FileMaker Bento 3 User’s Guide

Bento® 3

User’s Guide

FileMaker, Inc. 5201 Patrick Henry Drive Santa Clara, California 95054

FileMaker, the file folder logo, Bento and the Bento logo are trademarks of FileMaker, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Mac and the Mac logo are the property of Apple Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

FileMaker documentation is copyrighted. You are not authorized to make additional copies or distribute this documentation without written permission from FileMaker. You may use this documentation solely with a valid licensed copy of FileMaker software.

All persons, companies, email addresses, and URLs listed in the examples are purely fictitious and any resemblance to existing persons, companies, email addresses or URLs is purely coincidental. Credits are listed in the Acknowledgements documents provided with this software. Mention of third-party products and URLs are for informational purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation. FileMaker, Inc. assumes no responsibility with regard to the performance of these products.

For more information, visit our website at www.filemaker.com.

Edition: 01

Contents

Preface 7Welcome to Bento

7Bringing It All Together 16 Summary 17 About This Document 17 Resources for Learning More

Chapter 1 19 Overview of Bento

19 Home Dialog 20 Bento Window

Chapter 2 31 Using Libraries

31 About Libraries 32 Creating a Library Using the Bento Templates 34 Creating a New Blank Library 34 Creating a Library by Importing 34 Changing the Icon for a Library 34 Sharing Your Bento Database 37 Grouping Libraries 37 Deleting Records from a Library 37 Deleting a Library

Chapter 3 39 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

39 Displaying the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries 41 Address Book Library 44 iCal Events and iCal Tasks Libraries 47 iPhoto Library

Chapter 4 51 Using Collections

51 About Collections 52 Creating Collections 53 Removing Records from a Collection 53 Deleting a Collection 53 About Smart Collections

54 Creating Smart Collections 54 Working with Smart Collections 54 Changing a Smart Collection

Chapter 5 55 Using Form View

55 About Forms 56 Viewing a Form and a Table at the Same Time 56 Creating Records in Form View 56 Editing Records in Form View 57 Duplicating Records in Form View 57 Deleting Records in Form View 58 Creating Forms 58 Deleting Forms 58 Duplicating Forms 59 Renaming Forms 59 Adding Fields to a Form 59 Tabbing Between Fields 59 Moving Fields and Objects on Forms 60 Resizing Fields and Objects 60 Removing Fields from a Form 61 Customizing Form Layouts

Chapter 6 65 Using Table View

65 About Table View 66 Selecting Records in Table View 66 Creating Records in Table View 67 Editing Records in Table View 68 Duplicating Records in Table View 68 Deleting Records in Table View 69 Sorting Records 69 Working with Fields and Columns in Table View 72 Summarizing Column Data

Chapter 7 75 Using Grid View

75 About Grid View 76 Viewing the Grid and a Form at the Same Time 76 Displaying Grid View Items 76 Setting Grid View Options 76 Changing the Display Size of Grid View Items 77 Working with Library Folders in Grid View

4 Contents

Chapter 8 79 Using Fields

79 About Fields 82 Creating Fields 88 Navigating to Related Records 89 Using the Fields Pane 90 Working with List Fields 93 Working with Related Data Fields 94 Working with Media Fields 97 Working with Encrypted Fields

Chapter 9 101 Importing, Exporting, and Printing

101 About Comma-Separated and Tab-Separated Files 104 Importing Information into Bento 110 Exporting Information from Bento 113 Printing Information

Chapter 10 117 Backing Up and Restoring Information

118 About Bento Backup Files 119 Using the Back Up Reminder 119 Changing the Back Up Reminder 120 Creating a Backup File 120 Restoring from a Backup File 121 Using Time Machine with Bento

Chapter 11 123 Using Bento with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch

123 Syncing Information Between Bento and Bento for iPhone

Appendix A 127 Keyboard Shortcuts

Appendix B 131 Reverting to a Previous Version of Bento

131 Reverting to Bento 1 or Bento 2 from Bento 3

Index 135

Contents 5

6 Contents

Welcome to Bento

Bento® helps you organize your information, providing the power of a database without complexity.

Bento is an easy-to-use database that manages contacts, tasks, and other information that is important to you. Because Bento is a database, you can create data relationships and view your data in more ways than you can in a spreadsheet.

Bento was designed for Mac OS X. The Bento window has features that will seem familiar to you if you use Address Book, iCal, Keynote, iTunes, or iPhoto.

Bringing It All Together

Bento brings your important information together in one place to help you get organized. You’ll be able to manage your contacts, coordinate events, track projects, prioritize tasks, and more.

For example, say you are running a travel club, and you are planning events for the club. You have the contact information for the travel club members in Address Book, and you have a few events on the calendar in iCal. But you are also using a spreadsheet to track some expenses for each of the members of the travel club. You can use Bento to manage all information in one place.

View data in several form views. Bento provides the “Overview.”

A contact in the Address Book application.

The same contact in the Bento Address Book library.

View all the records

in table view.

View all the records in grid view.

Using Address Book Data

When you open Bento, you see the Home dialog that helps you get started. After you start using Bento, you see that the Bento Address Book library displays contact records from the Address Book application.

8Preface

An event in the iCal application.

The same event in the Bento iCal Events library.

Using iCal Data

The Bento iCal Events library displays the events that are in the iCal application.

Preface 9

An abum in the iPhoto application.

The same album in the Bento iPhoto library.

Using iPhoto Data

The iPhoto library displays photos and video clips that are in the iPhoto application.

10 Preface

Managing Data in Libraries

Bento comes with more than 30 library templates to help you create libraries easily. You can create an Expenses library to track information about expenses, and an Event Planning library to track information about your travel club events.

Preface 11

Libraries Fields

Bento provides a Projects library, so you’re ready to start managing projects for your travel club.

You can add fields to any library, even the Bento Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto libraries.

Importing Data from Other Applications

How do you add your spreadsheet of expenses to Bento? Create a library by importing data from another application, or import data into a library you’ve already created.

