One thing I love about this blog is how much I learn from your comments. Having said at the end of part 1 that I couldn’t think of any serious use for a DVL on a check box set, Michael Rocharde kindly provided this example file (Conditionals), which I am sharing with his permission.
This is one of many example files and techniques available in his new interactive e-book, FileMaker and Me, available for iPad via the iTunes store.
Glad to be able to share that file, Kevin. It is particularly useful where you have a large number of values to choose from and makes it very easy for the user to see what they have selected.
Here’s an interesting twist on the DVL technique that I have been working on with limited success so far. Wondering if you’ve tried it (or anyone else).
I have an inventory solution where the user can define a series of storage racks – X rows, Y, columns and Z deep. For example a common size is 7 x 10 x 2 for 140 storage locations on the rack and there are multiple racks.
An item can have multiple instances and is stored in various spots on the rack (1 item per slot). The way it’s set up now the user can select a rack and then the row, column and depth are restricted to the size of the rack (you can’t choose row 17 as it doesn’t exist). A portal is used to display the storage locations.
What we’d like to do is have the row, column and depth popups dwindle – choose a rack and only the available rows are displayed, add in a row and the available columns are displayed and then the depth.
Thoughts?
Hi David,
I think I’d be inclined to use a “magic value list” (https://filemakerhacks.com/2012/07/25/magic-value-lists/) in conjunction with Bruce Robertson’s AntiFilterValues custom function (http://www.briandunning.com/cf/926).
Hope this helps,
Kevin
P.S. My preceding reply assumes your drop downs are using single-column (not two-column) value lists.