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Permit script parameters to be entered in Button Setup dialog

Idea created by richardsrussell on Jul 29, 2017

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Right now, the Button Setup dialog box looks like this:

To associate a parameter with the button, it's necessary to (1) click on the scroll icon, (2) enter the parameter, then (3) OK your way back out. This is 2 unnecessary actions per button — #1 and #3. It should be possible to perform #2 (entering the parameter) right here in the Button Setup dialog.

I just completed making 20 copies of a button that'll perform a certain action (copying data in a particular field from one record to another), and the only difference between the 20 buttons is the name of the field affected, which I'm specifying by parameter. So this is 40 unnecessary actions associated with this one small task.

9 Comments

hschlossberg Jul 29, 2017 11:21 AM
Not only would being able to edit the parameter right here be useful, but just for the love of goodness being able to quickly SEE the parameter from here (without having to roll over it and wait for the tooltip to pop up) would be extremely helpful. The edit option suggested here would serve both purposes. AND additionally, we should be able to see/edit more than just one line of the parameter at a time. The edit box should be taller in the script selection dialog, as should it be here too.
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jbante Jul 31, 2017 8:57 AM
The current button setup dialog is modeless. To enable us to enter a script parameter (a calculation) while retaining the guarantee that the calculation is valid before saving, the button setup dialog would have to become at least semi-modal (or else always presume you meant to enter a string literal for the parameter when it isn't a valid calculation). I'm not saying this is a bad thing necessarily, but are you OK with that?
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richardsrussell @ jbante on Jul 31, 2017 9:03 AM
I'm OK with being able to do whatever I'm currently able to do by drilling down thru the Button Setup dialog, only without the "drilling down" part.
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hschlossberg Jul 31, 2017 9:10 AM
First, I'd be GREAT with it being a modal or semi-modal dialog, as the current iteration of the button setup dialog has driven me crazy right from the beginning -- the way it doesn't remember where it last was and always seems to be covering something I want to see. Worse, is the way the dialog disappears whenever I need to pause to check my mail or whatever else in another program (and then I lose that reminder of what I was doing in FMP when I return).

But second, I'm not sure it would have to be modal or semi-modal to accommodate the script parameters. The scripting workspace allows for inline editing (and validation) of script steps like If(), and I imagine the button setup dialog should be able to accommodate the same.

And while we're fixing up that button setup dialog, it'd be great if something could be done to reduce the number of button clicks required to edit a single-step command.
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jbante @ hschlossberg on Jul 31, 2017 10:37 AM
The script workspace is exactly the kind of semi-modal I'm talking about. Try saving a script with an Exit Loop If step that isn't between Loop and End Loop, or unbalanced If/End If or Loop/End Loop, and you'll see what I mean. FileMaker will not let you save a script (or calculation) that it doesn't unambiguously know how to execute. (Whether or not FileMaker and the developer share that understanding at all times is another story.) This is as it should be, and I don't see it changing.
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hschlossberg Aug 3, 2017 11:12 AM
If you like this, then you should also vote for these:
Decrease clutter in Button Bar Set up Dialog Box
Button Setup window needs a complete overhaul
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realgrouchy May 22, 2018 9:10 AM
This appears to have been delivered in FM17? Paging TSGal for confirmation.

FileMaker 17 Button Setup Window Makes Changing Script Parameters Easier - LuminFire

- RG>
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TSGal @ realgrouchy on May 22, 2018 10:32 AM
realgrouchy:

This appears to have been implemented in FileMaker Pro 17 Advanced.

TSGal
FileMaker, Inc.
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richardsrussell @ realgrouchy on May 22, 2018 10:55 AM
Thanks for that link, realgrouchy. After following it, I found this observation:

Now you just click on the script parameter field in the Button Setup window and you’re at the Specify Calculation editor.

So it appears that we still have to go "elsewhere" (the Specify Calculation editor) to just type in a plain-text parameter, then "OK" our way back out again. This eliminates Step 1 of my lament above, but not Step 3, so I guess my request has been half-answered.

To go all the way, it would be good if we could just type right straight into that "Optional Script Parameter" field and only need to click a (currently absent) button right underneath the scroll button (where the cursor is pointing) to summon up the Specify Calculation editor if we really wanted that level of complexity (which I do maybe 5% of the time).

Still ... progress! Thanks, FMI!
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Permit script parameters to be entered in Button Setup dialog

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