Home > Designing and creating databases > Creating and managing layouts and reports > Working with popovers on layouts > Adding a popover

Adding a popover

You can add a popover to a layout to organize objects and make data entry easier. To add a popover to a layout, create a popover button. FileMaker Pro creates a popover at the same time. Add fields and other layout objects on the popover.

To add a popover to a layout:

1.	In Layout mode, choose the layout you want from the Layout pop-up menu.

2.	In the status toolbar, do the following:

•	Windows: Click the arrow next to the Button tool or the Popover Button tool , and choose Popover Button from the menu. Then drag the crosshair to draw the popover button.

•	OS X: Click and hold the Button tool or the Popover Button tool , and choose Popover Button from the menu. Then drag the crosshair to draw the popover button.

Tip  You can also add a popover button by choosing Insert menu > Popover Button.

A popover button and popover are created on the layout, and the Popover Setup dialog box appears.

3.	To add a label to the popover button, type the label at the insertion point on the popover button.

4.	To change popover settings (for example, to hide the popover’s title or change the direction in which the popover opens), use the Popover Setup dialog box.

See Changing popover settings.

5.	To add objects to the popover, use the layout tools in the status toolbar, choose from the Insert menu, or drag objects onto the tab panel.

6.	Close the popover by clicking its close button.

Notes

•	After you've added objects to a popover, you can move, resize, reshape, copy, delete, and arrange the objects on the popover. See Selecting and working with objects on popovers.

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If necessary, you can place a popover button close to the edge of the layout’s viewing area. If the popover’s display direction will extend the popover beyond the viewing area, the popover will open in the direction in which it is most visible. Scroll bars appear on the popover, if needed, to allow you to display all the objects on the popover.

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If you are using a popover on a narrow or short layout and you want the popover to extend past the edge of the layout to enlarge the popover’s data entry area, set fields and the popover to resize automatically, and anchor the popover on the right side or bottom. See Setting auto-resize options for layout objects.

•	To have a popover display in Table View, place the popover in the header part or footer part on the layout.

•	You can export data from fields on popovers with the following exceptions:

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When you save or send data as Excel (using File menu > Save/Send Records as > Excel), fields on popovers are not included in the destination file. Use File menu > Export Records instead. After naming the destination file and setting Excel options, choose Current Table in the Specify Field Order for Export dialog box, then select the fields you want to export. See Exporting data from FileMaker Pro.

•	When you use the context menu in Table View to copy records or to save or send records as a PDF, fields on popovers are not included in the destination file.

•	When you use the Copy Record/Request script step or Copy All Records/Requests script step, fields on popovers are not included in the destination file.

•	Popover buttons are identified by a badge in Layout mode. If you don’t see a badge, choose View menu  > Show > Popover Buttons.

•	To close a popover in Browse mode, select another area of the layout, or press Esc.

Related topics 

Moving and resizing popovers

Formatting popover buttons and popovers

Copying, duplicating, and deleting popovers