Building the New Record page

If you have given record creation privileges to Web viewers, they can add a record to the database you publish on the Web. The New Record page contains input elements, which set up the fields for your Web audience to fill in and create a new record.

To build a New Record page:

1. Create a new blank page.
   
2. Choose FileMaker Form Library from the View menu (Windows) or the Window menu (Macintosh).
   
3. In the NEW RECORD section of the library, select the entry for Required tags.
   
   The required tags for the New Record page appear on the right of the library window.

   

4. Click the tag labeled FileMaker Form to highlight the entire group, then drag the entire selection to your New Record page.
   
   The FileMaker form area appears in the New Record page as a box with red borders containing the required tags.
   
5. Specify the attributes for each required tag. Double-click the icon to display the object editor.

   For this tag	Specify the following information
   -Db	The filename of the database your pages refer to. This is a hidden entry.
   -Lay	The name of the layout being accessed to perform a new record action. This is a hidden entry.
   -Format	The filename of the page that is returned as a confirmation that a record has been added. This is a hidden entry.
   -Error	The filename of the page that is returned if an error occurs in processing the new record request. This is a hidden entry.
   -New	Text on the button in the browser which is used by the audience to create a new record.

Adding fields and data entry options

You can add fields to the New Record page and choose the format for the fields as they will appear in the New Record page.

To use input elements from the FileMaker Form Library:

1. Open the FileMaker Form Library.
   
2. In the NEW RECORD section, select the Data Entry library entry.
   
3. Choose the element you want, and drag it onto the FileMaker form area of your New Record page.

   Drag this element to your page	To use this format for the fields in a New Record page
   Text field	A text field form element. See Adding a text field for more information.
   Pop-up menu	A pop-up menu or scrolling list form element. Note Fields that you want to format as pop-up menus or scrolling lists must have values associated with them, either defined by you in Claris Home Page or defined in value lists in the FileMaker Pro database. For more information on defining values with Claris Home Page, see Adding a pop-up menu or scrolling list.
   Check box	A check box form element. Note Fields that you want to format as check boxes must have values associated with them, either defined by you in Claris Home Page or defined in value lists in the FileMaker Pro database. For more information on defining values with Claris Home Page, see Adding a check box.
   Radio buttons	A radio button form element. Note Fields that you want to format as radio buttons must have values associated with them, either defined by you in Claris Home Page or defined in value lists in the FileMaker Pro database. For more information on defining values with Claris Home Page, see Adding a list of radio buttons.
   Text area	A text area form element. See Adding a text area for more information.
   Reset	A button appearing in the browser. When clicked, this button resets all other input elements to their default values. See Adding a reset button.

4. Double-click each form element to bring up its object editor, and then type the field name to which it corresponds in the Name text box.
   
5. Close the object editor to apply your settings.
   

See also Using value lists from the FileMaker Pro database for information on using fields with FileMaker value lists in the New Record page.

Adding an email reply option to a New Record page

You can have FileMaker Pro send an email message notification to an address that you specify whenever a record is added to the database.

To add an email notification or reply to a New Record page:

1. Create a new blank page.
   
2. Type the message of your email. This is the body of your email message.
   
3. Choose Save from the File menu. Type email_format as the title of your document.
   
4. In the Save dialog box, choose FileMaker Include File in the Save as type list (Windows) or in the File type pop-up menu (Macintosh).
   
5. Save the file to your site folder. Click Save.
   
6. Open the FileMaker Form Library.
   
7. In the NEW RECORD section of the library, select the E Mail notification entry.
   
   The required tags for sending email appear on the right of the library window.

   

8. Drag the entire group of tags into the FileMaker form area of your New Record page.
   
9. Double-click each tag within the Mail Tags area to display its object editor and set the attributes for each tag.

   For this CDML tag	Type the following as its parameter
   -Mailto	The email address of the recipient.
   -MailFrom	The email address of the sender.
   -MailSub	The subject of the email.
   -MailFormat	The filename of the email format file. For example: email_format.txt.
   -MailHost	The address of the SMTP server host.
   -MailCC (optional)	The email address of the person who is carbon copied.
   -MailBCC (optional)	The email address of the person who receives a a blind carbon copy.

Note A FileMaker form area can support only one set of mail tags.

You can edit the email message later on (for example, to include field data). For information on how to do this, please see, Changing the text of the email message reply file.

Saving the New Record page

Once you have set up the New Record page the way you want, you can save it. The name of the New Record page should correspond to the filename used in all files that refer to it. For example, the Index page might have filename "index.htm," and it may refer to the New Record page filename, "new_record.htm."