printing certificates

I have a FilemakerPro 8 database for our music festival.  One field records 
the mark achieved.  Depending on the range of mark achieved, the competitor 
receives a particular certificate.  I have 4 layouts for the 4 possible 
certificates.  Is it possible to set the programme to print the correct 
certificate automatically?  By automatically, I mean when prompted.

Regards
Eileen 

In article <Fu7Ej.307433$3m6.146579@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
 "Eileen" <eileen@blyndr.co.uk> wrote:

> I have a FilemakerPro 8 database for our music festival.  One field records

> the mark achieved.  Depending on the range of mark achieved, the competitor

> receives a particular certificate.  I have 4 layouts for the 4 possible 
> certificates.  Is it possible to set the programme to print the correct 
> certificate automatically?  By automatically, I mean when prompted.
> 
> Regards
> Eileen 

Yes, you can write a script that will go to a particular layout and 
print that, and the script can be designed to select the layout based on 
some criteria set by the user.

-- 
Bill Collins

On Mar 19, 6:43 pm, Helpful Harry <helpful_ha...@nom.de.plume.com>
wrote:
> In article <Fu7Ej.307433$3m6.146...@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
>
> "Eileen" <eil...@blyndr.co.uk> wrote:
> > I have a FilemakerPro 8 database for our music festival.  One field
records
> > the mark achieved.  Depending on the range of mark achieved, the
competitor
> > receives a particular certificate.  I have 4 layouts for the 4
possible
> > certificates.  Is it possible to set the programme to print the
correct
> > certificate automatically?  By automatically, I mean when prompted.
>
> That really depends on how many certificates / records you're wanting
> to print at once.
>
> If you are only printing one certificate / record at a time, then all
> you need is a script that looks at the "mark achieved" field
(using
> whatever test you have to separate the certificate types) and goes to
> the appropriate layout.
> eg.
>       If [MarkAchieved <= 25]
>          Go To Layout [Certificate_25]
>       End If
>       If [(MarkAchieved > 25) and (MarkAchieved <= 50)]
>          Go To Layout [Certificate_50]
>       End If
>       If [(MarkAchieved > 50) and (MarkAchieved <= 75)]
>          Go To Layout [Certificate_75]
>       End If
>       If [(MarkAchieved > 75) and (MarkAchieved <= 100)]
>          Go To Layout [Certificate_100]
>       End If
>       Page Setup [Restore]
>       Print []
>       Go To Layout [DataEntry]
>
>

On Mar 19, 9:49 pm, Grip <g...@cybermesa.com> wrote:
> On Mar 19, 6:43 pm, Helpful Harry <helpful_ha...@nom.de.plume.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > In article <Fu7Ej.307433$3m6.146...@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
>
> > "Eileen" <eil...@blyndr.co.uk> wrote:
> > > I have a FilemakerPro 8 database for our music festival.  One
field records
> > > the mark achieved.  Depending on the range of mark achieved, the
competitor
> > > receives a particular certificate.  I have 4 layouts for the 4
possible
> > > certificates.  Is it possible to set the programme to print the
correct
> > > certificate automatically?  By automatically, I mean when
prompted.
>
> > That really depends on how many certificates / records you're wanting
> > to print at once.
>
> > If you are only printing one certificate / record at a time, then all
> > you need is a script that looks at the "mark achieved" field
(using
> > whatever test you have to separate the certificate types) and goes to
> > the appropriate layout.
> > eg.
> >       If [MarkAchieved <= 25]
> >          Go To Layout [Certificate_25]
> >       End If
> >       If [(MarkAchieved > 25) and (MarkAchieved <= 50)]
> >          Go To Layout [Certificate_50]
> >       End If
> >       If [(MarkAchieved > 50) and (MarkAchieved <= 75)]
> >          Go To Layout [Certificate_75]
> >       End If
> >       If [(MarkAchieved > 75) and (MarkAchieved <= 100)]
> >          Go To Layout [Certificate_100]
> >       End If
> >       Page Setup [Restore]
> >       Print []
> >       Go To Layout [DataEntry]
>
> FM 7 has introduced the Else If() script step.

