What's new in Claris Studio

Behind the scenes improvements

• We've polished up search highlighting and added that functionality to the Hubs page search, made keyboard navigation smoother throughout tables and spreadsheets, and added clearer error messages when copy or paste isn't available. Small touches that make your daily work flow better.

Bug fixes you'll appreciate

• Fixed several edge cases including drop-down field configuration issues, user management permissions, text formatting quirks, and navigation reliability.

Time to turn the tables

• Team managers can now view and work directly with tables in the Tables tab of each hub by clicking , making table management more streamlined than ever.

  You can now add new tables or bring in existing tables from other hubs without leaving your current workspace.

• The new + Add Table > Add Existing Tables menu option opens a dialog that allows you to see which tables are already in your hub, select additional tables via checkbox, and see whether tables have related views from other hubs.

  If you add a table that isn't connected to a view in the hub or has dependencies with other tables, a helpful tooltip icon appears next to the table button indicating issues with tables in your hub.

  Clicking opens a dialog that allows you to resolve these issues right away. You can resolve them individually or click Fix All in each section to let us take care of them for you.

• For each table in your hub, you now have quick action options in the ... menu to create a new view from that table, view the table directly, or remove it from the hub—putting all your table management tools right at your fingertips.

Search and you shall find (even more)

• Finding what you need just got easier. The search functionality on the Hubs page now looks beyond just view names—you can now search by hub names, view descriptions, and table names and descriptions for more comprehensive results.

• When you search for a hub name, all the views within that hub will appear in your results, making it simple to explore everything a particular hub contains.

• The search intelligently handles your workflow too. If you're on the Tables tab but your search results are in views, it automatically switches to the Views tab to show your results. And if a hub is collapsed, it will unfold automatically to reveal any matching views or tables inside.

• Whether you remember the exact view name, the hub it lives in, or just a key word from its description, the enhanced search helps you get to your data faster with less clicking around.

Data is the source of all power

• With this release, you now have the ability to directly connect FileMaker apps to Claris Studio.

• In the new Data Sources tab, you can create a new FileMaker data source and connect tables from one or more hosted apps—allowing you to access and work with data from those tables and seamlessly sync changes between FileMaker and Claris Studio.

• In the Data Sources tab, you can also create Claris Studio tables, work with connected data sources, create views, and more.

Important  For full details and requirements, see Work with data sources. Successfully connecting a FileMaker data source requires a little bit of setup in both the FileMaker Pro app and in the FileMaker Server Admin Console, so we encourage you to check out the topic linked above before you get started.

Take my hand, I'll show you the way

• We've added even more onboarding tasks and tutorials to help guide you on your journey with Claris Studio.

• These new tutorials walk you through creating a dashboard, a form, and connecting a FileMaker data source to Claris Studio.

• Even more tutorials to come—stay tuned!

Custom views 2.0

• Starting with this release, all new custom views will support up to 250,000 records—a significant improvement from the current limit of 1,000.

• Previously created custom views will continue to function as normal, however without support for larger record sets. These views will load a maximum of 1,000 records and will show warnings when approaching and meeting the limit.

According to my calculations...

• At long last, we've added reference content for Claris Studio calculation functions. Check out the Functions reference to see the full power of the Claris Studio calculation engine.

All aboard!

• To help new users get started with Claris Studio, we're introducing guided onboarding to walk you through creating a spreadsheet by uploading CSV data exported from FileMaker, creating your first hub, and creating a dashboard.

• More onboarding tutorials to come!

More time on the clock

• Significantly increased the amount of time before a session timeout so you don't accidentally get kicked out while you're still working.

Add Related Data Record button action refinement

• For buttons using the "Add Related Data Record" action, record option settings are now saved to the button itself instead of to the target object to prevent interference between the two.

They only see what you want them to see

• You can now use data filters to control which users have access to which records in tables in a given hub. This allows you to deliver record data to end users by matching a user field with the current user's information. This feature ensures users only view, modify, and delete records explicitly assigned to them. For more information, see Control record access with data filters.

That's not my name!

• In custom views, unchecking the "Use Field Name for Display Name" for a field now uses the correct text for the display label.

Any way you want it—custom views are here!

• With this release, we're taking off the guard rails and giving you the ability to create entirely custom views from the ground up. If the other views didn't quite fit your needs, you can start with a blank slate and tailor a custom view precisely for your needs.

• To accompany this feature, we're giving you some content to help get you started:

  • Custom views

    • Includes overiews of available fields, data controls, summary objects, and static objects that you can use to create custom views.

    • Additionally, a topic on the data inheritance structure of custom views.

  Note  This is only the beginning of custom views. More features and documentation to come!

Re-fill on the pre-fill

• Creating links for pre-filled forms has been simplified and made more intuitive. Now, it's more clear which spreadsheet you're choosing (if any), and instead of showing every field from the selected spreadsheet that you can include in the URL, no fields are shown by default. Then, you can individually choose which fields you want to include in the URL.

• See the August 7, 2023 What's new entry for more information on pre-filled form links.

Users...assemble!

• Team managers can now create user groups on the Users page and assign team members to them to control access to hubs on a larger scale than the individual user. See Work with groups.

Systematic, automatic

• In this release we've introduced the Automation tab to the Properties panel, which allows you to set object names, value conditions, and visibility conditions for objects in a view. Pairs nicely with a fine calculation.

You down with external IdP?

• Support for external identity providers (IdP) has come to Claris Studio. Team managers can now configure an external IdP using OpenID Connect (OIDC) or Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) with the following providers for users to sign in with:

  • Active Directory Federation Service (AD FS)

  • Amazon Cognito

  • Google Workspace

  • Microsoft Entra ID

  • Okta

• Coupled with user groups, team managers now have more control over how users in their team sign in to Claris Studio. See Use an external identity provider for authentication and its subtopics for more information.

Getting started with Claris Studio

• Take this short introductory course to learn how to set up your Claris ID to access Claris Studio, navigate the UI, manage users, work with views and hubs, and connect to Claris Connect and Claris FileMaker.

What does this button do?

• If you've ever noticed the button that appears when you select an object or the button below pages in a form view and wondered what they did, you no longer have to wonder.

  • For , see Automate object visibility and value.

  • For , see Create branching page workflows in form views.

Claris Studio 101

• To help new users get more familiar with the basic concepts of Claris Studio and how they compare to similar concepts in FileMaker Pro, we've added the Overview of Claris Studio topic.

Display related data on a form

• In form views, you can now use a calculation to display related data from the table specified by the options list in a drop-down field in the current view. The pattern to use in a calculation is:

  Copy

  ViewName.DropdownFieldObjectName.data.FieldName

• For example, in a form view named Registration Form, you have a drop-down field named Session ID (with the object name dropdown) that's defined to display options from the table named Sessions table. In a text block on the form view, you can add this calculation to display the name of the instructor for the session selected in the Session ID field—which comes from the Instructor field in Sessions table:

  Copy

  'Registration Form'.dropdown.data.Instructor

  Notice that, after the view name ('Registration Form') and the object name (dropdown), the data property gives you access to any of the fields in Sessions table.

Developer mode enhancements

• The icon for view or page settings was hard to discover. Now, it also has a clear label: View Settings or Page Settings.

• To better handle hubs containing many views, the navigation bar at the top of a view has been replaced with a menu. To go to another view in the same hub, just click the current view's name, then choose a view. To perform actions on the current view, click and choose an action (for example, Edit Name, Duplicate, and so on).

Holiday wishes really do come true—embedding forms on your own website

• To provide a seamless experience for gathering data using a Claris Studio form on your own website, you can now embed publicly shared form views on webpages.

• As before, team managers can publicly share a form view and get the sharing link: With Developer Mode turned on, open the form, click  Share, turn on Sharing Link, then click  Copy Link.

• Now, when you add the form's sharing link to an iframe tag in an HTML page on your website, visitors can use the form as part of your webpage.

Hey, you got Claris Studio in my Claris Connect! Wow...works great!

• For Claris Studio and Claris Connect users, the Claris Studio connector is now available for you to integrate your Claris Studio data with your FileMaker custom apps and many third-party apps. For more information on using the Claris Studio connector in your Claris Connect flows, see Working with the Claris Studio connector in Claris Connect Help.

