FILEMAKER: Relationships Caching And Refresh Window

From Dwayne Wright - Certified FileMaker 9 Developer
WEB: www.dwaynewright.com
EMAIL: info@dwaynewright.com
TWITTER: dwaynewright

In regards to the world of computing, the term of caching is a familiar term. In very broad terms, caching refers to a process of storing copied data in a place where it can be accessed quickly by a computer / program. This copying is done before the data is needed, in anticipation that it is going to be needed in the near future. So when the data is needed, it is gathered from the faster cache resource instead of the true place the data resides.

So let us say that FileMaker (the application) may anticipate a need from a user for record data. It may load that anticipated data into a local cache on the users computers, just in case. If the user does need the data, it is quickly available right there. Where do you think you might run across an occasion for something like this on a local level?

If you thinking of related data, we are on the same page. In a complex FileMaker solution, you might have dozens of relationships based upon the table occurrence you have associated with a layout. Those relationships likely have other relationships, that also have dependent calculations and so forth.

In some cases, FileMaker Join Caching may be working behind the scenes to give you fast and reliable data. It is possible that you might see a relationship that doesn’t seem to be accurate and you want to refresh it. In most cases, this freshen up is an update of the temporary storage cache with data from the actual resource. This is often called flushing the cache or FileMaker can call it “refreshing the join results”. You many find this command option is a number of places, most notably under the Records menu as a Refresh Window command or as an option in the Refresh Window script step.

Here you can see the Refresh Window script step with its options of cache flushing.
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More info about the author and FileMaker in general, contact me at info@dwaynewright.com.

© 2008 - Dwayne Wright - dwaynewright.com

The material on this document is offered AS IS. There is NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, expressed or implied, nor does any other contributor to this document. WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT ABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. Consequential and incidental damages are expressly excluded. FileMaker Pro is the registered trademark of FileMaker Inc.


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