A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Z

Inspector

What is the inspector in FileMaker?

The inspector shall FileMaker is the control center for formatting any objects and is only available in layout mode. The inspector can be shown or hidden in the menu bar under [View > Inspector]. The inspector has four tab buttons [Position], [Styles], [Presentation] and [Data]The inspector is displayed only after an object has been selected. The inspector is only displayed after an object has been selected and shows the setting options valid for the selected object. The contents of the inspector can therefore vary depending on the selected object. With the menu command [View > New inspector] another inspector can be opened.

Register [Position]

In the register [Position] all settings are made that have something to do with the position of the selected object.

Range [Position]

Name (Name of the object. Can be called up in a script with the command "Go to object [...]")
Quick info (Text to be displayed as a tooltip or "speech bubble" when the mouse is moved over the object)
Position (Position of the object left, top, right and bottom. The specifications for right and bottom depend on the size of the object)
Size (Size of the object, width and height, depends on the values "right" and "bottom" in the "Position" area)

Range [Automatic size]

In this area, the size of the object can be automatically adjusted to the window size. The side with which the object is to be anchored to the window size can be specified. The window is symbolically represented by a frame surrounding the object.

Range [Arrange and align]

In this area, the object can be arranged and aligned in relation to other objects. These functions are therefore only available if several objects have been selected. The objects are then aligned to each other accordingly.

Functions for alignment with objects

Align to left edges
Align to vertical centers
Align to right edges
Align to upper edges
Align to the horizontal center points
Align to lower edges
Distribute empty steps horizontally
Distribute empty steps vertically

Functions for scaling objects

Adjust to smallest width
Adjust to largest width
Adjust to the smallest height
Adjust to maximum height
Adjust to the smallest height and width
Adjust to maximum height and width

Range [Alignment and visibility]

These functions can be used to adjust an object in relation to other objects. If, for example, a text field in a letter is so long that it can theoretically hold three pages of text, a printout without this function would always be three pages long, even if the text actually only fills one page. With the "Adjustment and visibility" function, the text frame can be adjusted in relation to other objects so that the field is reduced (adjusted) to its actual size when printed.

Align to the left (Adjusts all selected objects to the left)
Adjust upwards (Adjusts all selected objects upwards)

You can also define whether all objects or only objects directly above the selected object should be adjusted. With the option [Also adjust the size of the enclosed area]. can be used to instruct FileMaker to reduce the size of the entire area if the content of the object is smaller than the object on the layout.

Range [Grid]

In this area, you can define a grid that FileMaker should display in layout mode. The grid spacing can be freely specified and you can define whether objects should be automatically aligned on the grid.

Register [Styles]

In the register [Styles] displays all active styles for the selected object. A style in FileMaker Pro is a predefined format that you can apply to layout objects, layout areas, and the background of a layout. The various formatting options include the following:

The Color or transparency of layout objects, layout areas and the layout background
Line styles and color of layout objects and areas
Limitations to layout objects and areas
The Shape of the layout object and layout area corners
The Display status for a layout object
The Shadow outside or inside the boundary of a layout object
The Upholstery circumference for layout objects

In the area [Styles] of the inspector, you can save changes to the design, save the design as a new design and rename the design. Each individual style can be saved as a new style or renamed.

Register [Presentation]

In the register [Presentation] button, all settings relating to the display of the object can be made for the selected object. As a rule, only one object is selected for these functions. If several objects have been selected, the changes are applied to all selected objects.

Range [Design]

The object type of the selected object can be set in the upper area [Design]. In the pop-up menu below, you can select the status of the object to which the changes to the display should apply. You can therefore make separate settings for the display of the object for all object states (e.g. "normal", "under mouse", "pressed" or "selected").

Range [Graphic]

In the area [Graphic] the fill and the line style of the object can be specified. The options "Solid background" (one color), "Gradient" and "Image" (background image) can be selected for the fill. Lines can be displayed in any line width and color in solid, dashed or dotted form. For each object, you can specify on which sides of the object a line should be drawn. A corner radius can also be specified for rounded objects.

Range [Extended graphic]

In the area [Extended graphic] further settings can be made for the selected object. For example, an outer shadow or inner shadow can be set for an object. The inner distance of the object content to all sides of the object can also be defined.

Range [Text]

For objects that allow the field content "Text", all settings for displaying the text can be made here. This includes the following setting options:

Font (Font in which the text is to be displayed)
Font formatting (Formatting such as standard, bold, italics, underline, etc.)
Font size (Font size in which the text is to be displayed)
Baselines (shows or hides the baselines of the text, specifying the line width and color)
Baseline offset (Setting for how far the displayed baseline should be from the text)

Range [Paragraph]

The area [Paragraph] in the inspector is used to make the following paragraph settings for a text field with continuous text:

Alignment (left-aligned, centered, right-aligned, justified, align to top of field, align to center or align to bottom of field)
Line spacing (distance between text lines, adjustable as lines, points, inches or centimeters)
Move-in (text indentation for first line, left or right page, adjustable in points, inches or centimeters)

Range [Tabs]

In this area, tabs can be set and managed within a text field. The tab position can be set to left-aligned, right-aligned or centered.

Register [Data]

In this tab, all settings are made for the selected object that have something to do with the data to which the object is linked.

Range [field]

All field-related settings for the selected object are made in this area.

Show data from (field to which the selected object is linked)
Placeholder text (Displays a placeholder text if the field in the database is empty. You can also set whether the placeholder text should also be displayed in search mode)
Control style (Style in which the object is to be displayed. You can choose between: Editing field (standard), drop-down list, drop-down menu, checkboxes, radio buttons and a pop-up calendar)
Vertical scroll bar (Switches a vertical scroll bar for the selected object on or off. You can also set whether the scroll bar should always be displayed or only when scrolling)
Show repetitions (Displays a specific repetition of a repeating field or several repetitions where the orientation can be determined vertically or horizontally)

Range [Behavior]

Set here how the selected object should behave under certain defined circumstances.

Hide object if (Here you can define a conditional visibility for an object. The object is only displayed if the entered condition is met. Also specify whether this condition should also apply in search mode)
Field input (Specify here whether the selected object allows field entry in browse mode and/or search mode. You can also specify whether the entire content should be selected when the field is selected)
Go to next object with (Tab key, Return key or Enter key)
Include field in quick search (Includes the field in the quick search)
Do not use the visual spell checker (switches off the spell check for the selected object)
Touch keyboard type (Valid for iOS: Type of touch keyboard to be displayed. Possible values: System default, default for data type, ASCII, URL, e-mail, numeric 10-keyboard, number keyboard, number and punctuation, telephone)

Range [Data formatting]

In this area, specify how the data in the selected object should be formatted. The options displayed depend on the data type of the selected field object. The following options are available:

General (default setting)
As entered (Represents the data as it was entered)
Boolean (Only number fields, represents the data as Boolean)
Decimal (Only number fields, displays the data in decimal with adjustable configuration)
Currency (Only number fields, displays the data as decimal currency with adjustable configuration)
Percent (Only number fields, displays the data as a percentage value)

For date and time fields, a variety of options are available for formatting the field data. The following options are available for container fields:

Cut to frame
Reduce image to fit
Enlarge image to fit
Reduce or enlarge image to fit
Alignment (left, horizontally centered, right, top, vertically centered, bottom)
Optimize for (images or interactive content, option for automatic playback)
Maintain PDF transparency

Inspector

What is the inspector in FileMaker?