Have it your way with filtered and sorted option lists

• In drop-down fields, you can now filter and sort the option list when it's set to use records in another table as options. (For example, on a class sign-up form, you want a drop-down field to show only the dates of classes that have openings and to show them in date order.)

• For the filter, you can either add field conditions or enter a formula for a calculation. For the sort order, you can add rules to sort by one or more fields.

Sorting it out

• When sorting records, you can now sort by a field in another table. This is available via drop-down fields that you've defined to use options from another table.

• After you choose Sort, add a sorting rule, choose the drop-down field, then choose the field in the other table to sort by. (By default, the field specified as the Title in the drop-down's option list is used to sort.)

Roses are red, violets are blue. Option list colors are now up to you!

• In spreadsheet views, team managers can now change the color used for each option in fields that support option lists: drop-down, checkboxes, single choice, and ranking fields.

• In the field's spreadsheet column, click , then choose Edit Field. In the list of options, click the option's color, then choose the color you want.

• When you use these fields in some other contexts, your same color choices are reflected there—for example, when displaying these fields in kanban cards, and when you use these fields in charts.

What's filtered in Developer mode, stays filtered

• To give team managers more control over which records are visible in spreadsheet views and objects, they can now set up record filters when Developer mode is turned on that apply to all users and can't be seen or changed when Developer mode is off. Remember that for team members, Developer mode is always off, so team members can't see these filters and can't change them. For team members, records filtered this way are hidden without revealing that anything is being hidden. Previously, filters could be seen and changed by any user, and they applied for all users.

• Team members can still add their own filters, but those filters affect only the current user and only their current session (their filters are cleared when they open the view in another tab or window, refresh the page, or sign out and in again). Their filters aren't seen by other users and don't affect the records others see.

• To work with filters in spreadsheets, click Filter in the toolbar, then add or change conditions.

Segmented bar chart—for when a pie chart is too...round

• Dashboard views now provide a new type of chart: segmented bar. Each segment depicts a percentage of the entire horizontal bar. Use it as an alternative to a pie chart when you want to use less vertical space.

• To add a segmented bar chart, click Add Object, then drag Segmented Bar to the page.

New year, new goodies

• When creating a view, team managers can now choose to use data from any other view, not only data used by other views in the same hub.

• In spreadsheet views and spreadsheet objects, team members can now resize columns. Team managers can too, now even when Developer mode is off. However, column resizing is saved only when done by team managers with Developer mode turned on.

• The size limit of files in attachment fields has been increased from 5 to 10 MB.

• To open a page in a new web browser tab or window, you can now Command-click (macOS) or Windows-click (Windows) the following:

  • Image objects that have Action set to Go to View or Go to URL (even if the Open In property is set to Same Window)

  • Within a view, the name of another view in the navigation bar

• The Sample Hub and the sample views now behave like any other hub or view. Team managers can now delete the hub and archive or delete the sample views.

• Claris Studio gets a snazzy new logo. Check it out!

On the record: who did it and when

• To automatically keep track of who created or modified a record and when, team managers can now use these new read-only fields:

  • Created By – A user field that's set to the current user when a record is created.

  • Modified By – A user field that's set to the current user when a record is modified.

  • Created On – A timestamp field that's set to the current date and time when a record is created.

  • Modified On – A timestamp field that's set to the current date and time when a record is modified.

• Claris Studio has already been storing and updating this data for each record automatically. So when you first add these fields to a view with existing data, the fields will contain the user name and timestamp data for when the records were originally created or most recently modified.

• These fields are supported in spreadsheet, kanban, list-detail, and list views, in the record editor dialog, and in the dashboard view's summary, filter, quick filter, and chart objects. They're also supported in the group, filter, sort, color, search, and summary features in all views that have them.

• For the Created On and Modified On fields, the Time Zone Adjustment option is set to User Time Zone and can't be changed.

• Claris Pro and FileMaker Pro apps currently don't support these fields.

The ratings are in

• When you want a more visual way to capture user feedback, reviews, or responses to questions, the new rating field does the job. Users simply click the number of stars they want to award.

• In form, spreadsheet, list-detail, kanban, and list views, team managers can add a rating field, give it a name and a description, set the maximum number of stars that can be awarded, and set a default value.

• Claris Pro and FileMaker Pro apps currently don't support the rating field.

Make your default field values more dynamic

• Default values can now be defined as a calculation in short text, long text, rich text, number, date, time, timestamp, phone, email, currency, and user fields. While editing the properties of a field, for Default Value, team managers can choose Calculation and enter a formula. Then when a new record is displayed, the field will have the calculated value, which the user can change if needed.

Today's the day

• To help you focus on a busy day, you can now display events by day in calendar views. Simply click Day, Week, or Month to switch.

Form data at your fingertips

• To make it easier to locate the submitted data associated with a form, team managers can now see the data without leaving the form view. In Developer mode, simply click the Form or Responses tab to quickly switch between designing a form and viewing the response data.

• The Responses tab is a simple spreadsheet for viewing, searching, and editing the responses to your form. It shows only the fields that are on the pages of your form view. For full spreadsheet capabilities, you can create a spreadsheet view for your form data by clicking Create Spreadsheet on the form's Responses tab.

• When you create a form view, a separate spreadsheet view is no longer created at the same time.

Along the right lines

• In form, list-detail, and dashboard views, team managers can now add line objects to help visually separate areas of a page.

• To add a line, click Add Object, then under Static Objects, drag Line to the page.

• In the Properties pane, you can choose the style (solid or dashed), thickness, and color. For color, you can keep it the same as the theme color, choose a custom color, or leave it as the default color.

New objects for dashboards (sorry, no bobbleheads yet)

• In dashboard views, team managers can now present data in more ways with these new objects:

  • Gallery objects to display media (images, videos, and PDF files)

  • Timeline objects to visually track records based on dates, like tasks on a schedule

  To add one of these to a dashboard, click Add Object, then under Data Controls, drag the object to the page.

• These objects display data in much the same way as gallery and timeline views do. The main difference is that, when you add these objects to a dashboard, you open the Properties pane, select the object, then select the table you want the object to display data from. Then choose the fields to use in each part of the object—for example, in a gallery object, choose the attachment field that contains the media to display.

• As with spreadsheet objects, team members can view the data in these objects, but they can't edit it.

• Just a reminder: To create a dashboard view, open a spreadsheet view and click Create Dashboard.

Images can now get in on the action

In form, list-detail, and dashboard views, team managers can now add an action to an image object that'll be performed when users click the image. Select an image object, then in the Properties pane, for Action, you can choose:

• Export Data from Spreadsheet – Export data as a CSV file from a spreadsheet object in the current view. (For now, spreadsheet objects are available in dashboard views only.)

• Set Field Value – Set the value of a field in the current record. For Source, choose the current view, then choose a field and set the value. The option to apply the value to all records isn't supported yet.

• Go to View – Go to another view. For form views, you can also select the page to go to.

• Go to URL – Go to a webpage, either in the same or a new browser tab or window.

More props for you!

As we continue to consolidate more of the settings for page-based views in the Properties pane, these are the next to make the move:

• Page Settings in form, list-detail, and dashboard views. Click above a page to show Page Settings in the Properties pane.

• Summary objects in dashboard views

• Chart objects in dashboard views

Assorted augmentations

• The Claris ID sign-in pages are now even cooler with a splash of color.

• The Downloads page is now a dialog you can open from the user menu at the top right.

• For team managers, the name of the Claris Connect tab has changed to Connections.

For new team managers: The Claris Studio tour!

• If your team hasn't publicly shared a form yet, take a quick tour around before you dive in. Click Start Tour in the lower right on the Hubs page.

It's like a time machine for your record data

• In the Edit Record dialog, team managers can now restore a record to an earlier revision. As you browse a record's revision history, you can preview the changes made in past revisions and restore one as the current revision.

• With Developer mode off, open a spreadsheet, kanban, calendar, gallery, or timeline view, right-click a record, then choose Expand Record. In the Edit Record dialog, click to show revisions. Under Previous Revisions, click a date, then select the revision you want to preview (the changes are highlighted). To restore the selected revision, click Restore.

• Revisions to attachment, comment, and calculation fields aren't supported in the revision history, so restoring an earlier revision of a record leaves the current data in these fields unchanged.

