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Liftdata/Filemaker Basics
Liftdata is a collection of information, or data, that you can organize, update, sort, search through, and print as needed. A Liftdata database file is made up of records. The records consist of fields, which store and display your data.
Each Liftdata database file contains information about the file’s structure, like fields and their definitions, passwords and access privileges, calculations, layouts, and scripts. A Liftdata database file also contains the data you enter and work with.
Liftdata is a set of database files that, together, contain all the information about a particular topic, or related topics (a relational database).
What are fields?
Fields store, calculate, and display the data you have entered into a record. The information you put into a field -- by typing, pasting, or importing from another application -- is its value. Field values in a Liftdata file can be: text, numbers, dates, times, pictures & sounds. Each piece of information in a record -- like a name, address, or telephone number -- is stored in a field.
What are records?
To enter data in a database file, you make a new record and enter data into the fields that belong to that record. After you create records in a file, you can work with them in various ways: you can edit them, sort them, find a group of records that contain a particular value and share the data across a network.
What are layouts?
FileMaker Pro layouts present data (the text entered into fields) contained in a database. Layouts determine how data is displayed for viewing, printing, reporting, finding, and entering data. Layouts do not store your data -- they just display it. When you move between layouts in a Liftdata file, it doesn't affect the data or other layouts in the file. However, when you change data in a field on a layout, the changes are reflected in the same field on all the layouts in the database.
Within one database file, you can view separate layouts for entering data, summary reporting or printing. You will have access to many layouts for each file.