User manual

56 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Creating a blank, empty file
1. In FileMaker Pro, choose File menu > New Database.
You can also use the FileMaker Quick Start Screen to create a blank, empty file. Choose Help menu >
Quick Start Screen, then click Create a New Database.
2. Type a name for the file (choose a different folder, if needed), then click Save.
Windows: For Save as type, select FileMaker Files.
FileMaker Pro creates the file in Table View, displaying an empty database in a spreadsheet-like table.
3. To define the first field, click Create Field in the first column heading.
By default, FileMaker Pro creates a text field. If you want to change the field type, right-click the column
heading (or click the arrow at the right of the column heading) and choose a different field type. See
“About choosing a field type” on page 58.
If you cannot select column headings to create fields in Table View, confirm that the Include column
headers option is selected in the Table View Properties dialog box. For more information, see Help.
4. Type a name for the field.
For more information on naming fields, see “About naming fields” on page 57.
5. To create additional fields, click + in the column heading or click in the right margin.
A new column is added to the last column of the table.
6. To add the first record, click under the first column heading or click + in the left margin of the table.
7. Type the data for your record.
For information on tasks such as deleting, duplicating, and sorting records, see “Working with records
in Table View” on p. 28.
8. Continue adding fields and records to your database.
FileMaker Pro saves changes to your data as you work. To see how your data looks in other views, click
Form View
or List View in the layout bar.
9. You can set field options such as validation or indexing when you define a field, or at a later time. For
more information, see
“Setting options for fields” on page 65.
Create field names by typing in
column headings
Add data to records
by typing in rows