Save your spreadsheet as a comma-separated values (CSV), tab-separated values (TAB), Numbers, or Excel file, and then import the file into Bento. Bento creates the fields needed to hold your data and creates records for each row of data in the file.

12 Preface

Importing

spreadsheet

data into a

Bento library.

Creating Collections

You have a team of people who are working with you on your next travel club event. All of your team members are in the Bento Address Book library, but you’d like to create a smaller group that includes only your team members, not everyone in the Address Book library. You want to create a collection.

Creating a collection is as easy as creating a group in Address Book or a playlist in iTunes. Open the Bento Address Book library in table view. Select the records for the team members and choose the New Collection from Selection menu item, or drag the selected records to the Libraries pane.

Preface 13

Drag the selected

records to the

Libraries pane.

Give the collection the name “Team Members” and Bento creates the Team Members collection.

14 Preface

Creating Relationships

Bento makes it easy to connect your libraries of information using related data fields.

For example, say you want to track expenses by team member. To create a related data field, drag “Team Members” to the “Expenses” form.

Preface 15

You can also create a related data field that shows expenses for each team member. Drag “Expenses” to the “Team Members” form.

Summary

With Bento, you’re able to display data from Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto, create new libraries to keep all your data together, import data from other applications, and create unique data relationships between libraries and collections.

16 Preface

About This Document

The following table tells you where to find information in this documentation.

For information about See

The features of Bento Chapter 1, “Overview of Bento” on page 19

Using libraries to manage your information Chapter 2, “Using Libraries” on page 31

Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto libraries to display data from the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto applications

Creating a subset of records from a library Chapter 4, “Using Collections” on page 51

Viewing your data one record at a time, creating forms, changing the appearance of forms, and adding new fields to forms

Viewing all the records in a library or collection in a table

Using media fields and library folders in grid view Chapter 7, “Using Grid View” on page 75

All the field types that Bento provides, and using the Fields pane

Sharing data by importing, exporting, and printing Chapter 9, “Importing, Exporting, and Printing”

Creating a backup of your Bento data Chapter 10, “Backing Up and Restoring

Syncing information between Bento and Bento for iPhone

Using keyboard shortcuts Appendix A, “Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 127

Reverting to a previous version of Bento Appendix B, “Reverting to a Previous Version of

Chapter 3, “Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries” on page 39

Chapter 5, “Using Form View” on page 55

Chapter 6, “Using Table View” on page 65

Chapter 8, “Using Fields” on page 79

on page 101

Information” on page 117

Chapter 11, “Using Bento with Bento for iPhone and iPod touch” on page 123

Bento” on page 131

Resources for Learning More

To get the most from Bento, consult the resources listed below.

User’s Guide

Bento User’s Guide is a PDF document that provides detailed information on using Bento.

To open the User’s Guide:

Choose Help > Bento User’s Guide.

Onscreen Help

To access help from within Bento, choose Help > Bento Help. You can browse through the table of contents to find a specific topic, or enter a question in the search field.

Preface 17

Tut oria l

For a demonstration of what you can do with Bento, view the tutorials.

To access the tutorials:

Choose Help > Video Tutorial, and then follow the instructions.

Bento Forum

Visit the Bento forum to get technical support, tips, report problems, and share with others how you use Bento.

To access the Bento forum:

Choose Help > Bento Forum.

Bento Template Exchange

Visit the Bento template exchange to submit your own templates and download templates created by other Bento users.

To access the Bento template exchange:

Choose Help > Bento Template Exchange.

Bento for iPhone and iPod touch

Visit the Bento for iPhone web page to get information about its features and requirements.

To view the Bento for iPhone web page:

Choose Help > Bento for iPhone and iPod touch.

Technical Support

To learn more about the support options that are available to Bento users, view the service and support information.

To view the service and support information:

Choose Help > Service and Support.

18 Preface

Overview of Bento

To see how easy it is to use,

take a video tour of Bento.

Bento uses libraries to store

information. One way to start using

Bento is by creating a library.

When you’re done with the Home

dialog, click this button to start

using Bento.

If you decide that you don’t need the Home dialog,

deselect the “Show this dialog on startup” checkbox.

This chapter provides an overview of Bento features.

This chapter is a description of what you see when you start using Bento. It introduces the Home dialog and describes the sections of the Bento window, including the Libraries pane, the Fields pane, and the records area where you can display your information in table view, form views, grid view, or split view.

Home Dialog

When you first open Bento, you use the Home dialog to learn about Bento and to create your first library.

Libraries pane Records area

Fields pane

Bento Window

The Bento window contains two main sections:

• The left side of the window contains the Libraries pane and the Fields pane.

• The right side of the window displays the records in Bento. You can display

record data in table view, form view, grid view, or split view.

By default, both sections of the Bento window are displayed. To hide the Libraries pane and Fields pane, choose View

20 Chapter 1 Overview of Bento

> Hide Libraries & Fields Pane.

Address Book

Library

iCal Events

Library

Collection of iCal Events

Collection of records from Projects

New Library

New Collection

Projects Library

iCal Tasks

Library

iPhoto Library

Libraries Pane

The Libraries pane displays the libraries and collections that are in Bento.

• A library categorizes data by content. Bento provides several libraries by

default. The Address Book, iCal Tasks, iCal Events, and iPhoto libraries display data from the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto applications. The Projects library, which stores data about projects, is an example library with sample data. You can create libraries to store other categories of data. You can organize a group of libraries within a folder.

To add a library to the Libraries pane, click the New Library button. See Chapter 2, “Using Libraries” on page 31.

• A collection is set of records from a library. A collection is similar to an Address

Book group or to a playlist in iTunes. A collection contains records from its parent library. A record from the library can be in more than one collection. For example, one person might be both a friend and a co-worker. If you had one collection named “Friends” and another named “Co-workers” you could add this person’s contact record to both collections in the Address Book library.

To add a collection to the Libraries pane, click the New Collection button. See Chapter 4, “Using Collections” on page 51.

Tip If you want to change the size of the icons and text in the Libraries pane, choose

Bento > Preferences. For “Libraries Pane Text,” select Small or Large.

