Design functions

Design functions return information about the structure of open database files. For example, you could determine the names of all the layouts or fields in an open database file.

Design function parameters can be any of the following:

filenames such as "Customer" or literal text such as "Jack"
layouts such as layoutName
other functions such as Left(text;number)

Notes

FileMaker Pro limits the information returned by a design function, according to the privilege set in effect when the function evaluates a database file. See Creating and editing privilege sets for more information about granting access to database files.
For the fileName parameter:
- The design functions return results for the first file opened with the specified filename.
- If you specify a filename that contains a period, include the filename extension in the parameter. Otherwise, functions may interpret the period in the filename as the beginning of the filename extension, which can lead to unexpected results.
- If you specify no filename (""), functions return results for the current file.

Function	Purpose
BaseTableIDs	Returns a list of all base table IDs in fileName.
BaseTableNames	Returns a list of all base table names in fileName.
DatabaseNames	Returns a list of the names of all files open on the computer.
FieldBounds	Returns the location, in points, of each field boundary and the field's rotation in degrees.
FieldComment	Returns the specified field's comment.
FieldIDs	Returns a list of all field IDs in fileName and layoutName.
FieldNames	Returns a list of the names of all fields on layoutName in fileName.
FieldRepetitions	Returns the number and orientation of repetitions of a repeating field as formatted on a layout.
FieldStyle	Returns the field formatting applied to fieldName on layoutName in fileName.
FieldType	Returns information about fieldName.
GetNextSerialValue	Returns the next serial number of fieldName in fileName.
LayoutIDs	Returns a list of all layout IDs in fileName.
LayoutNames	Returns a list of the names of all layouts in fileName.
LayoutObjectNames	Returns a list of the names of all named objects on layoutName in fileName.
RelationInfo	Returns a list of four values for each relationship directly related to tableName.
ScriptIDs	Returns a list of all script IDs in fileName.
ScriptNames	Returns a list of the names of all scripts in fileName.
TableIDs	Returns a list of all table occurrence IDs in fileName.
TableNames	Returns a list of all table occurrences in the relationships graph for fileName.
ValueListIDs	Returns a list of all value list IDs in fileName.
ValueListItems	Returns a list of the values in a value list.
ValueListNames	Returns a list of the names of all value lists in fileName.
WindowNames	Returns a list of the names of windows that are currently open.

Design functions

Notes

Related topics