FileMaker Pro Day 3: Calculations

In this class, you will learn the first of many important functions available when writing calculations and apply them in practical ways, including: rounding invoice totals, validating social security number data entry, and filtering a portal to show only records dated within a given month and year. You will use many of the logical and aggregate functions in practical exercises like conditionally formatting a field based on calculated conditions, displaying calculated subtotals in a pop-up tooltip message and formatting phone number entries. This class is part of the official FileMaker Training Series, is taught by a FileMaker Business Alliance Trainer and is an excellent step in preparing for the FileMaker Certified Developer exam.

Course Outline
Introduction to Functions
- how and when to use calculations
- defining calculation fields

Number Functions
- syntax for number functions like Round, Ceiling and Mod
- rounding invoice total calculations

Text Functions
- syntax for text functions like Position, Substitute and Filter
- automatically trimming leading and trailing spaces off field entries
- validating social security number field entries

Date and Time Functions
- syntax for date and time functions like DayOfWeek and Get (CurrentDate)
- filtering portal rows by date

Logical Functions
- syntax for logical functions like Case
- using the Let function to write clearer formulas
- conditionally formatting a field based on multiple conditions

Aggregate Functions
- syntax for aggregate functions like Sum and List
- displaying sums, counts and last order dates as pop-up tooltip messages in a customer list

Custom Functions
- what is a custom function?
- using a custom function
- writing a custom function to format phone field entries

Note: This class is designed for people who have taken Day 2 or have a year or more of experience building FileMaker Pro databases and want to improve their understanding and application of calculation functions.