record in List View – In List View, the current record is indicated by default with a different fill from other records. See Selecting the current record and Setting up form, list, and table views for a layout.

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Automatic theme updating – FileMaker Pro loads the latest version of a theme whenever you switch to Layout mode, switch to a different layout in Layout mode, or change the layout's theme. During file recovery, FileMaker Pro loads the same version or any newer version of a theme. See Changing the theme of a layout and Setting advanced file recovery options.

•	Enhancements to container fields – Improvements in data storage, file metadata retrieval, and performance have been made to container fields. See About container fields.

•	File version management – Prevent a file from being opened with a version of FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Go, or FileMaker Server that's earlier than the specified version. See Setting file options.

•	Summarize data as a list – You can use a summary field that produces a list of values in a field from multiple records. See Defining summary fields.

Script steps, script triggers, and functions

Script steps

Enhancements to script steps

•	Improvements to Edit Script dialog box – The Desktop option in the Show Compatibility drop-down list has been replaced with Macintosh and Windows, with the current operating system selected. See Creating and editing scripts.

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Default folder location – When you run a script that creates a file on a hosted solution, the path and location default to your Documents folder. This affects the following script steps: Save Records As PDF, Save Records As Excel, Save Records As Snapshot Link, and Export Records. See Save Records As Excel script step, Save Records As PDF script step, Save Records As Snapshot Link script step and Save Records As PDF script step.

•	Improvement to Show Custom Dialog script step – You can create a button label based on a calculation. See Show Custom Dialog script step.

•	Execute SQL script step compatibility – The Execute SQL script step is compatible with FileMaker Server, FileMaker WebDirect, and Custom Web Publishing when performed without a dialog box. See Execute SQL script step.

New script steps

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Insert From Device – In FileMaker Go, enters content into a container field from the following sources: music library, photo library, camera, video camera, microphone, and signature. Also enters content into a container field or a text field from a bar code source. See Insert From Device script step.

•	Open Manage Themes – Opens the Manage Themes dialog box, where you can manage new or edit existing layout themes. See Open Manage Themes script step.

•	Perform Script On Server – Performs a script on the server that’s hosting the current file. See Perform Script On Server script step.

•	Refresh Object – Updates the content, conditional formatting, and visibility state for the specified object. See Refresh Object script step.

•	Set Script Animation – Enables or disables animations while a script is running. See Set Script Animation script step.

•	Upload To FileMaker Server – Opens the Upload to FileMaker Server dialog box. See Upload To FileMaker Server script step.

Script triggers

New script triggers

•	OnGestureTap – Triggers a script to run when a tap gesture is received on a layout in FileMaker Go. See OnGestureTap script step.

•	OnLayoutSizeChange – Triggers a script to run after a layout or window has changed size as a result of the following:

- In FileMaker Go: Rotating the iOS device, hiding or showing the status toolbar, or when a window is first opened.

- In FileMaker Pro and FileMaker WebDirect: Changing the size of a layout or window by user interaction, by script step, by hiding or showing the status toolbar or formatting bar via menu command, shortcut, or script step, or when a window is first opened.

See OnLayoutSizeChange.

Changed script triggers

•	OnTabSwitch is now OnPanelSwitch. See OnPanelSwitch.

Functions

New functions

•	Base64Decode – Returns container content from text encoded in Base64 format. See Base64Decode function.

•	Base64Encode – Returns the contents of the specified container field as text. See Base64Encode function.

•	Get(ConnectionAttributes) – Returns the name of the current file’s host and the name of the certificate authority that issued the SSL certificate used to secure the connection. See Get(ConnectionAttributes) function.

•	GetContainerAttribute – Returns the file metadata of the specified container field. See GetContainerAttribute function.

•	Get(CurrentTimeUTCMilliseconds) – Returns the current time in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to the nearest millisecond. See Get(CurrentTimeUTCMilliseconds) function.

•	Get(Device) – Returns a number indicating the type of computer that is currently running FileMaker Pro or FileMaker WebDirect, or the type of iOS device that is currently running FileMaker Go. See Get(Device) function.

•	Get(EncryptionState) – Returns a value representing the file's current encryption state. See Get(EncryptionState) function.

•	Get(NetworkType) – In FileMaker Go, returns a number indicating the type of network being used to access the current file. See Get(NetworkType) function.

•	Get(ScriptAnimationState) – Returns a value indicating whether or not animations are enabled for the current script. See Get(ScriptAnimationState) function.

•	Get(TriggerGestureInfo) – In FileMaker Go, returns details about the gesture that activated an OnGestureTap trigger. See Get(TriggerGestureInfo) function.

•	Get(WindowOrientation) – Returns a value indicating the orientation of the window on which the script is acting (not necessarily the foreground window). See Get(WindowOrientation) function.

Changed functions

•	GetLayoutObjectAttribute(): isFrontTabPanel is now isFrontPanel; isObjectHidden returns 1 (True) if objectName is hidden on a record. See GetLayoutObjectAttribute function.

•	Get(TriggerCurrentTabPanel) is now Get(TriggerCurrentPanel). See Get(TriggerCurrentPanel) function.

•	Get(TriggerTargetTabPanel) is now Get(TriggerTargetPanel). See Get(TriggerTargetPanel) function.

Changed and removed features

•	Increase in cache size – The default cache size has been increased to 128 MB.

•	Instant Web Publishing – FileMaker Pro no longer hosts database files via Instant Web Publishing. Use FileMaker WebDirect or Custom Web Publishing, which require FileMaker Server. See Publishing databases on the web.

•	Support for inserting sound into container fields – Menu commands that support recording sound into container fields have been removed from FileMaker Pro. (Inserting audio/video and QuickTime files is still supported.)

•	Exporting and saving records in Excel .xls format – FileMaker Pro no longer supports exporting or saving records in Excel 95-2004 Workbook (.xls) format.

FileMaker Pro 13 Advanced

•	Database Encryption feature – Encrypt database files to protect them from unauthorized access while the files are being stored on disk, by requiring all database clients to open encrypted database files with an encryption password. See Encrypting database files (FileMaker Pro Advanced).

Related topics 

FileMaker Pro features by version