Rank your favorites

• For those times you'd like to ask users to rank their preferences or tell you which options are most-to-least important to them, we've got you covered with the new ranking field.

• When you add a ranking field to a view, you create a list of options, then drag them into the default order to present in a new record. You may want to add a description to the field, explaining for users to drag the options into the order they prefer. When users submit a form with this field on it, the submitted data will be the list of options in the user's preferred order or, if unmodified, in the default order.

• Claris Pro apps currently don't support the ranking field.

Creating and opening a new view just got a little faster

• On the Hubs page when Developer mode is on, team managers now click + Add New View to create a new view and add it to the current hub. For other actions—Add Existing Views and Add New Spreadsheet from CSV—click right next door.

• A newly created view now opens automatically, ready for work.

Calculations in text blocks just got easier

• For calculations in a text block, remember how you had to turn on calculation mode and wrap expressions in double braces? Well, forget that. Now you can simply click in the text block's rich text editor (or press Command-K for macOS or Control-K for other platforms) to open the in-line calculation editor. Then enter your calculation and click Submit. (Using double braces still works, if you like that sort of thing.)

• As before, this lets team managers include expressions to be evaluated by the calculation engine as the user enters data, automatically updating a text block based on the user's input in a field.

A medley of memorable morsels

• When team managers add a column in a spreadsheet view, the new Add Column dialog makes it easier to explore field types for the one that has just what you need.

• In spreadsheet views, you can now copy a cell and paste its value into another cell. You can copy and paste cells in columns of all field types, except comments, signature, and attachment (calculation fields can be copied but not pasted into). Pasting data into a field type that is incompatible will be ignored (for example, pasting an incorrectly formatted date into a date field, or a string into a drop-down field that doesn't match an option).

• As a team manager, you can promote a member to manager on the Users page, but you can no longer change them back to a member.

• In form views, a team manager can now move an object from one page to another, rather than delete and re-add it. Just select the object, click , Move to Page, then choose the page.

• Team managers can now set the Time Zone Adjustment setting for time and timestamp fields in any view that supports these fields.

• Team managers can now use the Add Object list with the keyboard. Press the up and down arrows to select an object type, then press Enter to add the object to the view.

Give them even more of a head start with dynamically pre-filled forms

• Say you have a Contacts spreadsheet (names, email addresses, etc.) of people you want to have fill in a form. Because you already have some of their information and want to make it easier for them, you can now create a link to a form that's dynamically pre-filled with the person's specific information.

• Here's how: Create your form and add fields as usual. Click  Share, turn on Sharing Link, then click Create Link for Pre-Filled Form. For Record Set, choose the spreadsheet that has the data you want to pre-fill the form with (the Contacts spreadsheet in our example). Then for each field to be pre-filled, click , and enter a formula that references the fields to use from the other spreadsheet.

  For example, if your form has a Full Name field and your Contacts spreadsheet (with table name Spreadsheet2) has First Name and Last Name fields, you can enter this formula to combine the names to pre-fill the Full Name field:

  Spreadsheet2.'First Name' + ' ' + Spreadsheet2.'Last Name'

  After you set up all the fields you want to pre-fill, click Next, then click Copy Calculation.

  Now, open the spreadsheet that you chose for Record Set (the Contacts spreadsheet in our example), then add a column for a calculation field (named Form URL, for example). For Formula, paste the calculation formula you copied for the pre-filled form link. Each record now has a custom link you can send to each person. Click inside the cell to copy the link.

To sync, or not to sync display labels and field names—it's your call

• A little background: In form and list-detail views, field objects have both a display name and a field name. The display label appears above a field object in a specific view and is visible to all users of that view. On the other hand, the field name identifies the data element itself across all views that use the same data, appearing in spreadsheet column headers, in sorting and filtering controls, and so on. Until now, the first time you changed the display label, it would no longer be in sync with the field name. However, if you only ever changed the field name, the display label would remain in sync.

• Now, you can choose whether to keep the names in sync or not. The new Use Field Name for Display Label option in the Properties pane is selected by default when you add a new field object. So whenever a team manager changes a field name, the display label for that field automatically changes to match. To set the display name independently of the field name in a particular view, simply deselect this option for the field object in a that view.

• The behavior of existing field objects won't change. If the display label and field name were the same before this release, they'll remain the same and the new option will be selected. If they were different before, they'll remain different and the new option will be unselected.

Better and better

• Signing in and signing up for a new Claris ID account now has a fresh, new look. But since you're here, you probably already noticed that.

• When team managers create new views, they can now give them a name at the same time.

• To make it easier to tell which spreadsheet view was automatically created when you created a form view, the spreadsheet view's name will start with the form's name followed by "Responses." For example, for a form named "Camp Registration," the spreadsheet will be named "Camp Registration Responses."

• In the same way you can set a default value for a field when users create records in spreadsheet views, you can now set the default value in form and list-detail views as well.

• To quickly find a view when the navigation bar is full, you can now click in the navigation bar and enter the view name or type. Click the view in the results list to go to that view.

• To keep you in the zone while form building, team managers can now add a page to a form without going back to the workflow. From any page in a form, just click and choose Add Page > Before or After.

• To quickly open the Properties pane when designing a form, list-detail, or dashboard view, team managers can now double-click an object on the page.

• In all shared forms, the browser tab now shows the Claris logo along with your form's name and the name of the form's current page. The option to change what's in the browser tab has been removed.

• When Developer mode is on, the (Open) button is now available in all view types for a more consistent experience. Also, the tooltip helps indicate what you'll be able to do when you open a view this way.

• And many more touches for you to discover on your own.

What's going on this week?

• To help you manage events within a week or a day, you can now display events by week in calendar views. Just click Week or Month to switch.

• When Developer mode is off or when the view is shared with team members, you work with events viewed by week the same as when viewed by month, except that you can also drag events to the desired time and day of the week.

Can I get a copy of that?

• In spreadsheet views, you can now copy the result in a calculation field. In a column for a calculation field, just click a cell to make it active, then click inside the cell to copy the calculated value currently displayed.

These are the views you're looking for

• To help you quickly find the view you want, you can now search views by name and type. Use the search box that's now on the Hubs page and in the Add Views dialog.

  For example, to find all your spreadsheet views, enter spreadsheet. Then the list shows only spreadsheet views and views that have "spreadsheet" in the name.

On the safe side

• To prevent accidental data deletion, team managers can no longer delete the view that was automatically created when a table was migrated from a Claris Pro app to Claris Studio.

Responsive improvements

To make the toolbars above the view easier to use in Developer mode when the browser window is narrow, these items have been moved:

• The Team menu along with the Help and Feedback menus have been consolidated under the user menu at the top right.

• In form views, to return to the workflow from a page, you now click , then choose Back to Workflow.

• In form views, the page controls have moved from above to below the page.

• In form and list-detail views, the Fields list that was in the sidebar has moved to the bottom of the Properties pane.

Give them a head start with pre-filled forms

• To save users time when filling in a publicly shared form, team managers can now give users a link that opens the form with certain fields already filled in.

• In Developer mode, just open the form view, click , enable public sharing if it's not, then click Create Link for Pre-Filled Form. In the dialog, enter values for the fields to pre-fill (unsupported field types are omitted from the list). Click Open Link to try out your pre-filled form. When you're done, be sure to click Copy Link before you close. Then send or post the link for your users.

• You can create as many different pre-filled form links as you need for a form and give them to different users or groups of users for a customized experience.

Now you can go home again...after you submit a form

• To better integrate a form with a website, team managers can now make a form automatically go to any URL after the user submits the form. This works great when you put a link to the form on a webpage and set the form to return to the same webpage.

• On the last page of your form, click to open Page Settings. Turn on Go to URL after user submits form, then enter a URL.

• After a user clicks Submit in the form, the last page of the form displays for a moment before continuing to the URL you entered.

• Team managers can also turn off Claris branding in shared forms. Click to open Page Settings, then turn off Show Claris Branding.

  The title in the browser tab shows the current page name and the name of the form view instead of "Claris Studio." Instead of the Claris logo, the browser tab icon (favicon) displays a generic form icon in most web browsers except Safari.

Formatting your data for the world

• When team managers set the data formatting properties of date, time, or timestamp fields in Developer mode, the format options are displayed in the team manager's locale. Depending on their locale, team managers can change options between various long, short, numeric, or text formats, but users will see an equivalent format in their own locale. For example, if a team manager in the US sets a date field's Date Format option to "06/14/2023 (Long)," a user working with this view in Japan will see dates in this field formatted as "2023/06/09."

