Trigger a script on field exit

[ddinisco]

I believe I once read about a way of triggering a script upon exiting a field. The field is a pulldown menu, and I wish to execute the script once a choice is made. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks

[CobaltSky]

Hello ddinsco,

There are various ways to do this. The best of them require a third party plug-in such as you'll find at:

 

Troi Activator:

http://www.troi.com/software/activatorplugin.html

 

oAzium Events:

http://wmotion.com/events.html

 

Comm-Unity Networking Systems:

http://www.cnsplug-ins.com/products.htm?product=SCRIPTit

 

However if you'd prefer to steer clear of plug-ins, there is a technique that has been around in various forms for a while, which you might like to consider. You'll find one of the variations of it in an x-plat demo at:

 

http://www.nightwing.com.au/FileMaker/demos3.html#d7

 

This method is a little exacting to implement well, and even then will not give quite the flexibility and 'seamlessness' that can be achieved with a plug-in (eg the field will have to be taken out of the tab order and users will only be able to use the mouse to activate the pop-up list).

[Fenton Jones]

Here is another native FileMaker technique. It was developed by Soren Dyher. It uses the "Insert from Index" step.

 

It does not rely on a Loop, because the "Insert from Index" step creates a "modal" list, where you can capture either completion or cancellation, and run a script accordingly.

 

It is not complex, but is not exactly seamless either. It requires the creation and destruction of a dummy record if you want to use a value list other than the field itself.

 

http://fentonjones.com/New/IDXPast.zip

[ldebondt]

I have used an IF STATEMENT to perform scripts on the selection of a POP-UP MENU. Don't know if that is exactly what you are looking for. For example: POP-UP = 1, 2, 3, etc...

If(POP-UP = "1")

Perform script 1

End If

If(POP-UP = "2")

Perform script 2

End If

etc to the end of choices on POP-UP.

[beju0506]

I've tried the nighthawk version for a bit but it keeps breaking down... like, the scripts just stop working after a while... The Fenton Jones page doesn't have that file anymore either... anyone have any other ideas? We want to do basically the same thing, and we can do it using a pulldown and a button, but my supervisor wants to limit the number of button presses needed, so we would like to just be able to run the script on selection of the item...

We're starting to run out of ideas...

[Will Loving]

FileMaker 7 Developer came with a plug-in that can be used to trigger

scripts on field exit.

 

For those of w/o Developer, there is an example file set includes

the plug-in (For Mac and Windows) as well as an example file to see how

it works.

 

The folks at FileMakerPros provide these and other sample files.

 

http://www.filemakerpros.com/DevCon2004.sit

or

http://www.filemakerpros.com/DevCon2004.zip

[netteworthey]

So now where do I actually *install* plugins? Tried searching the help, can't find anything about installing plugins. Help?

[beju0506]

Netteworthy -

 

You have to copy the plugin into the extensions folder in your mail Filemaker folder. i.e. if you have a windows pc, it may be:

c:\program files\Filemaker 8 Pro\extensions

 

Also, if you're trying this, I've found that the EventScript plugin (free like the others) works really well. You can get it at http://www.softs4humans.com

 

Hope that helps!

 

-Justin