Moving in your previous FileMaker found sets

In the following article I will share a technique that I implemented in our CRM system quite long time ago. It's about getting back to your previous found sets.

The main part of most business softwares is the Search part, by which you can create complex search requests (extending existing lists, constraining, etc).

The main problem is that once you did a search and got a search result, you cannot get back to your previous list, or the one before that one, etc.

We faced this problem, and tried to implement a method by which you can move back and forward in your previous 5 (can be increased... see below) found sets.

FileMaker makes this quite easy, as a new table occurrence of the same table can hold a different found set!

So here is the technique. (Be sure to download the demo file I attached, so the you can understand this!)

You need to create five(or as many found sets you want to keep) table occurrence of your result table. In the example I attached It's the clients table.

So I created Clients_1, Clients_2, Clients_3, Clients_4, Clients_5 table occurrences in the relational graph and created 5 empty layouts with the same name (the source table of them was the appropriate table occurrence!).

Then I created two global fields, ( CurrentFoundSet_Global- This one is to know which found set we are currently on, and TotalFoundSet_Global- This one holds how many founds sets have been saved already).

The next step is the [SRTN]- SaveFoundSet script, which saves the current found set to the appropriate place, and checks if we have reached the highest value we can keep. If we did then it shifts the found sets left, so we loose the very first one.

This is done by the Go To Related Record script step on the appropriate layouts.

The [SRTN] - RestoreFoundSet script is to restore a found set.

There are two other scripts which are attached to the Restore Previous and Restore next buttons. (RestorePrevious,RestoreNext).

The saving happens at the search layout, in the [PANE]- Main bar script.

I attached a sample file where you can find these scripts, you can download it here.

Here is how you can try this:

1) Click on the Search Pane

2) Enter a "a" in the FirstName field, then press Enter

3) Go to the Search Pane again

4) Enter a "b" in the FirstName field, press enter

5) Go to the Seach Pane again

6) Enter a "c" in the FirstName, press enter

7) Now you can navigate backward in you found sets, and see the results.

This can be improved, modified, just wanted to share the basic idea of this thing. Please check the demo file, and use this technique it if you like it.

Note: In the sample file I used Brian Dunning's sample data file.

Note2: The original idea came from this article by Danny Dawson, worth reading!

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