• Phone fields now allow team managers to set the format of phone numbers to that of the current user's locale or to that of a specific country. Team managers can also choose whether to display phone numbers with the country code or in the country's local format without the country code. For example, if a team manager sets Country to User Locale and sets Format to With Country Code, then a user in Japan will see numbers formatted as +81 90 1234 5678. However, if Format is set to Local, then the user would see the same number formatted as 090-1234-5678. When a phone field is created, data formatting defaults to User Locale and With Country Code.

• Currency field formatting now includes more currency symbols to choose from.

Text blocks—not so static anymore

• To automatically update a text block based on a user's input in a field, team managers can now include expressions to be evaluated by the calculation engine as the user enters data.

• After you add a text block to a page, click above the object to turn on calculations. Any part of the text that you enclose in double braces ({{ }}) will be evaluated as a calculation. Everything else will be treated as text with Markdown syntax.

• For example, on the last page of a form, you can add a personalized message using data the user provided. In a text block, the following adds the user's name by referencing the current table name (Feedback) and the field name (First Name) in double braces, then adds italics to the last sentence:

  Thanks for your feedback, {{'Feedback'.'First Name'}}. *Have a great day!*

More calculation functions headed your way

• Information functions: ISBLANK, ISERROR, ISEVEN, ISLOGICAL, ISNUMBER, ISODD, ISTEXT, TYPE

• Claris functions: GETFILEATTRIBUTE

• For more information, see the in-line descriptions in the calculation field and Primer for Claris Studio calculations.

Smoothing the way

• From the navigation bar in a view, team managers can now do any of the following for any view in the current hub, not just for the current view: edit the view name, remove the view from the hub, delete the view, and go to another view with the same data.

• The experience of using a shared form is now more consistent for everyone—team managers, team members, and anonymous users who click the form's public sharing link. A form will always open in a new browser tab or window and have no Claris Studio controls visible outside the form page. The only exception is when team managers edit a form view by clicking it on the Hubs page when Developer mode is on.

• In dashboard views:

  • Settings for spreadsheet objects have moved from the icon to the Properties panel.

  • To select rows in a spreadsheet object, you can now click the row in the index column. To add to the selection, Command-click (macOS) or Control-Click (other platforms) a row. To select a range of rows from the last selected row, Shift-click another row.

• For more space to work on expressions in a calculation field, team managers can now click to open the Formula Editor dialog. In addition to more room, the Formula Editor summarizes any issues found in the expression and shows a preview of the calculation result when possible.

• In the Create New View dialog, the choice of whether to create a view for existing data or new data is now named "Select Data for View." Click the drop-down to choose data used by other views in the current hub or choose Create New to create a blank view.

• On the Hubs page, to import data into a new spreadsheet view, team managers now choose Add Views > New Spreadsheet from CSV.

• In Safari, attachment fields now support QuickTime (.qt, .mov) and WebM video formats in addition to MP4.

• We're continuing to make the Developer mode experience more consistent for team managers when it's turned off and to limit team members to viewing and editing data. In this release, the timeline view now doesn't allow Timeline Settings to be accessed. You can only add, delete, and modify records when Developer mode is off.

Recent Help Center updates

• Quick start: Kanbans for new users

Lunch? Let me check my calendar.

• The new calendar view lets you work with your data as events on a calendar.

• When you create a calendar view from an existing view, you can create new fields or choose existing fields to use for the record's display label (a short text field) and start and end dates (timestamp fields).

• Each event is a record. Just double-click a date to create a new record on that date, or click a date and drag across dates to create a multi-day event. To edit a record, just double-click an event or drag or resize the event to set the start and end dates.

• To work with records as a list, just click  Show Records, then click a record to go to it on the calendar or double-click to edit it. By default, the Only unscheduled option is turned on, but you can turn it off to show all records.

• Use the familiar controls to filter and color-code events.

Set the value of more field types dynamically

• In form and list-detail views, you can now dynamically set the value of these additional field types: date, time, timestamp, phone, user, drop-down, single choice, and checkboxes.

• Just click , then Value, and set Action to Set the value. Next, enter or choose a value for the field and set one or more conditions based on other fields.

• For other types of fields (except attachment fields), you can now choose to use the field conditions editor, or the calculation editor as before.

To develop, or not to develop: that is the question...now for list views

• We're continuing to make the Developer mode experience more consistent for team managers when it's turned off and to limit team members to viewing and editing data. In this release, the list view now doesn't allow columns to be added, deleted, or modified. You can only add, delete, and modify records, use quick filters, and add and archive groups.

A better list-detail view—it's in the cards

• In list-detail views, the cards in the list area now make better use of space to display useful information from each record.

• Team managers can choose up to three card labels, each displaying data from different field.

When you really don't want it anymore

• The behavior has changed when deleting the view that was automatically created at the time you migrated a table from a Claris Pro app to Claris Studio. By default, this view's name ended with "from Claris Pro."

• Previously, deleting that view did nothing more than delete the view. Now, that view and the migrated data itself are deleted. This means that the migrated data will also be unavailable to Claris Pro apps.

• This action can't be undone, so use with caution.

Get the kind of calculation result you want

• In calculation fields, you can now specify the format of the result. This enables you to write simpler calculations that reference date, time, and timestamp fields or date and time functions (like NOW and TODAY).

• For example, in a calculation field that adds a week to the value in the Tasks.Date field (Tasks.Date + 7), for Format, you can choose Date so that the calculation field displays the result as a date.

• The default format, Automatic, attempts to choose the best format. But if it doesn't, you can choose Number, Boolean, Text, Date, Time, or Date and Time.

• For now, the Format option is supported only in spreadsheet views.

The Hubs page now is the one-stop shop for views

• For team managers in Developer mode, the Hubs page now replaces the Views page and inherits its functions.

• To create a new view, you now first choose (or create) a hub for the view to go in. Then in that hub, click Add Views > New Views.

Welcome to the bar, partner—the navigation bar

• From within a view, the new navigation bar shows you the name of the current hub and a tab for each view in the hub. To go to another view in this hub, just click the tab—you no longer need to go back to the Hubs page to go to another view in the same hub. (If a view is in more than one hub, the current hub is the one from which you originally opened the view.)

• In Developer mode, team managers can click in the current view's tab and choose to rename the view or go to other views with the same data. To remove one of the other views from the hub, click . To add new views or existing views to the current hub, click .

Timeline view...it's about time

• The new timeline view lets you visually tracks records based on dates, like tasks on a schedule.

• When you create a timeline view from an existing view, choose the existing fields to use for the record's display label (a short text field) and start and end dates (timestamp fields), then the default scale to display (week, month, quarter, year).

• Each row is a record. Just click at the left to create a new record. To edit the record, click or click in the time bar area and drag or resize the time bars to set the start and end dates.

• Use the familiar controls to filter, group, sort, and color-code records.

To develop, or not to develop: that is the question

• To make the Developer mode experience more consistent for team managers when it's turned off and to limit team members to viewing and editing data, these views now have the following behavior changes:

  • Spreadsheet view: The view name and the table name can't be changed, fields can't be added or deleted, field names and other field settings can't be changed, column show/hide settings can't be changed, dashboard views can't be created, and the navigation bar doesn't allow you to rename or add and remove views from the current hub. You can only add, delete, and modify record data, as well as filter, group, sort, and color-code records.

  • Kanban view: Columns can't be added, deleted, or modified; board settings can't be changed; and the fields displayed in cards can't be customized. You can only add, delete, and modify cards and their data, as well as filter, group, sort, and color-code cards.

More calculation functions headed your way

• Date and time functions: DATE, DATEVALUE, DAY, DAYS, HOUR, MINUTE, MONTH, NOW, SECOND, TODAY, TO_DATE, WEEKDAY, WEEKNUM, WORKDAY, YEAR

• Text functions: CONCATENATE, FIND, JOIN, LEFT, LEN, LOWER, MID, REGEXEXTRACT, REGEXMATCH, REGEXREPLACE, REPLACE, REPT, RIGHT, SEARCH, SUBSTITUTE, T, TRIM, UPPER, VALUE

• For more information, see the in-line descriptions in the calculation editor and Primer for Claris Studio calculations.