Chapter 1 Overview of Bento 21

Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Bento displays the data you’ve already entered into the Mac OS X applications Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto using these libraries: Address Book, iCal Events, iCal Tasks, and iPhoto.

Address Book Library

The Address Book library displays contact information from the Mac OS X Address Book application, so there is no need to re-enter your contact information. Enter new contacts in Address Book or in Bento, and the information appears in both applications.

See ”Address Book Library” on page 41.

iCal Events Library

The iCal Events library displays information from the events in the Mac OS X iCal application. You can view those events in Bento, and use them with other data you store in Bento. For example, you can display which iCal events are related to a specific project by creating a relationship to iCal Events in a Projects library.

Enter new events in iCal or in Bento, and the information appears in both applications.

See ”iCal Events and iCal Tasks Libraries” on page 44.

iCal Tasks Library

The iCal Tasks library displays information from the To Do items in iCal. You can use those tasks in your Bento libraries and collections. For example, you can display which iCal tasks are related to a specific project by creating a relationship to iCal Tasks in a Projects library.

Enter To Do items in iCal or task records in Bento, and the information appears in both applications.

See ”iCal Events and iCal Tasks Libraries” on page 44.

iPhoto Library

The iPhoto library displays photos and video clips from the albums and Smart Albums in the Mac OS X iPhoto application. You can view those albums and Smart Albums in Bento, and use them with other data you store in Bento. For example, you can display photos that are related to a specific project by creating a relationship to iPhoto in a Projects library.

22 Chapter 1 Overview of Bento

Collections

Create a collection when you want a subset of the records from a library. There are two kinds of collections:

• Collections are created by adding records from the library to a new collection.

Creating a collection is as easy as creating a playlist in iTunes. Select the records in the library and use the New Collection from Selection menu item, or drag the selected records to the Libraries pane.

• Smart Collections are created based on criteria you set up. Records that meet

the defined criteria appear in the Smart Collection. You use Advanced Find to create a Smart Collection.

See Chapter 4, “Using Collections” on page 51.

Creating Libraries

Bento comes with more than 30 library templates that make it easy for you to create new libraries of information. A template defines the fields of information used in each record of a library, which you can change based on your needs. Select the library template that most closely matches the category of data you want to store.

See ”Creating a Library Using the Bento Templates” on page 32.

Chapter 1 Overview of Bento 23

Table view shows each record as a row in a table.

Form view shows fields from a single record.

Split table and form view lets you view a record as a row in a table and in a page-like format at the same time.

Grid view shows media fields or form thumbnails in the selected library.

Records Area

On the right side of the Bento window, you can display information stored in Bento in either table view, a form view, grid view, or split view.

• Table view shows information in an entire library or collection in a

spreadsheet-like table, where each row in the table is a record in the library.

• Form view shows fields from one record at a time, in arrangements that you

can customize, using beautiful themes.

• Grid view shows the media fields and form thumbnails of a selected library or

collection in a grid layout.

• Split view shows the selected record in either form view and table view, or

form view and grid view at the same time.

24 Chapter 1 Overview of Bento

Table View

To view the information in an entire library or collection in a spreadsheet-like table, use table view.

In table view, you can work with your records in many ways, including:

• Selecting the columns (fields) that you want to show.

• Arranging the columns in any order.

• Sorting records by selecting a specific column.

• Analyzing data using a summary row.

See Chapter 6, “Using Table View” on page 65.

Form View

To view your information one record at a time, use form view. In form view, you can create multiple forms for each collection or library, giving each form a different name. For example, you could create a form in the Address Book library to show birthdays, and track whether you’ve sent a card or gift.

You can customize forms in many ways, including:

• Selecting the fields that you want to show.

• Arranging the fields on the form.

• Changing the size of fields.

• Changing the appearance of the form using themes.

• Adding a header and a logo.

See Chapter 5, “Using Form View” on page 55.

Grid View

To view the media fields and form thumbnails in a selected library or collection, use grid view.

In grid view, you can work with thumbnails of media fields and forms, called grid view items, in many ways, including:

• Filtering grid view items.

• Setting and changing labels of grid view items.

• Changing the display size of grid view items.

See Chapter 7, “Using Grid View” on page 75.

Split View

To view the selected record in form view and table view at the same time, or in form view and grid view at the same time, use split view.

Chapter 1 Overview of Bento 25

Form Themes

Bento provides an assortment of beautiful themes that you can apply to your forms. Every theme includes coordinated colors, layout, fonts, and text attributes. You can easily change a form’s theme at any time.

See ”Customizing Form Layouts” on page 61.

26 Chapter 1 Overview of Bento

Form view buttons New form Delete form

Previous record

Show or hide split view

Next record Search field

Grid view

Table

view

Navigation Bar

The navigation bar contains several controls that help you display information in Bento.

• Click to see records in table view.

• Click to see records in grid view.

• Click one of the form view buttons to see records one at a time in a page-like

view. In the example below, there are two form view buttons: “Overview” and “Details.” You can have as many form views as you want.

• Click to switch to split view from table view or form view.

• Click to switch to split view from grid view.

• To move through the records in a library or collection, click the Previous

record and Next record buttons (the arrow buttons).

To go to the first record, Option-click the Previous record button. To go to the last record, Option-click the Next record button.

Search Field and Advanced Find

• Use the Search field to do a simple search for text in all field types except

media, related data, file list, message list, and encrypted.

Note You can search encrypted fields if they are unlocked.

• Use Advanced Find to find a set of matching records by defining search

values and criteria for specific fields.

Chapter 1 Overview of Bento 27

1. Type “M”and the result is 30 records. 2. Type “Ma” and the result is 15 records.

3. Type “Mar” and the result is 9 records. 4. Type “Mary” and the result is 3 records.

To use the Search field:

1 Select the library or collection.

2 Enter a text string into the Search field.

Bento searches across all the applicable fields of the selected library or collection. Bento lets you know how many records match the search string, and updates the current view to display the matching records for those fields that are selected in table view or have been added to a form in form view.

