FileMaker Go: Field Interaction Behavior

Thought I would share a quick tip that I learned while working on a mobile database application for a customer.

Naturally there are many user interface behavioral differences between the desktop and mobile versions of FileMaker. This one involves the display of a field when the field has focus. Here are two screen shots of the same layout as displayed in FileMaker desktop vs. Go.

Text Field With Focus

Note, that when the field has focus in Go, it mysteriously expands.

There may be a legitimate purpose for this behavior, however it may also break the design of the layout on the mobile device. It also represents a departure from normally expected UI behavior on a mobile device. In my work with mobile FileMaker applications, I strive to have the database behave as closely as possible to what users normally expect from iOS apps.

A Simple Fix

Fortunately there is a simple fix for this. Simply apply a vertical scroll bar to the field using the layout inspector (data tab – “Include vertical scroll bar”). Then set the line characteristics for the field to “None”, to prevent the vertical scroll bar from displaying. Now, in FileMaker Go, the field no longer expands when it has focus.

Do you have any other simple FileMaker Go tips that help in development?  If so, share them in the comments!