

If you need to compareĭates or perform any functions on them, remember that behind the scenes Ordering that is fixed at the time of file creation.ĭates in FileMaker Pro are internally stored as the number of days since It's possible to change the way dates are displayed, it is this basic Order of year, month, and dayare common for a given file. Operating system uses at the time a new file is created. Whatever date standard your country follows by taking the standard your They're sorted: a text field sorts 1, 10, 2, 20, 3, 4, 5, whereas a numberĭate fields accept Gregorian calendar dates only. The primary distinction between a number and text field lies in how You will often run across number fields being used in such a manner. A zero or null value is false any other data is A Boolean value is either true or false, and is often used to test Something to keep in mind with FileMaker Pro: A number field can be expressedĪs a Boolean. Interprets "12ax3" as 123 if you enter it into a numeric field, for Number fields can accept text (though notĬarriage returns), but any text in a numeric field is ignored. Significant digits (numbers, decimal points, or signs) of a number field, Number fields can store values from 10 -400 up to 10 400,Īnd negative values in the same range. For now, simply remember that eachįield type has different limits and approaches on indexing. Indexing in more depth later in the chapter. Limited by RAM and hard drive space, of course, and indexes up to approximatelyġ00 characters, depending on what language you're using.

A text field can store up to 2GB of information, Requirement is that it be textin other words, you can't place a Range of information in them, including carriage returns, and there's noĮxpectation of what form or sort of information a text field will hold. Text fields are the most freeform of the field types. Type definition that gives a database its context and meaning.

It's the combination of a proper identifying field name and a data It should be quite clear to you what each needs to be.įield types determine what types of operations can be performed on a givenįield, what information a field can accept, and the rules by which a field is A person's name is text, the dollarĪmount for a transaction is a number, a birthday is a date, and so on. Simply stated, field types identify what kind of information each field of Understanding field types, how they're different from one another, and how One of the most important aspects of understanding FileMaker Pro is
