Q: Our school has been using FileMaker Pro since version 5.5 and we still use some of the files created back then, but converted to run on FileMaker Pro 8. Recently our school upgraded from FileMaker Pro 8 to version 9. This month we replaced some of our old Mac workstations with new iMacs. On these machines the layouts in our student information database (shared via FileMaker Server 8) now look different. The fonts have changed, and on some screens the fields are even in different places! In one case, a report that worked fine now prints sideways! We've been running this database for years without any problems. Our IT staff swears the computers aren't causing this problem, and the person who set up this database retired and moved to Arizona. Is this a FileMaker virus? Are our new computers haunted or something? Do you have any ideas about what is causing this problem?
Figure 1: Get (flag) -- The Get function responds to more than 80 different options that return information specific to the computer and FileMaker Pro file. To see this list, use the "View: Get functions" drop-down in the specify calculation dialog.
A: I can see how this problem could be a head-scratcher. Fortunately, there is no such beast as a FileMaker Pro virus so you're safe there. And although I'm frequently called upon to exorcise bad behavior from databases, I'm fairly certain your situation doesn't involve mischievous ghosts.
My first thought was that some of the features new in FileMaker Pro 9 were at play. Two in particular -- layout object auto-resize and conditional formatting -- could produce most of the behavior you describe. However, you state that these anomalies manifest only on your newer Macs and not on the existing Macs that were also upgraded to FileMaker Pro 9. And it seems no major development has been done on your solution since FileMaker Pro 9 debuted in July 2007.
When contemplating conundrums such as yours, I often call upon the wisdom of Sherlock Holmes. One of his famous detective maxims is that "after eliminating the impossible, whatever remains -- however improbable -- must be the truth." Applying this approach to your circumstances, I realize that you're describing conditions (fields in different places?) that would be true only if you were looking at different layouts. Although improbable, I must conclude that the buttons and scripts in your database that navigate to layouts are now taking you to different layouts when viewed on your newer Macs. Now the question becomes: How is this happening?
There's a function in FileMaker Pro that can obtain certain environmental information from and about your computer and database file. The Get function can retrieve the current date or time, size of the display, operating system platform, version of FileMaker Pro, account name of the current user, position and size of the active window, and so forth. To see what information is available, go to the specify calculation dialog and select "View: view all functions by type" or "View: Get functions" (figure 1). You can use these functions in calculations and scripts to control actions -- such as layout navigation.
You may have noticed there are display differences between the two main PC operating systems (also called platforms), Windows and Mac. They come with different fonts, and even when they display the same font -- 11 pt. Verdana, for example -- the text in any document on the Windows machine will be rendered slightly larger. For some font faces the size variance is more pronounced. When designing FileMaker Pro layouts on the Mac that might be used on both platforms, it's a good idea to make the fields slightly larger to compensate for the display differences. Naturally, it's best to then view the layout on both platforms to prevent surprises.