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Working with data in Table View

When you view records in a table, FileMaker Pro displays data in rows and columns. Each row displays a record, and each column displays a field.

Working with fields

While viewing data in Table View in Browse mode, you can create, modify, or delete fields.

Note  You must log in using the Full Access privilege set to modify fields in Table View.

 

To	Do this
Create a field	For the first field, click Create Field in the column heading for the first column of the table. To create additional fields, click + in the column heading or click in the right margin. A new column is added to the last column of the table. To cancel creating the new field press Esc before submitting the change. You can prevent new fields that you create from being automatically placed on the current layout by deselecting Add newly defined fields to current layout in the Preferences dialog box. For more information see Setting layout preferences.
Change a field name	Double-click the column heading for the field you want to rename, then type the new name. To discard changes to the field name, press Esc before you exit the column heading. For information about field names, see About naming fields.
Choose a field type	Right-click the column heading, then choose one of the options for Field Type. For more information about field types, see About choosing a field type. The default field type is Text.
Set field options	Right-click the column heading, then choose Field Options. For more information, see Setting options for fields.
Sort records by a field	Select one or more columns, right-click to display the shortcut menu, then choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. (You can also choose Sort by Value List and select a value list from the submenu.) If you select multiple columns, the order of the columns (left to right) determines the sort order. Note  If you have selected Sort data when selecting column in the Table View Properties dialog box, you can also click a column heading to sort records by that column (field). See Setting up form, list, and table views for a layout.
Display more fields or hide fields	• Click Modify in the layout bar and use the options in the Modify Table View dialog box. See Displaying and hiding fields in Table View for more information.  • Or, right-click a column heading, then choose Hide Field to hide the selected field. To display an existing field in Table View, right-click the + column heading, then choose a field from the list of existing fields.
Delete a field	Right-click the column heading, then choose Delete Field. For more information, see Deleting table definitions, field definitions and data. Important  Before you delete a field, confirm that you don’t need any of the data it contains.

Working with records

While viewing data in Table View in Browse mode, you can add, duplicate, sort, or delete records.

 

To	Do this
Add a new record	Click + in the left margin of the table. A new row is added to the end of the table if the records have not been sorted. For sorted data, a new row is added to the last row of the sorted category for the currently selected row. After you add a new record, it becomes the current row.
Duplicate a record	Right-click the left or right margin of the record that you want to duplicate, then choose Duplicate Record.
Copy the data in a record	Right-click the left or right margin of the record that you want to copy, then choose Copy Record. You can paste the copied, tab-separated data into a field or into Microsoft Excel.
Sort records	Right-click the left or right margin, then choose Sort Records. Use the Sort Records dialog box to specify how to sort records. For more information, see Options for sorting records.
Save data as a Microsoft Excel file or Adobe PDF file, or save the current found set of records as a snapshot link	Right-click the left or right margin, then choose one of the options from the Save/Send Records As shortcut menu. See Saving and sending records in other formats for more information.
Send email messages based on record data	Right-click the left or right margin of the record, then choose Send Mail. For more information, see Sending email messages based on record data.

Setting display options for Table View

While viewing data in Table View in Browse mode, you can resize or reorder the columns, change the background or alternate color, create dynamic reports, or restore the default display settings.

 

To	Do this
Reorder columns	Click a column heading and drag it to a new location.
Resize a column	Move the pointer to the edge of the column heading. When the pointer changes to a double arrow, drag it to the desired size.
Set a precise column width	Select one or more column headings. Right-click, then choose Set Column Width from the shortcut menu. In the dialog box, type a width, choose units from the list, then click OK.
Change the color of the background	Right-click the left or right margin of a record, then choose a color from the Part Color shortcut menu. The color of the row for adding new records and the column for adding new fields will be slightly darker than the main background color.
Display a different background color for alternating records	Right-click the left or right margin of a record, then choose a color from the Alternate Color shortcut menu.
Create a dynamic report	See Creating dynamic reports in Table View. For example, you can group your data by a field, display subtotals for a field, or create subtotals for each group of data.
Restore the default display settings	Right-click a column heading and choose Reset Table View from the shortcut menu. Note  Resetting Table View only changes the settings for the appearance of the table. For example, it removes any leading and trailing subtotals and fill colors that you added to the table. Resetting a table doesn’t have any impact on the data. For example, if you created fields and added records to the table, resetting the table doesn’t delete the fields and records.

Notes

•	To use the column heading to create fields in Table View, you have to select the Include column headers option for Table View property. For more information, see Setting up form, list, and table views for a layout.

•	You can’t use Table View to change the schema for related tables or external data sources. To change the schema for related tables, use the Manage Database dialog box.

•	To reorder, resize, or sort data in Table View, you can select multiple columns but you can't select multiple cells.

•	Table View displays fields from the body part of the current layout. If a layout contains a portal, Table View displays the data from the first related record (the first row of the portal).

•	Global fields display one value for all records. You can edit a global field in any row of the table. See Defining global fields (fields with global storage).