28 Chapter 1 Overview of Bento

To use Advanced Find:

1 Select the library or collection.

2 In the search field, click and select Advanced Find, or press Command-F.

3 Specify what you want to find. Add or remove criteria as needed.

4 Click Find.

Bento performs the search, and displays the matching records.

• To save the matching records as a Smart Collection, click Save. See ”Ab o ut

Smart Collections” on page 53.

• To close Advanced Find, click the X next to “Advanced Find” or press

Command-F. When you close Advanced Find, Bento shows all records.

Chapter 1 Overview of Bento 29

Drag to add field to the current form.

Field is already on the current form.

Fields with

selected

checkboxes are

already shown as

columns in table

view.

In form view

In table view

Select an

unchecked field to

show it as a

column in table

view.

Address subfields can’t be added to the form individually.

Fields Pane

The Fields pane on the left side of the Bento window displays the fields that are defined for the selected library or collection.

• In table view, use the Fields pane to select which columns are shown.

• In a form view, use the Fields pane to add fields to the current form by

dragging a field name with

• In split view, the Fields pane indicates the fields that can be added to the

current form or can be displayed in table view.

to the form.

See ”Using the Fields Pane” on page 89.

30 Chapter 1 Overview of Bento

Using Libraries

In Bento, you use libraries to organize your information. You can use the libraries that Bento provides, and create your own libraries using templates. You can share your entire database or selected libraries with up to five users on a local network.

Bento contains four libraries that display data from other Mac OS X applications:

• Address Book library, which displays contact records from the Address Book

application

• iCal Events library, which displays events from the iCal application

• iCal Tasks library, which displays To Do items from the iCal application

• iPhoto library, which displays photos from the iPhoto application

For information on these libraries, see Chapter 3, “Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries” on page 39.

You can also create libraries to hold your information:

• By using the New Library dialog

• By importing existing information from a comma-separated (CSV), tab-

separated (TAB), Numbers, Excel, or library template file

This chapter describes how to use libraries to organize, manage, and share your information.

About Libraries

Bento stores information in libraries. Libraries are composed of records, and libraries are defined by the fields in the records.

For example, the Address Book library contains contact records. Contact records are composed of the fields that are used to store information about contacts and to update the Address Book application, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers .

As another example, the default Projects library records are composed of fields that are useful for managing projects, such as fields for the project status, start and end dates, and team member information.

Bento provides several ways for you to view the records of a library:

• Form view shows fields from a single record. Each page shows one record at a

time, for example, a single contact record in the Address Book library. You can have more than one form view for the library. See View” on page 55.

• Tab le view shows the records in a table, for example, a list of the contacts in

the Address Book library. Each row in the table represents a single record in the library. See

• Grid view displays at a glance the media fields and form thumbnails of a

selected library or collection. See

• Split view shows a record in form view and table view or grid view at the same

time.

The remainder of this chapter describes how to create, use, and share libraries:

• You can create your own libraries by using library templates. See the

following section,

• You can create a library by importing your own data. See ”Importing

Information into Bento” on page 104.

• You can share your libraries with up to five other Bento users on your local

network. See

Chapter 6, “Using Table View” on page 65.

Chapter 7, “Using Grid View” on page 75.

”Creating a Library Using the Bento Templates” on page 32.

”Sharing Your Bento Database” on page 34.

Chapter 5, “Using Form

Creating a Library Using the Bento Templates

Before you create a library, think about the type of information you want to manage with the library. Do you want to manage schedules and dates? Do you want to manage contact information? Are you looking for a way to bring tasks and assignments together in an event planner? Or do you want to manage a list of things, such as inventory or equipment lists?

Bento provides library templates that create the fields to manage specific kinds of information. These templates also apply pre-designed themes to the form views.

By selecting the library template that most closely fits the type of information you want to manage, you create the library you need more quickly. If you can't find a template for the kind of information you want to store, you can use the “Blank” template and create a library of your own. After you create a library from a template, you can customize the form view by adding or removing fields and changing the theme.

Tip If you already have information from another application that you want to use in

Bento, see

32 Chapter 2 Using Libraries

”Importing Information into Bento” on page 104.

To create a library using the Bento templates:

1 Choose File > New Library from Template.

2 In the New Library dialog, select a template category in the left column, then

select the template.

Select “Blank” if none of the templates meet your needs. You can create all of the fields yourself with the Blank library.

3 Enter a name for your library, and click Choose.

Bento creates the library and opens it in form view.

If you selected a template other than the Blank template, review the fields that are defined for your new library.

• If you are happy with the fields and form views in your new library, then

you’re ready to add records and enter information. See

”Editing Records in

Form View” on page 56.

• If you need additional fields, you can customize the library by adding fields.

See

”Adding Fields to a Form” on page 59.

• If there are fields defined for information that you do not need, delete those

fields. See

”Removing Fields from a Form” on page 60.

Chapter 2 Using Libraries 33

• If you want to change the layout of the fields on the form view, see

”Customizing Form Layouts” on page 61.

• If you want to change the appearance of the form view, you can select a

different theme. See

”Customizing Form Layouts” on page 61.

Creating a New Blank Library

You can get started quickly by creating a blank library, then add data to it as you would in a spreadsheet.

To create a new blank library:

1 Choose File > New Blank Library.

Bento creates a library with a default name and opens it in table view.

2 Double-click the library name to rename it.

3 Click in the highlighted cell to start entering or pasting data.

See ”Editing Records in Table View” on page 67 and ”Copying and Pasting Data in Table View” on page 67.

Creating a Library by Importing

If you already have information from another application that you want to include in Bento, then create a library and records in that library by importing your information. See

”Importing Information into Bento” on page 104.

Changing the Icon for a Library

Each library comes with its own icon. You can change the icon for any library you create.

To change a library icon:

1 In the Libraries pane, Control-click the library you want to change.

2 Choose “Choose a library icon.”

3 Click an icon, then click OK.

Sharing Your Bento Database

You can share your Bento database with up to five other Bento users at the same time over a local network (in the same subnet). Sharing requires Bento 3 on each computer that is either sharing a database or looking for shared databases.

