4th Dimension Learning Basics
File Menu Comparisons The File Menu is perhaps the most important Menu and as such always is in the first position of the Menu Bar. It is here that users should always feel comfortable going to select basic functions such as Printing and Quitting.
Figure 6 - “File” Menu Comparisons Note: The 4D Default Custom Menu is not shown because the only menu item is Quit. Let’s examine the three menus in detail. Several of the Menu Items from the FMP Browse Mode Menu will not be considered here as they allow the user to make design changes and perform other functions that would not be performed in the 4D Custom Menus mode. The FMP File Menu Items that will not be considered are: New Database Close Define Fields Define Value Lists Access Privileges Sharing Save a Copy As Recover Note: There are four common Menu Items in all three File menus, Import (Records/Data), Export (Records/Data), Print and Quit.
This makes sense as the user should always have the option to print and quit. One thing lacking in the default Foundation File menu is a Page Setup. Since the previous page setup will be used even if that is not wanted, the user should be allowed to select the page setup.
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The FMP Open Menu and the 4D User Open Database Menu are not normally needed in a User/Custom Menus environment because the user has already opened the database to get to this point and with 4D you can only open on database at a time. The Open Table of the Foundation Default Menu may be useful, but probably should not be in the File menu for the user as most likely there will be another Menu Item in another Menu or a Button that allows users to go to other Tables. The Preference and Administration Menu Items of the Foundation Menu would seem not for the user, but for an administrator.
The 4D Log File/No Log File User Menu is used for database maintenance and database backup. This may be better as a program specific menu. Copyright
P.S. A few readers have asked which no-code database we actually reach for — it's Knack; if you want the current details.
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