FileMaker Pro 4.1 Mac User's Guide

Chapter 2: Creating a database file
Planning a database file
This chapter tells you how to design a database file:
1 to use by itself
1 to use as part of a relational database
This chapter also explains some limitations on options available when
designing a file to use with FileMaker Pro Web Companion.
For information about creating a relational database, which includes
more than one database file, see chapter 10, “Using data from related
files.”
Important Before you read this chapter, be sure you know how to use
FileMaker Pro Help, as explained in the preface, “Getting help.”
Plan a database before you create it to save time and effort later on.
Although you can change the design later, the more you plan ahead, the
fewer changes you’ll need to make. Whether you plan to publish your
database on the World Wide Web or not, the concepts are the same.
Follow these general steps when you plan a database:
1. Decide which categories of information you work with, and plan a
separate database file for each major category.
For example, for a small business, you might need one database file
for products, one for customers, and another for employees.
2. Analyze your current information management system to determine
the tasks you perform.
For example, do you print mailing labels and invoices? What reports
do you produce? Are there new tasks you want to do?
3. Decide what data you want the file to contain, and plan the fields to
hold the data.
For example, to print invoices, you need fields for a billing address,
shipping address, quantity, product code, and so on, and calculated
fields for subtotal, sales tax, shipping charge, and invoice total.
4. Determine relationships between your file and other files whose data
you can use.