Using the FileMaker Inspector — Position, Appearance, and Data

Beginner

Master the three Inspector tabs to configure any layout object: Position controls size and behavior, Appearance controls styling, and Data controls field assignment.

What you'll learn

What each of the three Inspector tabs controls
How to use the Data tab to assign a field and configure behavior
How the Appearance tab controls style states (Normal, Hover, Focus, Pressed)

The Inspector (View > Inspector) is the central configuration panel for layout objects in FileMaker — everything about an object's size, style, and data connection is set here.

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Position tab — size, location, and behavior

The Position tab controls the object's exact coordinates, size, anchoring (for window resize behavior), and slide/resize settings for printing.

TEXT

Position tab contains:
  - X, Y coordinates (distance from top-left of layout)
  - Width, Height
  - Anchoring (Top, Bottom, Left, Right)
  - Sliding & Visibility (Slide Up, Slide Left)
  - Object Name (for Go to Object scripting)

Slide and Resize for collapsing blank space in FileMaker reports Layout themes in FileMaker — consistent styling across layouts