Customizing Menus

The default menus are designed to accommodate tasks performed by developers or users and may be adequate for many deployment situations. However, the default menu bar can be completely overridden with custom menus. Doing so elevates a solution from being a database running like a document in the FileMaker application to being a fully custom application. The level of customization can vary based on the needs of the database. A simple database may benefit from key changes that intercept and alter a few functions. A more sophisticated interface design might be professionally complimented with a unique menu system tailored to specific functionality. Customizing menus gives you total control over which functions a user can access, how they are named, and the organizational structure of their presentation. If a single custom menu doesn’t suffice, a group of menus can dynamically change based on a variety of conditions. This chapter explores the basics of custom menus, covering the following topics: