Layout Performance Measurement
BeginnerMeasure FileMaker layout load times, identify slow objects, and use profiling techniques to find and fix the bottlenecks that make layouts feel sluggish.
What you'll learn
- How to measure layout load time with timestamp differences
- How to isolate slow calculations and relationships using the Data Viewer
- The most common layout performance bottlenecks and their fixes
- How to use layout mode object removal to bisect performance problems
A layout that loads in 4 seconds instead of under 1 second damages user productivity and trust. FileMaker does not have built-in layout profiling tools, but a combination of Get(CurrentTimestamp) measurements, the Data Viewer, and systematic object removal can isolate the causes. Most layout performance problems fall into three categories: slow calculations, heavy portal loading, and relationship traversals on load.
Measuring layout load time
Use Get(CurrentTimeStamp) differences in an OnLayoutEnter script to measure how long layout initialization takes. Log to a debug table or show in a dialog.
// Script: Init_ContactsLayout (OnLayoutEnter trigger) Set Variable [ $$LAYOUT_LOAD_START ; Value: Get ( CurrentTimestamp ) ] // ... initialization code ... Set Variable [ $loadMs ; Value: ( Get ( CurrentTimestamp ) - $$LAYOUT_LOAD_START ) * 86400000 ] // 86400000 = ms per day (timestamp difference is in days) // For debugging: // Show Custom Dialog [ "Load time: " & $loadMs & "ms" ] // For production monitoring, log to a PerformanceLog table: // LayoutName, LoadMs, User, Timestamp
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