34 Chapter 2 Using Libraries

You can export data from a shared library, but you can’t export a shared library into a template file. For more information, see page 110.

When you first start Bento, your libraries are set up ready to be shared. You then decide whether to share your entire database or only selected libraries.

Note When you share your iCal Events library it becomes read-only, and other users

can’t modify events.

To share your database with other Bento users:

1 Choose Bento > Preferences.

2 Click Sharing at the top of the window.

3 Select “Share my Bento database.”

4 Select “Share entire database” or “Share selected libraries,” then select the

libraries you want to share.

5 (Optional) Enter a different name for your shared database.

This is the name that is displayed on other users’ computers (if they are set up to look for shared databases on your network).

6 If you want other users to be able to make changes to the shared database,

select “Allow others to make changes to your data.”

”Exporting Information from Bento” on

If a shared database is not allowed to be changed, users see italicized field labels

and

Users viewing your shared database can’t create or delete fields or make changes to form layouts.

If you make certain types of changes to the database while it being shared (create fields, collections, or folders; delete folders; change field options or the database name), users are prompted to disconnect from the database and then reconnect to ensure they have the latest version.

7 Leave Bento open on your computer for users to see your shared database on

other computers.

Important Users editing a shared database can’t undo their changes once they have

tabbed or clicked outside the field currently being edited.

To disconnect a shared database, click next to the shared database.

when they move the cursor over the fields.

Turning Off Database Sharing

You can turn off database sharing to prevent other users on your local network from seeing your database.

Chapter 2 Using Libraries 35

To turn off database sharing:

1 Choose Bento > Preferences.

2 Click Sharing at the top of the window.

3 Deselect “Share my Bento database.”

Looking for Shared Databases

If your computer is connected to other computers over a local network, you can look for databases that are being shared.

To look for shared databases on your local network:

1 Choose Bento > Preferences.

2 Click Sharing at the top of the window.

3 Select “Look for shared Bento databases.”

Any shared databases appear in the Shared section of the Libraries pane.

Setting a Password for a Shared Database

You can require users to enter a password, called the Sharing Password, before they can view your shared items. This password is different from the Database Password. For more information about the Database Password, see Bento Database” on page 97.

”Setting a Password for Your

To set the Sharing Password:

1 Choose Bento > Preferences.

2 Click Sharing at the top of the window.

3 Select Require Sharing Password, then type a password.

Opening a Password-Protected Shared Database

Password-protected shared databases are indicated by in the Libraries pane.

To open a password-protected shared database:

1 Select a password-protected shared database.

2 In the dialog, enter the Sharing Password that was set by the owner of the

shared database.

Working with Shared Encrypted Fields

Users can access encrypted fields in shared databases by first entering the Sharing Password (if one has been set) and then the Database Password for the shared

36 Chapter 2 Using Libraries

database. For more information about the Database Password, see ”Setting a Password for Your Bento Database” on page 97.

Users can lock and unlock data in shared encrypted fields. For more information, see ”Locking and Unlocking Data in Encrypted Fields” on page 98.

Grouping Libraries

You can organize a group of libraries within a folder.

To create a library folder:

1 Choose File > New Library Folder.

An untitled folder is created in the Libraries pane above the currently selected library or folder.

2 Enter a new name for the folder and press Return.

To add a library to a library folder:

Select the library and drag it to the desired library folder.

Deleting Records from a Library

To delete records from a library:

1 Select the library.

2 Select the records and press Command-Delete.

Note When you press Command-Delete, the records are permanently deleted from

both the library and any collection or related data fields that displayed them.

Deleting a Library

To delete a library:

Select the library and press the Delete key. When you press Delete, the library and all of its records are deleted.

Any related data fields in other libraries based on this library are also deleted.

Note You cannot delete the Address Book, iCal Events, iCal Tasks, or iPhoto libraries. If

you do not want to display these libraries, see iPhoto Libraries” on page 39.

”Displaying the Address Book, iCal, and

Chapter 2 Using Libraries 37

38 Chapter 2 Using Libraries

Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Bento provides libraries that display data from the Mac OS X Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto applications. With these libraries, you can manage contacts, events, tasks, and photos together, and display them as related records in other libraries in Bento.

Bento contains four libraries that display data from other Mac OS X applications:

• Address Book library, which displays information from the Address Book

application

• iCal Events library, which displays events from the iCal application

• iCal Tasks library, which displays to-do items from the iCal application

• iPhoto library, which displays photos and video clips from the iPhoto

application

This chapter describes how to use these libraries to organize information about contacts, events, tasks, and photos, and how to add information from these libraries to your own libraries.

Displaying the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Bento starts with an Address Book library, an iCal Events library, an iCal Tasks library, and an iPhoto library. Even if the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto applications are not running, you see the data from these applications in Bento.

Displaying the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto libraries is optional. When you first start using Bento, these libraries are displayed by default.

If you turn off the display of these libraries in Bento, their records no longer appear in Bento, but they still appear in the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto applications.

Displaying Data from the Address Book Application

To display the Address Book data in Bento:

1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup.

2 Select “Display Address Book data in Bento.”

To turn off the display of Address Book data in Bento:

1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup.

2 Clear “Display Address Book data in Bento.”

When you click OK, the Address Book library no longer appears in Bento.

If you have related data fields based on the Address Book library, those related data fields are no longer displayed when you turn off the display of the Address Book library.

Displaying Data from the iCal Application

To display the iCal data in Bento:

1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup.

2 Select “Display iCal data in Bento.”

To turn off the display of iCal data in Bento:

1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup.

2 Clear “Display iCal data in Bento.”

When you click OK, the iCal libraries no longer appear in Bento.

If you have related data fields based on the iCal libraries, those related data fields are no longer displayed when you turn off the display of the iCal libraries.

Displaying Data from the iPhoto Application

To display the iPhoto data in Bento:

1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup.

