What s a Specialized Function?

What's a Specialized Function?

Chapter 8, "Getting Started with Calculations," presented an introduction to FileMaker Pro 7 calculation formulas. Our goals there were to give you a grounding in how and where calculation functions are used, and to present what we feel are the " core " functions and formulas FileMaker Pro developers need to know and use on a daily basis.

This chapter covers functions and usages that are more specialized in nature. Think of the core functions covered in Chapter 7 as the hammers, screwdrivers, and wrenches of a developer's toolkit. They're the tools you use every day. The specialized functions covered here are the metric socket sets, the low-angled block planes, and the self-leveling laser levels of your toolkit. These might not be things that you use on every project, but they sure come in handy at times. The nice thing, of course, is that after you've made the "investment" in the specialized "tool," you'll have it handy for all future projects.

Certainly, our characterization of some functions or usages being part of a "core" and others as being "specialized" is subjective and open to debate. We do want to stress that specialized doesn't necessarily mean difficult or advanced. Nor does it mean arcane or esoteric. We think all the specialized functions presented here have very practical uses. In some cases, what's specialized isn't the function itself, but perhaps some usage of a core function that's not something you're likely to encounter on a routine basis.

We don't intend to present here a comprehensive list of functions. That can be found in Appendix B, "Calculation Function Reference." Rather, similar to our approach in Chapter 8, we take a thematic approach and focus on demonstrating practical uses of a handful of functions.