Defining custom menus (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

Contents > Customizing files with FileMaker Pro Advanced > Defining custom menus (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

Defining custom menus (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

With FileMaker Pro Advanced, you can create custom menus for your database solutions. You can add, edit, duplicate, or delete menus and menu items in many ways, such as:

Changing a menu or menu item name

Performing a script or script step from a menu item. You can also run scripts from an associated toolbar icon and shortcut menu

Assigning custom keyboard shortcuts and access keys

Specifying a platform for your menus and menu items

Specifying a mode for your menus

Specifying menu sets for files and layouts

You can create a menu by starting with a blank menu or by editing a copy of a standard FileMaker menu. You can duplicate a menu so you can make changes without modifying the original, or you can delete menus that your users will not need.

To create, edit, duplicate, or delete a menu:

1.	Choose File menu > Manage > Custom Menus > Custom Menus tab.

Menus in brackets, such as [Scripts], cannot be customized, duplicated, or deleted.

2.	Do one of the following in the Manage Custom Menus dialog box, then click OK:

To

Do this

Create a menu

Click Create.

In the Create Custom Menu dialog box, do one of the following, then click OK:

Click Start with an empty menu

Click Start with a standard FileMaker menu, then select a menu from the list.

Note You can press Shift and click Create to create an empty menu.

Edit an existing menu

Select the menu from the list, then click Edit.

Duplicate a menu

Select the menu from the list, then click Duplicate.

Delete a menu

Select the menu from the list, then click Delete.

Important When you delete a menu, you also delete its menu items.

3.	If you selected Create or Edit, you see the Edit Custom Menu dialog box. Specify options for the custom menu.

Note The options you specify apply to the entire menu.

To Do this

Specify the menu name

For Custom Menu Name, enter a descriptive name for the menu (up to 100 characters). This name appears in the Custom Menu list of the Manage Custom Menus dialog box. It does not appear in the menu or menu bar.

Specify the title that you want to display in the menu bar

For Default Display Title, select Override Title, then enter the name (up to 30,000 characters). To specify an access key (Windows), type an ampersand (&) before the character you want to use as the access key. For example, type &File to display the File menu with the letter "F" as the access key.

To base the menu title on the result of a calculation, click Specify, then build a formula in the Specify Calculation dialog box.

Note You cannot change the name of the Help or FileMaker Pro menus.

Include a comment in the Manage Custom Menus dialog box

Enter a comment about the menu (up to 30,000 characters).

Choose a platform for a menu

Select Windows, Macintosh, or both. Your menu will appear on the platforms you select.

Specify in which modes to display the menu

For Menu Mode, select in which modes you want the menu to appear (Browse, Find, Preview). When users switch modes, the menu set changes to display only the menus specified for that mode.

4.	After you create or edit the custom menu, you can create custom menu items. See Creating and editing custom menu items (FileMaker Pro Advanced).

5.	For Default menu set for this file, choose a default menu set. If you do not choose a menu set, the standard FileMaker menus are used.

Notes

You must have full access privileges to customize menus.

You can check to see if custom menus are installed:

Windows: Choose Help menu > About FileMaker Pro, then click Info.

Mac OS: Choose FileMaker Pro menu > About FileMaker Pro, then click Info.

When custom menus are installed, the dialog box displays "Custom Menus Active".

You may need to modify menu sets and specify when FileMaker installs them.

Custom menus display in FileMaker Pro and runtime solutions but cannot be edited.

Web published databases do not recognize customized menu commands. For example, if you customize the New Record command to quit the application, this will have no effect in Instant Web Publishing; web users will see the default New Record command.

FileMaker features only work if they are included in a menu. For example, if you remove the View menu from the menu set and do not have any scripted buttons on the layout to switch views, the mode buttons in the status area are disabled, making it impossible for your users to switch modes.

If the Edit menu is not part of an installed menu set, the Cut, Copy, and Paste shortcuts do not work.

Shortcut menus display when a user right-clicks (Windows) or Control-clicks (Mac OS) an object or an area. If you customize a menu item that has a shortcut menu item, you also customize the behavior performed by the shortcut menu item.

It is important to provide user documentation with your solution because the custom menus won't match the product documentation.

Standard FileMaker menus and menu items are localized based on the operating system's language. However, if you customize the title of a menu or menu item, it will not be localized when the system's language is changed.

Standard FileMaker menu items are dimmed if users don't have privileges to perform the menu command. Menus are not dimmed if you attach a script to the menu item.

The Open Help script step displays FileMaker Pro help, not customized help.

A previous version of FileMaker Pro Advanced (FileMaker Developer) allowed you to customize the Help, About, and Scripts menu for runtime solutions. If you use FileMaker Pro Advanced to open a runtime file created in FileMaker Developer, any customized About, Help, and Script menus will appear as part of the Standard FileMaker Menus menu set. You cannot change them. Custom Menu Set #1 provides a copy of the FileMaker Pro Advanced standard menus.

In Mac OS X, menu cropping may occur depending on the number of custom menus installed and the resolution of the display screen. To display all menus, reduce the number of custom menus or increase the screen resolution.

Custom shortcuts can only use characters found on English/U.S. keyboards. You can also use the yen character on Japanese keyboards. If you use the yen character as a shortcut, the character appears as a backslash (\) in the Specify Shortcut and Edit Custom Menus dialog boxes on Mac OS X. When you install the menu on a Japanese system, the character appears properly as the yen character.

In Mac OS X, you cannot use AppleScript to access the FileMaker Pro menu (or its menu items) if the menu is not included in the installed menu set.

In Browse mode, the Constrain Found Set and Extend Found Set menu items appear in shortcut menus. You cannot customize their actions.

In Find mode, titles of custom menus and menu items that are based on field values that are not global will be blank.

If you customize an action for any of the following commands, the corresponding status area icon performs the customized action. If you remove any of these commands from the menu bar, the corresponding icon performs the default action:

Zoom In and Zoom Out commands are executed via the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons.

Status area command is executed via the Show/Hide Status Area button.

Perform Find command is executed via the Find button (or by pressing the Enter key in Find mode).

The menu item name for Close and the shortcut, Ctrl+F4, cannot be modified in the Windows System Menu of the document window. The Close behavior will change if the action for the Close Menu item is altered in the Edit Custom Menu dialog box.

You cannot modify the names for Browse, Find, Layout, and Preview in the mode pop-up menu in the status area. The actions for Browse, Find, Layout, and Preview can be modified and will be activated when the mode pop-up menu and the mode buttons are changed in the status area.

In the Specify FileMaker Command dialog box, the Undo command in files created prior to version 9.0 is listed as Undo (Toggle). The multiple Undo command is listed as Undo. If your solutions are used in pre-9.0 versions of FileMaker, use the Undo (Toggle) command.

FileMaker Pro Advanced may not be available in all of the shipping languages of FileMaker Pro.

More detail about defining custom menus

Documenting developer solutions (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

Creating and editing custom menu sets (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

Creating and editing custom menu items (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

Contents > Customizing files with FileMaker Pro Advanced > Defining custom menus (FileMaker Pro Advanced)