2 Select “Display iPhoto data in Bento.”

40 Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

To turn off the display of iPhoto data in Bento:

1 In Bento, choose File > Address Book, iCal and iPhoto Setup.

2 Clear “Display iPhoto data in Bento.”

When you click OK, the iPhoto library no longer appears in Bento.

If you have related data fields based on the iPhoto library, those related data fields are no longer displayed when you turn off the display of the iPhoto library.

Address Book Library

By default, Bento displays contact information and groups from the Mac OS X Address Book application. When you make changes to records in the Bento Address Book library, you are actually updating the records in the Address Book application.

You can use the Bento Address Book library to edit data from any application or device that synchronizes with the Address Book application.

By displaying the Bento Address Book library, you add your contacts to Bento and keep your contacts up-to-date, whether you edit the information in the Address Book application or in Bento.

• If you add a record in the Address Book library, then it is added to the Address

Book application.

• If you delete a record in the Address Book library, then it is deleted from the

Address Book application.

• For every group that you create in the Address Book application, Bento

creates an Address Book library collection.

• For every collection you create in the Address Book library, the Address Book

application creates an Address Book group.

If you delete a collection under the Address Book library, the associated Address Book group is deleted also. Similarly, if you delete a group in the Address Book application, the associated collection under the Address Book library is deleted also.

Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries 41

The Address Book library displays contact information from the Address Book application.

Address Book

groups display

as collections

in Bento.

You can use the records in the Bento Address Book library just like the records in any other library and collection in Bento. The only difference is that changes in the Address Book library update information in the Address Book application.

Note Bento does not display Smart Groups from the Address Book application.

Conversely, Smart

Collections from the Bento Address Book library are not added to

the Address Book application.

42 Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Bento Address Book Fields That Update the Address Book Application

The following fields in the Address Book library update information in the Address Book application.

Address: Home, Work, Other

Address list

Birthday

Company name

Department

Email address: Home, Work, Other

Email address list

First name

Home page

IM account: Home, Work, Other

IM account list

Is Company

Job title

Last name

Maiden name

Middle name

Nickname

Note

Phone number: Work, Home, Mobile, Main, Home fax, Work fax, Pager, Other

Phone number list

Phonetic first name

Phonetic last name

Phonetic middle name

Prefix

Suffix

URL

URL list

You can add other fields to your Address Book library records in Bento, but your additional fields are not added to the Address Book application. See

Chapter 8, “Using

Fields” on page 79 for information on adding fields.

Conversely, any custom field labels you have defined in the Address Book application are not displayed in the Address Book library in Bento.

Troubleshooting Address Book Updates

This section describes some common issues with displaying data from the Address Book application.

• Why don’t I see my Smart Groups from the Address Book application in

Bento?

Bento does not display Address Book Smart Groups because the criteria used to create the groups are not available to Bento.

• Why don’t I see my Address Book library’s Smart Collections in the Address

Book application?

The criteria used to create Bento Smart Collections cannot be passed to the Address Book application because the criteria may use fields that appear only in Bento and may involve fields that are not available to the Address Book application.

Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries 43

Other Address Book Considerations

• When you create a Bento backup file, the data from the Address Book

application is not included in the Bento backup file. To back up the data from Address Book, use the Address Book application.

If you add fields to the Address Book library, information from those additional fields is included in the Bento backup file. See Restoring Information” on page 117 for information on creating a Bento backup file.

• You can use import and export with the Address Book library. Records

imported into the Address Book library update the Address Book application. See

Chapter 9, “Importing, Exporting, and Printing” on page 101 for

information on importing and exporting.

Chapter 10, “Backing Up and

iCal Events and iCal Tasks Libraries

iCal is a convenient application for keeping track of your events and tasks.

By default, Bento gets the calendar information from the iCal application and keeps the information in your iCal Events and iCal Tasks libraries updated with iCal changes. In addition, any changes you make in Bento update the iCal application information.

Bento creates a record for each event or task in the iCal application, for the iCal calendars stored on your computer. By default, any events or tasks you create in Bento are added to the Bento calendar in iCal, and you can reassign them to other iCal calendars.

44 Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

The iCal Events library displays event records from the iCal application.

You can use the records in the iCal Events and iCal Tasks libraries just like the records in any other libraries and collections in Bento. The only difference is that changes in the iCal Events and iCal Tasks libraries update the information in the iCal application.

Note Bento does not display information from the subscribed calendars in the iCal

application.

Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries 45

Bento Event Fields That Update the iCal Application

The following fields in the Bento iCal Events library update the iCal application.

• All Day

• Calendar

• End date

• Location

• Note

• Start date

• Title

• URL

Note In the iCal application, the “URL” field is a text field. In order to correctly display

this value in Bento, the iCal Events library uses a text field as well, rather than using a Bento URL field.

You can add other fields to your event records in Bento, but your additional fields do not update the iCal application. See information on adding fields.

Chapter 8, “Using Fields” on page 79 for

Bento Task Fields That Update the iCal Application

The following fields in the Bento iCal Task library update the iCal application.

• Calendar

• Completion date

• Due date

• Note

• Priority

• Title

• URL

Note In the iCal application, the “URL” field is a text field. In order to correctly display

this value in Bento, the iCal Tasks library uses a text field as well, rather than using a Bento URL field.

You can add other fields to your task records in Bento, but your additional fields do not update the iCal application. See on adding fields.

Chapter 8, “Using Fields” on page 79 for information

46 Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Troubleshooting iCal Updates

This section describes some common issues with displaying data from the iCal application.

• Why don’t I see the collections from iCal Events or iCal Task libraries in the iCal

application?

The iCal application does not have a way to display a subset of the events or tasks from a specific calendar.

• Why don’t I see events or tasks from my subscribed calendars?

Subscribed calendars are stored on an external server; Bento displays information for local calendars only.

• How do I create a calendar in Bento?

When you create a calendar in the iCal application, it can be used as a calendar selection in Bento. You cannot create a calendar in Bento.

Other iCal Considerations

• When you create a Bento backup file, the data from the iCal application is not

included in the Bento backup file. To back up the data from iCal, use the iCal application.

