I had a client ask for a modification of their data entry screen to display the date that a record was created and by whom, as well as the date the record was modified, and by whom.
In FileMaker there is a fairly standard approach to this problem.
1. For each table that you want to have this information, you need to create four fields:
CreateDate = data type of date
CreateBy = data type of text
ModifyDate = data type of date
ModifyBy = data type of text
Define these fields within FileMaker, by using the field options dialog under the Auto-Enter tab.
Here is the tab for the the modified date field…
And here is the dialog checkbox for the user who last modified the record.
Note that there are two options to choose from: “Name” and “Account Name”.
If you choose “Name” FileMaker will return the default user name that has been entered under the “Preferences” dialog for the individual copy of the FileMaker application on the particular workstation. This is less helpful as it wouldn’t accurate reflect the individual user using the database. (You could have several users entering data on that particular workstation).
If you choose “Account Name”, then FileMaker will put in an account that you have set up in FileMaker’s “Manage Security” dialog and which requires the user to log in when opening the database. If the data file is hosted using FileMaker Server, you can also designate that the user is authenticated using their Active Directory user name, (when hosted on a Windows Server).
Since the data is stored permanently in the table, this creates a rudimentary audit trail showing who created each record and when, and the last time the record was modified and by whom. It isn’t a “real” audit trail because there is no ongoing history being recorded for each record.
tfnp 