Working with Fonts

In the last few days I worked on my template database again. I use it as a storage place and work of reference of ideas, features, and solutions I developed with FileMaker. It includes a basic collection of custom functions, default scripts for trigger management, and design samples.

Designing a good looking layout is a challenge in itself. But when you try to use the same layout in both worlds, Mac OS and MS Windows, raises the challenge quite a bit. Main problems are the font. There are only few fonts available in both systems. But having the same name does not make it the same font. Text formatted in the same font might have different width and height – resulting in really ugly layouts.

There are different ways to redress these problems:

• Oversize all labels and fields
• Use conditional formatting
• Use hidden tab controls for each operating system
• Create separate layouts for each operating system

Often, you will use a mixture of different solutions. But to master these challenges you should know a little bit about the fonts in Mac OS and MS Windows.
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As a developer you might need a timer in your database. In that case you might find this feature helpful. You can create timer, as many as you like. Use them for benchmarks, to log import and export times, or to keep track of user log-in times.

Stop Watch

Each timer works like a little stopwatch. You can …

• start it,
• stop it,
• restart/stop it again,
• read the elapsed time,
• and reset/remove it.

This is accomplished with custom functions and a global variable:

• timer( name; action )
• param( key; value )
• param.get( key; params )
• param.delete( key; params )
• $$timer

Read more …