FileMaker - How to Avoid A Common Source of Data Loss in FileMaker

Overview

Experience suggests that, to paraphrase the NRA, FileMaker does not loose data, people loose data. A common source of data loss occurs when a user attempts to do data entry while the program is in Find Mode. A brief explanation of how the various Modes FileMaker operate will illustrate this issue.

Data entry in FileMaker is straight forward

In this sample file, one would simply

1) Click a button to create a new record (alternatively use Command - N on a Macintosh or Control - N on Windows)
2) Click in the field and enter text
3) Use the tab button to move to the next field.

4) Note that the only way to do data entry is when FileMaker is in 'Browse' mode.

Alternate method of creating a New Record

FileMaker's Modes

FileMaker has four modes:

1) Browse Mode - for data entry and viewing
2) Find Mode - for searching for records
3) Layout Mode - this is used to design the layout of the screens, usually done by the adminstrator or database developer.
4) Preview Mode - FileMaker reserves a unique Preview Mode, to display what will print on a page. In some complex reports, summaries and sub-summaries only show up in Preview Mode.

Find Mode

There are a number of ways to enter Find Mode in FileMaker:
a) Click the Find button on the menu if there is one.
b) Command - F for Macintosh, Control - F for Windows
c) Select Find from the View menu

Once in Find Mode, you should see:
1) the blue Find button to the left of the main screen
2) the Mode setting on the bottom bar changes to 'Find' from 'Browse'
3) the record is blank, awaiting a request to be entered. In this case, we have begun a search for John Smith.

No Records Match

In this case, there is no "John Smith" in the database, so an error message is returned. At this point, we can Cancel, which will take us back to Browse Mode, from where we can enter a New Record and then enter the data for John Smith. If however, we select Modify Find, which is the default setting, a very different thing happens.

Here is where the problem happens

Instead of clicking Cancel, we took the default button, "Modify Find". It looks like we might be in Data Entry mode. There are some obvious clues that we are not, (the big blue Find button for example) but who notices that kind of thing anyway? So we proceed to enter all the address data for John Smith.

At this point, we might make matters even worse by clicking Command - N to start a new record. Actually, we are just creating a very complex Search Criteria. Meanwhile, we think we are entering another record. This is how one might loose a whole series of records in one go.

The Moral of the Story

Always make sure you are in Browse Mode before beginning data entry for a record.