You got calculations in my object actions!

• When setting up actions for field objects in form and list-detail views, team managers can now dynamically set the field's value using the calculation engine.

  • In a field object, click , then in the Object Actions dialog, click the Value tab.

  • For example, in the Assigned To field in a list-detail view named Tasks, you can set Calculated Value to a reviewer's name if the Status field is set to "In Review":

    IF ( Tasks.Status == "In Review", "Reviewer's Name", "" )

• For show/hide actions, team managers can now use the calculation editor or, as before, the field conditions editor (only the action in the selected editor will be performed). With the calculation editor, you can write more complex rules and employ the library of functions in the calculation engine.

  • In a field object, click , then in the Object Actions dialog, click the Show/Hide tab.

  • To write an expression for the calculation engine, for Editor, choose Calculation.

  • To show the object, the expression must be true (not equal to 0); to hide the object, it must be false (0).

• With this update, object actions can have only one show/hide action and one calculated value. When you first open an existing form or list-detail view after this update, objects that had multiple enabled show/hide actions will have them converted to a calculation; any disabled actions will be removed.

• For more information, see Primer for Claris Studio calculations.

Props to you!

• In form and list-detail views, most settings for objects are now in the new Properties panel. Just click in the toolbar at the top right to open the panel, then click any object on the page to edit its properties. This includes the header and, in list-detail views, the list area on the left side.

Show me the money...the way I want to see it

• In currency fields, team managers can now choose a format for the decimal and thousands separator characters and the position of the currency symbol.

Who changed that field? Maybe I should hide it.

• In the Edit Record dialog when Developer mode is on, team managers can now:

  • Click to see the revision history of the current record. Select Show changes to see which fields were changed and how.

  • Click to show or hide fields and change their order.

• The Edit Record dialog is available in spreadsheet, kanban, gallery, timeline, and list views.

For when you just can't say enough about a field

• In form and list-detail views, field objects now include an optional field description below the display label to make it easier to provide more information to users.

• The field description lets you easily add multiple lines of text, which can include multiple paragraphs, with support for formatting as in text blocks.

Start your calculation engines

• To give you an early look at what's under the hood, this release includes a preview of the Claris Studio calculation engine, so we can start getting your feedback. The first group of functions we have ready for you include math and logical functions as well as some Get functions. More are on the way.

• Use the new calculation field to give the engine a try. It's available in all views, except dashboard view.

• For more information, see Primer for Claris Studio calculations.

Be the star of your own gallery

• The new gallery view shows off your images, videos, and PDF files as cards you can drag to arrange, or filter, sort, conditionally color-code, and search.

• To add a new card (a record), click in the lower right. In the Media attachment field, drag a file or click to select a file to add. Then name it in the Title field. Add more fields if you want to track more information, like the date a photo was taken.

• In each card, you can click the button in the center to view the contents at full size. To edit the record, click anywhere else in the card.

Even more to get attached to

• Videos can now be played in attachment fields. Supported video file formats are MP4, QuickTime (.qt, .mov), and WebM, except in Safari, where only MP4 is supported for now.

• PDF files in attachment fields now display the first page. Then you can click to view the PDF at full size and scroll through the pages. Even password-protected PDFs are supported.

Hubs as a one-stop shop

• To help make the Hubs page more of a one-stop shop for working with views, team managers can now create new views while adding them to a hub. New views can be blank, or they can use the same data as another view. To create a new view in a hub, click Add Views > New Views.

• Team managers can also now delete and rename views.

Have it your way

• Team managers can now designate a field as the preferred display field in a table. This is the field you consider representative of the record and prefer to display by default in certain places.

• For example, even though you have an Employee ID field that uniquely identifies an employee's record, most users won't recognize an employee by their ID. So for display purposes, you can designate another field—like the Last Name field—as the default field to display for users to identify a record.

• Claris Studio uses this field as the default when:

  • You set up a drop-down field with options from another view. The default field to show in the drop-down list will be the preferred display field.

  • You create a kanban, list-detail, or gallery view from an existing view. The default for the Title field in the new view will be the preferred display field that was set in the existing view.

• To designate a preferred display field in spreadsheet views, click in a column and choose Set as Preferred Display Field. This option is also in the Edit Record dialog that's available in most views. The preferred display field is indicated by .

Show me the data!

• In form, list-detail, and dashboard views, the Preview button has been replaced with the (Open) button to let team managers quickly try out a view with their real data without having to share the view first.

• The Open button opens the view in a new browser tab with Developer mode turned off. Unlike Preview, your data is now visible, and changes you make to it are saved.

Lather, rinse, repeat

• To help create similar objects more quickly in form, list-detail, and dashboard views, team managers can now duplicate an object including all its settings, except for its conditional show/hide rules.

• In the object, click  > Duplicate. Or select the object and use the familiar copy and paste keyboard shortcuts: Command-C and Command-V (macOS) or Control-C and Control-V (other platforms).

Time out for timeouts

• "Session expired" messages should no longer appear while you're actively working in Claris Studio. For security, sessions will still end after a lengthy period of inactivity.

Recent Help Center updates

• Primer for Claris Studio calculations

• Quick start: Spreadsheets for new users

• Frequently asked questions on the Home page

Get started a bit faster in a new view

• When you create a new form, spreadsheet, or list-detail view, you no longer have to delete the default fields to get started, because…there aren't any! Now these views start out with no fields just like the other views.

• When you create a spreadsheet view from another view, all fields are now visible by default. Previously, when you created fields in another view with the same data, those new fields were hidden in the spreadsheet view.

Hidden gems

In addition to other behind-the-scenes improvements in this release, here are a couple of hidden gems in the previous release:

• For faster data entry in drop-down and user fields, users can now filter the list as they type.

• In drop-down fields, team managers can now edit custom option lists by clicking in the field object, the same place you can edit options from another view. You can also still click and edit the list in place.

The "formatting" is strong with this one

• The new rich text field lets users add some formatting flare to the text they enter. It's like a long text field but with easy formatting controls and support for typing CommonMark Markdown syntax.

• Formatting options include heading levels, block quote, bold, italic, strikethrough, links, lists, code, and code blocks. In form and list-detail views, just click in the field to display the formatting controls. In spreadsheet views, click the cell, then click the expand icon to display the rich text editor.

• Claris Pro apps currently don't support the rich text field.

Going public just got easier

• For team managers, the Hubs page now includes a special hub named Publicly Shared Views. With this hub, sharing form views publicly is now more consistent with the way you share views with your team. Form views you add to this hub are shared with anyone who has the link. To publicly share form views, click Add Views in this hub, select the form views to share, then click Add Views.

• To get the public sharing link for a form view in this hub, click then choose Copy Link. You can also temporarily disable and enable the link from this menu. However, when you choose Remove from Hub, the form view is no longer publicly shared, and the existing sharing link won't work anymore. Adding the form view back to this hub will create a new sharing link.

• Within a form view, you can still click Share to manage public sharing.

Developer Mode: Switch on!

• As a team manager, you can now turn on Developer mode to edit hubs and views and manage users, or turn it off to work with data in views that you share via hubs. Just click Developer Mode at the top of the screen to turn it on or off. This gives team managers an easy way to switch between making design changes to a view and using a view (for example, filling in a form or working with data in a list-detail view).

• When Developer mode is on, you can:

  • On the Hubs page, click views to edit them (the same as you can on the Views page), create hubs, and add views and members to hubs.

  • On the Views page, create, edit, and delete views.

  • On the Users page, invite and remove users from your team.

  • Download Claris software as well as access Claris Connect and Claris Customer Console.

• When Developer mode is off, you can:

  • On the Hubs page, click views to work with the data, not to edit the views themselves. For example:

    • When you click form views, they open ready for you to fill in and submit the form. This makes it easier for team managers to try out a form while they're still designing it. You no longer need to publicly share it first.

    • In list-detail views, the records in a list on the left and the details of the selected record on the right are ready for you to browse and modify the data.

    • In dashboard views, the charts and summaries display data as in Developer mode, but they can't be changed.

    • In other views, the experience is the same as in Developer mode, except that in list views, you can't rearrange groups on the page or modify quick filters.

  • Download Claris software.

Updated Claris Pro and Claris Go—onward and upward!