If you add fields to the iCal libraries, information from those added fields is included in the Bento backup file. See Information” on page 117 for information on creating a Bento backup file.

• You can use import and export with the iCal libraries. Records imported into

the iCal libraries update the iCal application. See Exporting, and Printing” on page 101 for information on importing and exporting.

Chapter 10, “Backing Up and Restoring

Chapter 9, “Importing,

iPhoto Library

iPhoto is a convenient application for keeping track of your photos and video clips.

By default, Bento gets the photo and video clip information from the iPhoto application and keeps the information in your iPhoto library updated with iPhoto changes. However, you can’t add, delete, or duplicate records, collections, Smart Collections, or records within collections and Smart Collections in the iPhoto library. You can’t edit the contents of fields that originate in the iPhoto application.

You can add fields to your records in the iPhoto library, and then edit or delete them, but those fields do not display in the iPhoto application. See on page 79 for information on adding fields.

In Bento, your iPhoto Albums appear as collections and Smart Albums appear as Smart Collections. The Bento iPhoto library contains default collections that correspond to these iPhoto items: Last 12 Months, Last Import, and Flagged.

Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries 47

Chapter 8, “Using Fields”

The iPhoto library displays photos and video clips from the iPhoto application.

Albums display as

collections in Bento.

Albums in the iPhoto application.

Bento iPhoto Fields

You can’t modify the names or the contents of the default Bento iPhoto library fields.

You can add other fields to your photo or video clip records in Bento but your additional fields do not update the iPhoto application. See on page 79 for information on adding fields.

Troubleshooting iPhoto Updates

This section describes some common issues with displaying data from the iPhoto application.

• Why don’t I see any photos, video clips, or collections in my Bento iPhoto

library?

If you have iPhoto installed on your computer but have never launched it, there won’t be any photos, video clips, or collections displayed in the Bento iPhoto library until you launch iPhoto.

48 Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Chapter 8, “Using Fields”

Drag the Nature

collection to a form in

the Projects library...

...to create a related data

field.

Other iPhoto Considerations

• When you create a Bento backup file, the data from the iPhoto application is

not included in the Bento backup file. To back up the data from iPhoto, use the Time Machine application.

• If you add fields to the iPhoto library, information from those additional fields

is included in the Bento backup file. Those fields are not added to the iPhoto application. See

Chapter 10, “Backing Up and Restoring Information” on

page 117 for information on creating a Bento backup file.

Using Related Data Fields in the iPhoto Library

You can quickly create a related data field based on the iPhoto library by dragging

onto a form in another library.

In a related data field based on the iPhoto library, you can’t create or delete records.

Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries 49

Click to display records in

table format.

Click to display records

in grid format.

When you add records to a related data field, you can view them within the related data field in a grid layout (which displays media fields only) or a table (which displays media fields as thumbnails).

50 Chapter 3 Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Using Collections

Vendors collection in the Address Book library

This chapter describes how to use collections to further organize your records in Bento.

In Bento, your records are kept in libraries, as described in Chapter 2, “Using Libraries” on page 31. If you want to organize records in different ways or if you want to work with a subset of the records in a library, you can create a collection.

About Collections

A collection is a set of records from a library. You can create a collection to:

• Create a set of records for a special purpose. For example, you could create a

collection of the people invited to a specific event.

• Sort records in a different order. For example, you could create a collection of

contacts to sort the contact records by last name.

• Export the data from the records in the collection rather than from all the

records in the library.

A collection in Bento is similar to a playlist in iTunes. If you have used iTunes, you know how convenient it is to use a playlist to create a compilation of songs and videos. Collections in Bento give you the same convenience for grouping records from a library.

A collection contains records from a single library. For example, you can put records from the Address Book library in an Address Book collection such as Vendors. You cannot put any other library’s records in the Vendors collection.

However, a record from a library can be added to any of the collections within the same library. For example, if you have a “DVD” library with a “Favorites” collection and a “Classic Movies” collection, you can have the same record in both collections.

There are two kinds of collections:

• collections

• Smart Collections

You create collections by using the New Collection menu item, by selecting records and using the New Collection from Selection menu item, or by dragging selected records to an existing collection or to the Libraries pane.

Smart Collections are created based on criteria you set up. Smart Collections update as your library changes; records that meet the defined criteria appear in the Smart Collection.

Creating Collections

Create a collection when you want to make a specific list of records.

To create a collection:

1 Select a library in which you want to make a collection.

2 Click or choose File > New Collection.

3 Type a name for the collection, then press Return.

4 Select the library you selected in step 1 again.

5 Click Table in the navigation bar or choose View > Table View to show the

library in table view.

6 Select the record you want to add to the collection. Drag the selected record

to the collection, or click selected record to the collection.

To select multiple records, hold down the Command or Shift key while you click.

Tip To quickly create a collection containing selected records, select the records,

then choose File > New Collection From Selection or drag the records to a blank space in the Libraries pane.

and choose Add to Collection to add the

52 Chapter 4 Using Collections

Removing Records from a Collection

To remove records from a collection:

1 Select the collection.

2 Select the records and press Command-Delete.

If you click Remove from Collection, the records are removed only from the collection, not from the associated library. If you click Delete, the records are permanently removed from both the library and the collection.

Deleting a Collection

To delete a collection:

Select the collection and press the Delete key. The records are removed from the collection but not from the library.

Note If you delete a library or collection that one or more related data fields are based

on, those related data fields are also deleted.

About Smart Collections

Create a Smart Collection when you want a collection that contains records that meet criteria you define. Smart Collections show all the records that meet the criteria.

For example, you could create a Smart Collection of contacts who live in the same city. When you add a new contact record for a person who lives in that city, Bento automatically adds that contact record to your Smart Collection.

Or you could create a Smart Collection of event records that are due in the same week. If you add or modify a record so that it meets the criteria, that record appears in the Smart Collection the next time you click the Smart Collection in the Libraries pane.