Actually, a more efficient would way be a single Go To Layout script

In article <Fu7Ej.307433$3m6.146579@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk>,
"Eileen" <eileen@blyndr.co.uk> wrote:

> I have a FilemakerPro 8 database for our music festival.  One field records

> the mark achieved.  Depending on the range of mark achieved, the competitor

> receives a particular certificate.  I have 4 layouts for the 4 possible 
> certificates.  Is it possible to set the programme to print the correct 
> certificate automatically?  By automatically, I mean when prompted.

That really depends on how many certificates / records you're wanting
to print at once.

If you are only printing one certificate / record at a time, then all
you need is a script that looks at the "mark achieved" field (using
whatever test you have to separate the certificate types) and goes to
the appropriate layout.
eg.
      If [MarkAchieved <= 25]
         Go To Layout [Certificate_25]
      End If
      If [(MarkAchieved > 25) and (MarkAchieved <= 50)]
         Go To Layout [Certificate_50]
      End If
      If [(MarkAchieved > 50) and (MarkAchieved <= 75)]
         Go To Layout [Certificate_75]
      End If
      If [(MarkAchieved > 75) and (MarkAchieved <= 100)]
         Go To Layout [Certificate_100]
      End If
      Page Setup [Restore]
      Print []
      Go To Layout [DataEntry]

If there is more than one record in the current Found Set you will need
to make sure the Print window is set to print just the "Current
Record"
rather than "Records Being Browsed" (where in the Print window this
option appears will depend on you printer's software) since you only
want the current reocrd printed.

You can have a button on the DataEntry Layout that runs this Script.


If you are wanting to print certificates for a number of records at
once, then you can't swap Layouts in the middle of a print job, so
there are only three choices:

A.  Manually Find all the records for Certificate "1", go to 
    appropriate Layout and print those. Find the records for
    Certificate "2", go to appropriate Layout and print those, 
    etc. This method needs the Print window set to print "Records
    Being Browsed" since you want to print ALL the Found records. 

    With a bit of messing about this could be scripted. The 
    easiest way is usually to import the records into a 
    "temporary" Table and print the Certificates from that Table.
    This way you can simply have a Script that performs the 
    manual process above (Find records for Certificate "1", go 
    to Layout "1" and print, Find records for Certificate 2, got
    to Layout "2" and print, etc.) and then deletes all the
    temporary records. Again, you can have a button on the 
    DataEntry Layout that runs this Script.


B.  Have a script that loops through the records in the Found Set
    and prints each Certificate individually.
    eg.
          Go To Record [First]
          Loop
             If [MarkAchieved <= 25]
                Go To Layout [Certificate_25]
             End If
             If [(MarkAchieved > 25) and (MarkAchieved <= 50)]
                Go To Layout [Certificate_50]
             End If
             If [(MarkAchieved > 50) and (MarkAchieved <= 75)]
                Go To Layout [Certificate_75]
             End If
             If [(MarkAchieved > 75) and (MarkAchieved <= 100)]
                Go To Layout [Certificate_100]
             End If
             Page Setup [Restore]
             Print []
             Go To Record [Next, Exit After Last]
          End Loop
          Go To Layout [DataEntry]

    Again, uou need to make sure the Print window is set to print 
    just the "Current Record" and can have a button on the
    DataEntry Layout that runs this Script.

    This will of course create 50 print jobs if there are 50
    records in the current Found Set. This can be a problem if
    other people are using the same printer because their print
    jobs will be able to sneak in-between your Certificates and
    potentially use your paper if using fancy paper or thin
    cardboard.

C.  Have only one Certificate Layout and use Calculation fields 
    to change the text (and even graphics) according to the 
    Mark Achieved. If needed, these fields can be used as Merge
    fields within any constant surrounding text. This way makes
    things much simpler since all the wanted Certificates can 
    be printed in one easy print job (although that too can be
    a problem if you're printing thousands of Certificates on a
    shared printer).


This of course all assumes that the Certificates are not printed on
colour-coded paper / cardboard (ie. "level 1" on yellow, "level
2" on
green, etc.). Technically you could sort the records and then count out
enough of each colour, which would work unless the printer gets stuck /
misfeeds or someone else's print job steals a page.


Helpful Harry