• The latest updates bring enhanced support for several Claris Studio field types.

• The same new features and fixes in FileMaker 19.6.1 are now in Claris Pro and Claris Go.

• For Claris Studio tables in Claris Pro, you now see the same field names as in Claris Studio.

• In Claris Studio, visit the Downloads page to get the software and see what else is new in the release notes.

Making life easier

• On the Views page, the Create New View window now gives you more information to help you choose a type of view to create.

• To help team managers move quickly between views that use the same data, you can now click Go To in the toolbar and choose another view with the same data. It's a real timesaver when you're working on changes to a form and need to see the already-submitted data in a spreadsheet.

• When you create a view, the default table name is now based on the default view name. So, for example, rather than a table name starting with "Untitled," the table name now starts with "Form" usually followed by a number. You can always rename the table in a spreadsheet view by clicking the table name and choosing Rename Table.

• Team members can now use the Downloads page to download Claris software just like team managers can.

• And for new users, check out Quick start: Forms in the Claris Help Center.

Happy "what's new" year!

• On the Users page, team managers can now edit a user's full name, in case they left it blank or need to change it from when they signed up.

• In list views, you can now add back an archived group. Just click Add New Group and choose the archived group.

• In spreadsheet views, when you click Create Dashboard or choose Chart by in a column, you can now choose the following chart options that were previously available only when working with chart objects in dashboard views:

  • Combo chart

  • Bar chart with multiple data series

  • Bubble chart

• In form and list-detail views, you can now conditionally show or hide image and text objects based on field data, the same as you can with field objects.

• On the Views page, you can now delete multiple views at one time.

  • To delete selected views:

    1. Select the views:

       • For individual views, Command-click (macOS) or Windows-click (Windows) the top of each view.

       • For a range of views, Command-Shift-click (macOS) or Windows-Shift-click (Windows) the top of the first view and the last view in the range.

    2. Right-click one of the selected views and choose Delete Selected Views.

  • To delete all views with the same data:

    1. For Sort By, choose Views with Same Data.

    2. Click at the top right of the group of views and choose Delete This Group.

• The Hubs and Views pages now make it easier to see the different view types with more colorful icons.

• In form and list-detail views, there are now more visual cues to help you tell the difference between when you're designing a view and when you're working with data in a view.

A new version of Claris Server is now available on the Downloads page in Claris Studio.

• You now have the option to install Claris Server using Ubuntu Server instead of Ubuntu Desktop.

• You no longer need to use Claris ID to activate Admin Console.

Making a list (view), checking it twice

• The new list view lets you work more visually with lists of records in groups. For example, the new planning board in the project management starter views uses this view.

• In each group, you can choose a group name and add records (rows) or fields (columns). The records in each group are all stored in the same view. And the groups are determined by the value of the Group field (hidden by default) in each record.

• You can easily drag records from one group to another. Just select one or more rows and drag the handle on the left edge of a row to another group. Or right-click the selected rows and choose Move to, then the group.

• Adding groups is easy (click Add New Group). To archive a group (hide the group and its records), click  > Archive Group.

• As with most other views, you can create a spreadsheet view from a list view to see the data, including archived groups of records.

Keep those comments coming

• With the new comment field, you can add a convenient way to capture your team's thoughts on a record in list-detail, spreadsheet, kanban, or list views. It's great for quick status updates on tasks, keeping a history of interactions with a customer, or gathering feedback on ideas.

• After adding a comment, a user can edit or delete their comment for up to 10 minutes.

• You can also reply to top-level comments and even thumbs-up a comment!

• Comments support CommonMark Markdown syntax, which you can preview before you save a comment.

• Claris Pro apps currently don't support the comment field.

"Hang ten" with these improvements to kanban boards

• In a kanban view, you can now choose from three templates for the size and layout of cards. Just click Board Settings, choose a template, and save. Then you can customize which elements to show and which field to use for each element by clicking Customize Card.

• The Group by Status option is now part of Board Settings, where you can select the single choice field for grouping cards into columns.

• When you create a new kanban view from another view, you can choose which spreadsheet view to create the kanban from, which single choice field to use for grouping cards into columns, and the card template to use. Then Claris Studio assigns your fields to the elements on the card based on field types, but you can click Customize Card and change them.

• Along with more visual polish and tweaks, kanban views are even easier to create and more fun to use.

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere (for your charts)

• Giving you another dimension to visualize your data in dashboards, the new bubble chart lets you display values based on a third field as the size of the bubble used for each data point on the x- and y-axis. This lets you visually compare individual data points in terms of the magnitude of another value.

• In a dashboard view, just click Add Object > Bubble Chart to add a chart, then click to set it up.

• If you'd rather display data points as dots without a radius (a scatter chart), turn off Bubble Size when you set up the chart.

A gift from Santa: project management starter views

• To show how the building blocks in Claris Studio can come together, we've packaged together several starter views—a collection of views that work together to solve a specific problem. The problem in this case is simple project management.

• Project management is the process of organizing tasks, assigning them to users, planning milestones to target for their completion, defining the larger bodies of work (or epics) they're a part of, and more.

• The project management starter views provide:

  • a planning board to arrange which tasks to complete for upcoming sprints or milestones

  • a kanban board to quickly review status in team meetings

  • an epics list for a high-level view of your project

  • a tasks spreadsheet with the same data as in the planning and kanban boards

  • a milestones spreadsheet to support the planning board

• Note that because the user field type isn't fully supported in Claris Pro yet, the sample data in the user fields provided in these starter views doesn't work as expected in Claris Pro yet.

• See Project management with Claris Studio starter views for more.

Spreadsheets with all the trimmings

• In spreadsheet views, you can now conditionally add a color bar to a row based on field values in that row. Use this to make important records pop out—like tasks with past due dates. Just click Color, Add Condition, choose a color, then click to add conditions for this color. If two color conditions apply to the same row, the first condition wins.

• Want to keep certain spreadsheet columns always in view as you scroll horizontally? Just select those columns, right-click the column header, and choose Freeze Selected Columns (or Freeze Column for one).

And a partridge in a pear tree

• When you conditionally hide a field object in form and list-detail views, the objects beside or below the field now adjust to fill the space when users work with the view.

You're in the driver's seat with these new dashboard features

• The new spreadsheet object lets you display data in a table along with chart and summary objects.

  • Just click Add Object and drag Spreadsheet to the page. In the object, click and choose the table to show data from, which columns to show, and how to filter, sort, and group records.

  • Drag the handle on the bottom edge to set the maximum height.

  • When you add a dashboard view to a hub, team members can view the data in a spreadsheet object, but they can't edit it.

• New ways to compare data in a chart:

  • Bar charts now let you show multiple data series for the y-axis so you can compare data of the same kind from different fields as multi-column or stacked bar charts. In a bar chart object, just click and under Y-axis, click + to add a data series, and choose a field and summary type.

  • The new combo chart not only lets you show multiple data series for the y-axis, but it can also display data of different kinds on the left and right sides of the y-axis. You can even choose whether to display each data series as a bar or a line. In a dashboard view, just choose Add Object > Combo Chart, or for an existing chart, click and change Chart Type to Combo Chart.

Give your page headers a head start

• In form views, the header can now be repeated on all pages. So save yourself some clicks and set up the header on one page, then click and choose Repeat this header on all pages. If you want to override the repeated header on a certain page, go to that page, click , and turn off the option to use the header from another page.

• You can now format text within headers in form and list-detail views. Previously, you could choose typography settings for the entire large or small text areas. Now, you can select all or part of the text and choose from the in-line toolbar a heading level (font size), bold, and italic (CommonMark Markdown syntax also works for these options).

  • The common keyboard shortcuts for bold and italic also work (Command-B, Command-I for macOS and Control+B, Control+I for other platforms).

  • To turn off a formatting option, select the text and click the toolbar button again.

  • Heading levels apply to the entire text area.

  Note  There are known issues with Markdown support in Safari 15 in macOS. Update Safari to version 16 or later, or use Google Chrome.

A field by any other name...

• Editing field names and labels is now more discoverable in form and list-detail views. In a field object on a page, click and choose Edit Label or Edit Field Name. You can also rename fields in the sidebar by clicking next to the field and choosing Edit Field Name. Reminders about field names and labels:

  • Field names are shown in the sidebar and in spreadsheet columns.

