Creating and editing custom menu items (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

Contents > Customizing files with FileMaker Pro Advanced > Defining custom menus (FileMaker Pro Advanced) > Creating and editing custom menu items (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

Creating and editing custom menu items (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

After you create a menu, you can create menu items. You can also create or edit menu items that are copies of the Standard FileMaker menus. Menu items can be commands, submenus or separators. You can create a menu item that is based on a standard FileMaker command or you can create a menu item that initially does not have an assigned command.

When you base a menu item on a FileMaker command, that menu item inherits all the properties of that command. You can override properties (title, shortcut, or action) to customize the menu item.

When you create a menu item that does not have an assigned command, an untitled menu item appears in the Menu Items list of the Edit Custom Menu dialog box. You can then customize the menu item properties.

To add or edit menu items in a custom menu:

1.	Choose or create a custom menu and set options such as menu name, display title, and mode. See Defining custom menus (FileMaker Pro Advanced).

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

3.	In the Manage Custom Menus dialog box, select the menu from the list, then click Edit.

4.	In the Edit Custom Menu dialog box, specify which menu items are included in the menu:

To

Do this

Add a command

Click Command.

In the Specify FileMaker Command dialog box, do one of the following, then click OK.

Click No command assigned. FileMaker Pro Advanced adds an Untitled menu item to the Menu Item list. You must specify properties for this command (see Step 5).

Click Use a FileMaker command, then select a command from the list.

The command determines the action or behavior of the menu item.

Tip You can shift-click Command to create an Untitled command menu item.

Add a submenu

Click Submenu to add another menu's commands to the current menu.

In the Specify Submenu dialog box, select the menu you want to include, then click OK.

Note You can add up to 100 menus to the menu bar. If you add a menu that includes itself as a submenu, you may quickly reach the limit.

Add a separator line

Select the menu item from the list under which you want the separator line to appear, then click Separator.

Duplicate a menu item

Select a menu item from the list, then click Duplicate button

Duplicate button

.

Delete a menu item

Select a menu item from the list, then click Delete button

.

Drag an arrow Open/Close Data Viewer button

Open/Close Data Viewer button

up or down to change the order of the menu items in the list.

5.	Select each menu item from the Menu Items list and specify its properties.

To Do this

Change a command for a menu item

Click Specify. In the Specify FileMaker Command dialog box, select a command, then click OK.

Choose a platform for a menu item

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

Note Some commands are valid on only one platform.

Change the title for a menu item

Select Title and enter the text. To specify an access key (Windows), type an ampersand & before the character you want to use as the access key. For example, type &Open to display the Open menu item with the letter "O" 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 Untitled menu items do not have a checkbox.

Define a shortcut for a menu item

Select Shortcut. In the Specify Shortcut dialog box, type the key combination, then click OK.

Perform a script or script step when a user selects a menu item

Select Action, do one of the following, then click OK.

Select Script. In the Specify Script Options dialog box, select a script and enter the optional script parameters as necessary.

Select Script Step. In the Specify Script Step dialog box, select a step and specify options as necessary, then click OK.

Note Untitled menu items do not have an Action checkbox.

Tip To affect the behavior of a currently running script (for example, to halt, exit, resume, or pause the script), choose Script Step and then use the Perform Script script step.

For more information about scripts and script steps, see Creating scripts to automate tasks.

Notes

To override a command's behavior (title, keyboard shortcut, or action), you must select its checkbox. If the checkbox is not selected, the original command behavior is retained.

Icons on the toolbar are linked to menu items. If you customize a menu item that has a toolbar icon, you also customize the icon. For example, the New Record icon is linked to the New Record menu item. If you customize the New Record menu item by renaming it to New Contact and specify a script be performed, the toolbar icon will perform the custom New Contact script and the tooltip for the icon will display New Contact. The Usage area of the Edit Custom Menu dialog box indicates that you are customizing a menu item that is linked to a toolbar icon.

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.

FileMaker Pro Advanced updates menus and menu items when a menu set change is requested either through switching modes, windows, or layouts, or by performing a script that accomplishes a similar result. Menu and menu item titles based on field contents or functions only update when menu sets change.

If you enter the same shortcut or access keys for two menu items, FileMaker will recognize the first occurrence in the menu bar (from right to left, top to bottom).

If you want an ampersand to appear as part of a menu or menu item title, you must type the ampersand twice. For example, if you want a menu title to appear as Records & Reports, enter the title as Records && Reports.

You can modify privilege sets in the Edit Privilege Set dialog box to control which menu items are enabled. See Creating and managing privilege sets.

If you set Available menu commands to Editing only or Minimum, menu items based on FileMaker commands are enabled or disabled according to the setting. All other menu items, including items with customized actions, are disabled. For example, if you choose Editing only, all basic FileMaker editing commands are enabled but all other items (including items with customized actions) are disabled.

If you set Available menu commands to All, all menu items are enabled normally.

FileMaker uses keyboard shortcuts that don't appear in the menu bar. For example, Command-Option-Z zooms a Mac OS window. In addition, the operating system defines shortcuts. Both types of shortcuts override the ones you define in the Specify Shortcuts dialog box.

Windows and Mac OS keyboard shortcuts are different. For example, if you use FileMaker Pro Advanced for Windows to define the Ctrl+H shortcut, then open the file in Mac OS, the shortcut maps to Command-H. This conflicts with the Mac OS shortcut to hide an open application. The shortcut works as expected on Windows, but on Mac OS, the operating system shortcut overrides the custom-defined shortcut.

Be sure to test custom keyboard shortcuts on both platforms. For information about shortcuts, see the documentation provided with your operating system.

Mac OS: You can assign keyboard shortcuts for applications using the Mac OS X Keyboard & Mouse system preference. If you define a keyboard shortcut for a FileMaker Pro menu in the system preferences, it becomes the default shortcut for the menu command in Custom Menus, including the Standard FileMaker Menus menu set. This menu item will always be present in the menu, and users won't be able to change the shortcut by making changes in the custom menu dialog boxes.

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

Related topic

Creating and editing custom menu sets (FileMaker Pro Advanced)

Contents > Customizing files with FileMaker Pro Advanced > Defining custom menus (FileMaker Pro Advanced) > Creating and editing custom menu items (FileMaker Pro Advanced)