FileMaker Pro 4.1 Mac User's Guide

Chapter 3: Laying out and arranging information
Understanding layouts
This chapter tells you how to create, edit, arrange, and format layouts to
bring together information and graphic elements for display or printing.
Layouts can be displayed on one computer or on a network of
computers.
Important Before you read this chapter, you need to know how to design
a database file, as explained in chapter 2, “Creating a database file.” In
addition, be sure you know how to use FileMaker Pro Help, as explained
in the preface, “Getting help.”
A FileMaker Pro layout presents data contained in a database. Layouts
determine the appearance of data and organize it for viewing, reporting,
finding, or data entry. A layout does not store data.
Use a layout to selectively display fields in a file. You can have more
than one layout for a file (for example, design separate layouts for
entering data, summary reporting, printing mailing labels, or publishing
a database on the Web using FileMaker Pro Web Companion). You can
have as many layouts for each file as disk space or maximum file size
allows. You can change a layout’s design without affecting the data or
other layouts for the file. When you change data in a field on a layout,
the changes are reflected in the same field on other layouts for the
database.