Working with data in Table View

To

Do this

Create a field

For the first field, click Create Field in the column heading for the first column of the table. To create additional fields, click + in the column heading.

To cancel creating the new field, press Esc before submitting the change.

You can prevent new fields that you create from being automatically placed on the current layout by deselecting Add newly defined fields to current layout in the Preferences dialog box. See Setting layout preferences.

Change a field name

Double-click the column heading for the field you want to rename, then type the new name.

To discard changes to the field name, press Esc before you exit the column heading.

Tip  You can press Tab or Shift-Tab to edit the field names. If you press Tab in the far-right column heading, FileMaker Pro Advanced creates a new column.

Choose a field type

Right-click the column heading, choose Field > Field Type to display a shortcut menu, and choose a field type.

Set field options

Right-click the column heading, then choose Field > Field Options. See Setting options for fields.

Sort records by one or more fields

Select a column heading and optionally Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (macOS) additional headings. Right-click one of the selected column headings and choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. A sort icon appears on the column headings indicating the sort setting.

If you select multiple columns, the order in which columns are selected determines the sort order.

Remove a field from a multifield sort order

Select an unsorted heading to deselect the columns you are sorting by, then right-click the heading you want to remove from the sort order and choose Remove <field name> from Sort.

Sort records by a predefined value list

Select any column heading, right-click, then choose Sort By Value List, and choose a value list.

Remove one or more fields from the sort order and re-sort

Sort the file by two or more fields, select then right-click the column heading you want to remove from the sort order, choose Remove <field name> from Sort. Data re-sorts based on the fields that remain in the sort order.

Tip  Click Sort in the status toolbar to view the current sort order.

Unsort the file

Right-click any column heading in a sorted file and choose Unsort.

Display more fields or hide fields

•Click Modify in the layout bar and use the options in the Modify Table View dialog box. See Displaying and hiding fields in Table View.

•Or, right-click a column heading, then choose Field > Hide Field to hide the selected field. To display a hidden field in Table View, right-click the + column heading, then choose a field from the list of existing fields.

Delete a field

Right-click the column heading, then choose Field > Delete Field. See Deleting table definitions, field definitions, and data.

To

Do this in Browse mode

Add a new record

•if the records have not been sorted

or

•if Keep records in sorted order is cleared in the Sort Records dialog box

For sorted data, a new row is added to the last row of the sorted category for the currently selected row.

Duplicate a record

Right-click the left or right margin of the record that you want to duplicate, then choose Duplicate Record.

Copy the data in a record

Right-click the left or right margin of the record that you want to copy, then choose Copy Record. You can paste the copied, tab-separated data.

Delete a record

Right-click the left or right margin of the record that you want to delete, then choose Delete Record.

Delete multiple records at a time

You can switch to Find mode, find the records to delete, then choose Records menu > Delete Found Records, and click Delete All. See Making a find request.

Sort records

Right-click the left or right margin, then choose Sort Records. Use the Sort Records dialog box to specify how to sort records. See Options for sorting records.

To

Do this in Browse mode

Reorder columns

Drag a column heading to a new location.

Set a precise column width

Select one or more column headings. Right-click, then choose Table View > Set Column Width from the shortcut menu.

Edit Table View properties

Right-click a column heading or the right or left margin and choose Table View > Edit Properties.

Change the color of the background

Right-click the left or right margin of a record, choose Part Color from the shortcut menu, then choose a color. The color of the row for adding new records and the column for adding new fields will be slightly darker than the main background color.

Display a different background color for alternating records

Right-click the left or right margin of a record, then choose a color from the Alternate Color shortcut menu. If you customized the color or filled the part with an image, the part is locked.

Create a dynamic report

See Creating dynamic reports in Table View.

Restore the default display settings

Right-click a column heading or the left or right margin and choose Table View > Reset from the shortcut menu.

Note  Resetting Table View only changes the settings for the appearance of the table. For example, it removes any leading and trailing subtotals and fill colors that you added to the table. Resetting a table doesn’t have any impact on the data.