FileMaker Pro to 4th Dimension Quickstart Guide

4th Dimension Sample File Overview

To launch the 4th Dimension example, make sure you have 4th Dimension 2003 or later on your computer. If you're using a Macintosh, double-click on the 4D Orders file in the 4th Dimension Example folder. If you're using Windows, then double-click the 4D Orders.4DB file.

Working with Customers

4th Dimension will launch, and a window will open to display the list of Customers in the database.

customer list screen shot

A list of records like this is referred to as an Output form.

Double-click on one of the customer names. A new window appears to display the details for the customer. This is referred to as an Input Form.

customer details screen shot

In this form, you can view all the orders made by this customer. Click the different radio buttons to display the list of only those orders with the selected status.

We've displayed the record's ID field in the bottom left corner of the window so you can see how it has the same format as the ID numbers used in the FileMaker Pro database.

To create a new order for this client, click the New button, the Order input form appears. Because you clicked on this button while in a particular customer's record, the customer will be assigned to the new invoice by default. Also note that when you create a new order record, the database automatically assigns it an order number.

Note that we've specified the Customers and Orders input windows to be vertically resizable, but not horizontally resizable.

From the Customers input form, you can click on the Edit button or double-click on an order to open it for editing. The Order input form will open up in a new window.

edit customer input form screen shot

Click on the Add button to add a product to the order or click on Delete to delete an existing line item from the order. You can change the quantity by clicking in the Qty. field for a particular line item.

Click on the Print Invoice button to get a print out of the current order.

Click the Cancel button to disregard any changes made to this form or click the Save button to save your changes.

We've designed this form to automatically round the prices to two decimal paces. So if you enter a price of $15.957, it will be instantly changed to $15.96.

You can also view the history for a customer. Return to the window displaying the Customer input form, and click on the "History" tab.

customer history screen shot

If you double-click on one of the records, the History input form appears in a new window.

history input screen shot

To enter a different event type, tab to the Type field and a 4D's List dialog appears:

list dialog screen shot

In this dialog, you can choose one of the list items, or click the Modify button to edit the list of options.

Notes Regarding 4th Dimension

The 4D database doesn't actually create a new record when you click a New button. It just creates a blank record in memory. The record isn't saved until you click the Save button. If you click the Cancel button, the new record (or changes to an existing record) are not saved.

Using the Other Tables

Although they weren't displayed when the database was launched, you can also display a list of the Orders and Products records in the database.

Select Orders from the File menu. The Orders output form appears in a new window.

order output form screen shot

This is another way to view the orders in the database. The orders listed here are the same ones you can get to through the Customers input form, but because we've displayed this window in its own process (or thread), the list isn't affected by the selection in the Customers window.

You can also display a list of the Products in the database by selecting Products from the File menu.

product list screen shot