22 FileMaker Pro Advanced Development Guide
How custom menus affect other features
Custom menus can impact other product features. Keep these points
in mind:
1 Custom menus display in FileMaker Pro and runtime solutions but
cannot be edited.
1 Web published databases do not recognize customized menu
commands. For example, if you customize the New Record command
to quit the application, this will have no effect in Instant Web
Publishing; web users will see the default
New Record command.
1 FileMaker features only work if they are included in a menu. For
example, if you remove the View menu from the menu set and do not
have any scripted buttons on the layout to switch views, the mode
buttons in the status area are disabled, making it impossible for your
users to switch modes.
1 If the Edit menu is not part of an installed menu set, the Cut, Copy,
and Paste shortcuts do not work.
1 It is important to provide user documentation with your solution
because the custom menus won’t match the product documentation.
1 Standard FileMaker menus and menu items are localized based on
the operating system’s language. However, if you customize the title
of a menu or menu item, it will not be localized when the system’s
language is changed.
1 Standard FileMaker menu items are dimmed if users don’t have
privileges to perform the menu command. Menus are not dimmed if
you attach a script to the menu item.
1 The Open Help script step displays FileMaker Pro help, not
customized help.
Custom menu terminology
Before you begin working with custom menus, you should understand
the following terms.
Term Description
Menu bar The area at the top of the screen (Mac OS) or window
(Windows) that displays the installed menu set.
Menu set The collection of menus that installs on the menu bar.
Menu A list of menu items. Each menu has a title that appears
on the menu bar. Menus display according to the
specified platform and mode settings.
Menu item One item listed in a menu on the menu bar. A menu
item can perform an action or be a submenu or a
separator. Menu items display according to the
specified platform settings.
Menu item properties All the settings for a menu item, including platform,
display title, shortcut, and action.
Submenu A menu that extends from another menu item.
Shortcut Also known as keyboard shortcut. Indicates the
keystroke combination that can be used instead of
choosing the command’s menu item.
Access key (Windows) Users can select a menu or menu item by pressing the
Alt key with the designated access key.
Action Overrides the menu item’s action to perform a
specified script or script step.
Command Specifies which task to perform; for example, deleting
a record.
Display title The text or name that appears on the menu bar or menu
to identify a menu or menu item.
Separator A line within the menu to separate or group items in the
list.
Standard FileMaker
Menus
A menu set containing all the non-customized, default
FileMaker menus.