  • Labels are the text users see above a field object on a page. For example, on forms, you can make long labels to explain what you want users to fill in, while keeping the field name shown in the spreadsheet conveniently short.

  • Changes to a field name also apply to the label until you edit the label for the first time, then they're independent.

May the formatting be with you

• Text blocks now render Markdown formatting as you type (previously, you had to click out of the text block to see the formatting). In addition to CommonMark Markdown syntax (except for images), you can use these keyboard shortcuts (use the Command key for macOS and the Control key for other platforms):

  • Bold: Command-B

  • Italic: Command-I

  • In-line code: Command-E

  • Link: Command-K

  • Block quote: Command-Shift-.

  • End a block quote or a code block: Command-Enter

Polishing up

• When you click Create New View on the Views page, a dialog box now shows you information about each view type before you choose one.

• Lengthy text in field labels or field options now wraps better to fit the available space.

• In the Feedback box, you can now choose the topic of your feedback.

• On the Resources page, we've added links to Claris Go in the App Store and to Claris Go Release Notes.

You are about to enter another dimension. Next stop—The Time Zone!

• You can now choose whether to display time and timestamp field values as they were entered or in the current user's time zone.

  For example, if a timestamp field is set to display As Entered and if a user in Los Angeles enters "10/2/2022 2:02 am" in the field, then users in all time zones will see "10/2/2022 2:02 am". But if the field is set to User Time Zone, then the Los Angeles user still sees "10/2/2022 2:02 am" but a Beijing user now sees "10/2/2022 5:02 pm".

• To change the setting, open a spreadsheet view containing the field you want to set. Click in the column for the field and choose Edit Field. For Time Zone Setting, choose As Entered or User Time Zone. Even though the setting can be changed only in a spreadsheet view, the setting applies to the field in any view with the same data.

• Time and timestamp field data is filtered, sorted, grouped, and summarized based on how the date and time is displayed, so changing this setting can affect how these features present data.

• For existing time and timestamp fields, the time zone setting is As Entered, so how the data is displayed isn't changed. For existing data, the UTC+0 time zone is used. For newly entered data, the current user's time zone is used.

• Support in Claris Pro apps is coming soon! For now, values entered in these fields in Claris Studio won't necessarily match what's displayed in Claris Pro apps, and values entered in Claris Pro apps won't include time zone information to display values as expected in Claris Studio.

Trick out your dashboards with filters

• The new quick filter object in dashboards lets you add multiple items to a filter. Each item in a quick filter is simply a button users can turn on or off to apply the filter. Along with dashboard filters, which let users choose operators and enter values, quick filters give users an easy way to further filter data on a dashboard.

  For example, you can create a quick filter with an item for each quarter (2022 Q1, 2022 Q2, etc.), where each item specifies a date range. Then users simply click 2022 Q2 to show only data from that quarter.

• Dashboard filters and quick filters now let you choose which charts and summaries they apply to. By default, these filters apply to all chart and summary objects based on the same table, but now you can click on the filter and choose which of those objects to connect the filter to.

• You can now add multiple dashboard filter and quick filter objects to a dashboard and connect them to the same chart or summary objects. Each filter (dashboard filters, quick filters, and filters defined within chart and summary objects) can further refine the data to display.

Easing the way

• Breadcrumbs at the top of views just got an upgrade. The last breadcrumb is now editable, so you can change a page or view name while you're in the view. From a page in a form view, you can now click the view name to go up to the form flow.

• To help us help you better, the feedback box now lets you choose whether we can email you about your feedback if we need to.

Now you see it, now you don't

• In form and list-detail views, you can now conditionally show or hide a field object based on data in other fields.

  For example, in a survey form, you can hide fields for follow-up questions until a user responds to an earlier question.

• Just click above the field object. For When this happens, choose a field and the condition to check, and for Then do this, choose to show or hide the field. Add as many conditions as you want. If all of them are satisfied, then the field is shown or hidden. If conditions conflict, then the last satisfied condition wins.

Field trip!

• The new user field is like a drop-down field but with a list of the users in your team to choose from. As you add users to your team, they'll automatically appear in the list.

  This field will come in handy for tasks you want to assign to users in your team.

• In the new currency field, you can choose a currency symbol and whether to display decimal values.

Going public

• To give you more control over how you publicly share a form:

  • After you disable and reenable public sharing, the original sharing link now works again, rather than giving you a new link. This lets you temporarily stop sharing—for example, while you make changes—and restart without having to give users a new link.

  • You can now delete a sharing link to prevent the old link from working again (in the view, click Share, then Delete Sharing Link). Reenabling public sharing will now create a new link. You can use this option to provide a link that works for a limited time, delete the link, then reenable public sharing to provide a different link later.

• Form views are now the only type of view that can be publicly shared. Other types of views can be shared only with users in your team via hubs.

  If you're currently sharing other types of views publicly, they will still be shared until you delete the sharing link. After that, you won't be able to publicly share them again.

Hot off the press

• In Claris Studio, the Resources page now provides links to the latest Claris Pro release notes and instructions to install Claris Server.

Jump right to it

• To make the flow of multi-page forms conditional, you can now set the Next and Submit buttons to jump to a specific page based on user input.

• For example, if several fields on a form should be skipped based on a user's response, then you can put those fields on their own page and skip that page when the user clicks Next.

• Just set up one or more conditions by clicking below the page in the workflow or below the button. The first condition satisfied by a user-entered field value determines which page the button jumps to.

Sign here please

• To make it official, the new signature field lets users sign your forms. You can have users sign within the field object or click to sign in a larger dialog box.

• In Claris Pro apps, signature field data is available as a JSON object with metadata and a Base64-encoded image of the signature.

Filter your dashboard once and for all

• With the new dashboard filter object, you can set up a single filter on a dashboard that controls all the charts and summaries that display data from the same table. For example, you can set a dashboard filter to show data in all charts using the same range of dates.

• When you share a dashboard, team members can try different operators and values in a dashboard filter to see the effect on charts and summaries. They can also reset the filter to the conditions you originally set.

"Level up" your drop-downs with options from another view

• When you set up a list of options to display in a drop-down field, you can now get the options from field data in another view. You can still just create a custom list of options for a drop-down field, but if you already have the options as data in another view, you can now reuse that data in a drop-down field.

• For example, let's say you have a training registration form with a drop-down for users to choose a training session. If you have a Sessions spreadsheet view with a record for each session, you can set up the drop-down field in the form to display the values from the Session Name field in your Sessions view.

• Support in Claris Pro apps is coming soon! For now, when you add the field to a layout, the field shows the related row ID instead of the field value.

Ah, the missing link! And text formatting, too!

• The text block object now lets you add links and basic formatting using Markdown in form, list-detail, and dashboard views.

• Most CommonMark Markdown syntax is supported, except for images.

Making life easier

• Field names and field labels can now be edited independently.

  • To edit field names, you can either change the column name in a spreadsheet view or, in any view, change the name in the sidebar under Fields.

  • To edit field labels on a page, change the text above the field object.

  • Changes to a field name also apply to the label until the first time you edit the label, then they're independent.

• These field types can now default to the current date, time, or user when a new record is created:

  • Date, time, and timestamp fields can now default to the current value.

  • Short text fields can now default to the current user's name or account name (email address).

  • Email fields can now default to the current user's account name.

• In a spreadsheet view, when you import a CSV file, you can choose to import it into a new spreadsheet rather than into the current one. Click Table Actions > Import from CSV, then select Create a new spreadsheet.

• Sidebar improvements:

  • The sidebar is now available in all views.

  • To make it easier to navigate between views with the same data, you can now click Sidebar, open the Views with Same Data list, and click the link icon to go to that view.

  • The Fields list is still available, shows all the fields in the view, but dims the fields with objects that are already on a page in the current view. To add an existing field that has no object on a page, drag an undimmed field to the page.

• If you forget your extended Claris account password, you can now request a password reset.

  • In Claris Studio, click Accounts > Extended Account, then click Forgot Password and follow the prompts. You'll receive an email with a verification code to use when setting a new password.

• Attachment fields can now display images in WebP format.

Tidying up

• To give you more room to work on views, we moved some items from the top of the right pane to the left pane, which you can collapse.

• The Account menu and Help menu are now easier to find in the left pane.

• The Hubs, Views, and Users tabs are easier to distinguish from the links that open Claris Connect and Claris Customer Console.

• In the Views tab, when you choose Sort By > Views with Same Data, each group features the name of the oldest view in that group.

One Claris ID account to rule them all

• To simplify signing in to all Claris products, you now use your Claris ID account. The account you previously used to sign in to Claris Studio and Claris Pro has been merged into Claris ID.

• If you already had a separate Claris ID account with the same email address, you now use your existing Claris ID password to sign in to Claris Studio and Claris Pro as well as all other Claris products.

• For now, users you invite to a team in Claris Studio are separate from users you invite to a team in Claris Customer Console. To add users to both, you must invite them in both places. Groups defined in Claris Customer Console aren't supported in Claris Pro.

Claris, for the pros

• To bring data from your Claris Pro apps to dashboards and other views in Claris Studio, you can now migrate data from a table in a Claris Pro file to Claris Studio. When you next go to the Views tab in Claris Studio, you'll see a new spreadsheet view, named for your Claris Pro table, that contains the migrated data. In Claris Pro, the table is now linked to the migrated data in Claris Studio, where changes made to the data in Claris Studio or Claris Pro are reflected in the other when you refresh the page or window.

• Apps created with Claris Pro now use the filename extension .claris.

• If you are in more than one Claris Studio team, you can now use File menu > Claris Studio Teams to switch between them. Team managers who want to create files associated with a different team's Claris Studio data source can switch to that team before creating a file.

• Get the latest update to Claris Pro today! Team members, ask a team manager to send you the download link they can get from the Resources tab in Claris Studio.

Serving Claris Pro apps since...today!

• Claris Server is now available to host Claris Pro custom apps (.claris files). Team managers can get the download link from the Resources tab in Claris Studio.

• After you install Claris Server and open Admin Console for the first time, you must sign in with your Claris ID account. Then, and each time you subsequently open Admin Console, you sign in with your Claris Server administrator account.

• Extended Claris account

  • Certain Claris Server services that access hosted files don't yet fully support Claris ID. For now, to use those services, you must create an extended Claris account to authenticate instead of using your Claris ID. To create this account, sign in to Claris Studio, click your email address, choose Extended Account, and set the password you want to use. Your extended Claris account name is the same as your Claris ID email address, but the password is what you set in the Create Extended Claris Account dialog box in Claris Studio.

  • When you use these services, you must authenticate with your extended Claris account:

    • Claris WebDirect – Each user who needs to access a hosted app using Claris WebDirect must create an extended Claris account.

    • scheduled scripts

    • Claris Data API

    • OData API

    • Custom Web Publishing with XML (when available)

With Claris Go, you really CAN take it with you

• Claris Go is coming soon to the App Store for iOS and iPadOS devices.

• Use it to work on-the-go with your Claris Pro apps that access Claris Studio data.

...and more backstage magic!

Same data, another point of view

• To save you a step when you create a form view, Claris Studio now automatically creates a spreadsheet view using the same data. Now you're ready to see the data in a spreadsheet as the form submissions roll in.

• Need to know which views use the same data? In the Views tab, you can now choose Sort By > Related Views to group them together.

Mmm, free samples!

• To start exploring Claris Studio faster, you'll now find sample spreadsheet and dashboard views in the Views tab. They're tied to the same sample data, so you can quickly try out different charts in the dashboard and see the results. Or play around with the data in the spreadsheet and see how the dashboard changes.

Making a list, checking it twice (for details)

• In list-detail views, you can now filter and sort the records that users will see in the list when working with data. Users can then change these settings as needed.

• Searching data in list-detail views is now quick work with quick search. As you type, the list narrows down to records with matching text in any field.

• You now have more room to work in list-detail views. When editing, the view is taller and wider than before, and you can choose to make the header shorter for even more room. When working with data, the view is now wider and, with a shorter header, gives users more room to work with data.

Polishing the bells and tuning the whistles

• The Add Objects list and similar lists now have a more consistent look and let you find matching items in the list.

• In views with a header object, the theme color in Page Settings now sets the color of the header. This also sets the button color in form views.

• Attachment fields now have more visually consistent controls. And when the field is empty, the placeholder text now fits better when an object is small.

...and more behind-the-curtain wizardry!

The "hub" of the matter is sharing.

• Hubs now let you organize data views into unified collections that you can share with your team. Reuse the same view across multiple hubs—with no additional work. Create hubs based on a business process, like purchase orders, inventory management, or project tracking.

• For team managers, the main navigation bar now makes it easy to access hubs, views, and users, and to quickly open Claris Connect and Claris Customer Console.

• For team members, signing in to Claris Studio now takes you directly to your hubs, where you can easily open the views shared with you.

The view is getting better and better from here.

• Dashboard: Get a bird's eye view of your information. From existing data in a spreadsheet view, you can now create dashboard views with pie, line, or bar charts and summarized values (totals, averages, min and max values, and more). View your dashboards in Claris Studio or, via a web viewer, in Claris Pro.

• Kanban: Visually track the progress of your work for any project in this new view. Move cards—virtual sticky notes—across columns to show your progress. Create a new kanban view or make one from an existing spreadsheet or form view.

Two-way is the pro way.

• In addition to reading records from Claris Studio, Claris Pro can now create, update, and delete records in Claris Studio. That means you can now share data both ways across the Claris platform.

• Claris Pro can now search records in both Claris Pro and Claris Studio data.

• To get the latest update to Claris Pro, team managers can download it from the Resources tab in Claris Studio.

Help is on the way.

• Check out the new Claris Studio Help and watch for updates.

...and more behind-the-scenes enhancements!

The view is beautiful from here.

• Views let you present and work with your data in more ways. In addition to forms, you can now create these new views:

  • Spreadsheet: In place of the Data tab, this familiar, powerful, and easy way to work with your data is now a view and has these new features.

    • Click near the row number to easily view and edit a record (row) as a form.

    • To quickly add existing data, import it as a CSV file.

    • Filter, sort, and group your data.

    • Make a quick chart of your data from any column in a few clicks.

    • Use the summary functions at the bottom of each column to get counts (unique, filled, or empty values), totals, averages, max and min values, and more.

  • List-detail: This popular screen layout lets users select one of the records in a list and then see the details.

    • The list and detail area are responsive, so the view automatically adjusts to work well on large and small displays.

    • In Settings for the list, simply choose the fields to show and add a title—the layout of the list is handled for you.

• In the new Views tab:

  • You can add, delete, and share views.

  • From any view, you can now create a different view that uses the same data. For example, from a form view, you can create a spreadsheet view to work with submitted form data.

  • Thumbnail images now help you identify each view more quickly.

• When you share a spreadsheet or list-detail view, anyone with the link can add, edit, and delete data.

• Sharing a view can now be disabled. Each time you enable sharing for a view, a new sharing link is created. When you disable sharing, the previously created link stops working.

You'll really become attached to this.

• The new attachment field lets users upload, download, and delete images or other files in a record.

• Supported image formats in attachment fields are JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BMP. Files of any type can be up to 5 MB.

Teams rock!

• Users can now use one Claris Studio ID to join multiple teams. Use the Team menu in Claris Studio to switch between teams.

• In the Teams tab, team managers can now resend an invitation to a pending user.

...and more under-the-hood goodness!

• Claris Studio is the new center for:

  • Managing your team – Invite users to join your team and have read-only access to your team's Claris Studio data using Claris Pro. You can also promote users to the team manager role.

  • Creating web forms – Team managers can create, edit, and share web forms to collect data to use in Claris Pro.

  • Downloading Claris Pro – Team managers can get a link to download Claris Pro to share with their team.

• In a form, the address field object lets you work with all the parts of an address (street, city, and so on) as one object.

• Sharing a form now gives you a link that allows anyone to view your form and submit data without signing in.

• Objects on shared forms now reflow as needed to fit small or large screen sizes. And previewing your form now lets you see how it will look on several screen sizes.

• When viewing data:

  • Row heights now dynamically adjust to fit the content.

  • Data is displayed using the same formatting options that are set in field objects.

• If you type a value in a date, time, or timestamp field, the date and time selector now displays the value you typed.

• You can now change the header text alignment.

• Lots of polish and a dab of color now make your form editing experience more fun.

...and more backstage magic!