Because a Smart Collection is a set of records that match defined criteria, it is different from a collection in the following ways:

• You cannot manually add records to or remove records from Smart

Collections. To remove certain records from the Smart Collection, edit the criteria or modify the records’ values so that they no longer meet the criteria.

• You can create Smart Collections in the Address Book library, but Smart

Collections do not appear in the Address Book application.

• You can create Smart Collections in the iCal Events and iCal Tasks libraries,

but Smart Collections do not appear in the iCal application.

• You cannot import records into a Smart Collection.

Chapter 4 Using Collections 53

1. Select the criteria.

2. Save the criteria.

Creating Smart Collections

You can create a Smart Collection that adds records to or removes records from a collection according to criteria that you define.

To create a Smart Collection:

1 Choose File > New Smart Collection.

2 Type a name for the Smart Collection, then press Return.

Use the pop-up menus and entry fields to specify the criteria for the Smart Collection. Click

For example, to create a Smart Collection that only shows iCal tasks that are not completed, specify the criteria to be All, Completion Date, and Is empty.

3 Click Save.

Tip You can also create a Smart Collection by clicking Save after you specify the

criteria for an Advanced Find. See

to add additional criteria.

”Search Field and Advanced Find” on page 27.

Working with Smart Collections

After you create a Smart Collection, you can edit and duplicate records within it. See ”Editing Records in Table View” on page 67 and ”Duplicating Records in Table View” on page 68.

Changing a Smart Collection

When you change a Smart Collection, Bento updates the collection based on the criteria that you define.

To change a Smart Collection:

1 Select the Smart Collection and choose File > Edit Smart Collection.

2 Use the pop-up menus and entry fields to modify, add, or remove the criteria.

3 Click Find to see if the new criteria produce the records you want.

4 Click Save.

Note To discard the changes you made to the criteria, click any other item in the

Libraries pane.

54 Chapter 4 Using Collections

Using Form View

The same record displayed in another form view, using a different organization of fields

A record displayed in one form view

In Bento, you use form view to display one record at a time from a library or collection.

This chapter describes how to create and edit records in form view, create and modify forms, and customize form layouts.

About Forms

In form view, you can create and use forms to display one record at a time from a library or collection in a page-like format. For example, you can display a contact in the Address Book library or a task in the iCal Tasks library.

With forms, you can see the fields for an individual record. You can create and use multiple forms, or pages, to display different information about that record.

For a given library or collection, you can use any of its fields on any of its forms.

If you want to see more than one record at a time, or scan and sort your information quickly, use table view instead. See

Chapter 6, “Using Table View” on page 65.

Forms can also display records from other libraries or collections in related data fields. For example, you can display a list of people who are attending an event on a form in the iCal Event library. See

”Creating Related Data Fields” on page 85.

Viewing a Form and a Table at the Same Time

You can view a selected record in form view and table view at the same time. Select the record, then choose View > Split View.

Creating Records in Form View

You can create records in either form view or table view. For table view instructions, see

”Creating Records in Table View” on page 66.

To create a record for a library or collection:

1 Select the library or collection you want to add a record to.

2 Click a form name in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form

Name.

3 Choose Records > New Record or press Command-N.

4 Type data in the fields.

5 Press Tab to move to the next field in the same record. Press Shift-Tab to move

to the previous field in the same record.

Tip To quickly create a record, Control-click in a blank area on the form and choose

New Record from the pop-up menu.

Editing Records in Form View

To edit a record:

1 Select the library or collection that contains the record you want to edit.

2 Navigate to the desired record.

Press Tab or Shift-Tab to move from field to field.

3 Click a form name in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form

Name.

4 Click the field you want to change, modify the data, then click outside the

field or press Tab to save the change.

56 Chapter 5 Using Form View

Adding the Current Date and Time to a Field

When editing a record, you can add the current date and time to a date, time, or text field.

To add the current date and time to a field:

1 Click in the date, time, or text field.

2 Choose Insert > Current Date and Time.

If the field type is You see the current

Date Date. Set the “Display Time” option to also display the time.

Time Time

Text Date and time

Duplicating Records in Form View

To quickly add a record with the same or similar data as an existing record:

1 Navigate to the record you want to duplicate.

2 Choose Records > Duplicate Record.

Deleting Records in Form View

To permanently delete a selected record from a library:

1 Select the library.

2 Click a form name in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form

Name.

3 Select the record.

4 Choose Records > Delete Record or press Command-Delete.

In the dialog, click Delete.

Chapter 5 Using Form View 57

To remove a selected record from a collection:

1 Select the collection.

2 Navigate to the record you want to remove.

3 Choose Records > Remove Record.

If you click Remove from Collection, the record is removed only from the collection, not the library. If you click Delete, the record is permanently removed from both the library and the collection.

Note if you delete a record from the Address Book library, the record is also

deleted in the Address Book application. If you delete a record from the iCal Events or iCal Tasks library, the record is also deleted in the iCal application.

Creating Forms

To create a form:

1 Select the library or collection you want to add a form to.

2 Click in the navigation bar or choose Forms > New Form.

In the Form name dialog, type a name, then click OK.

3 Add fields to the blank form.

See ”Adding Fields to a Form” on page 59.

4 Create records.

See ”Creating Records in Form View” on page 56.

Deleting Forms

To dele te a form :

1 Select the library or collection you want to delete a form from.

2 Click in the navigation bar or choose Forms > Delete Form.

If there is only one form, you can’t delete it.

Duplicating Forms

To duplicate a form:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Choose Forms > Duplicate Form.

58 Chapter 5 Using Form View

Renaming Forms

To re name a form :

1 Double-click the form name at the top of the window.

2 In the Form name dialog, type a new name, then click OK.

Adding Fields to a Form

To add a field to a form:

1 Select a library or collection.

2 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

3 Drag a field from the Fields pane to the desired location on the form.

To move a field, see ”Moving Fields and Objects on Forms” on page 59. To resize a field, see ”Resizing Fields and Objects” on page 60. To create a field, choose Insert > New Field. See ”Creating Fields” on page 82.

Tabbing Between Fields

To tab between fields on a form:

1 Select a library or collection.

2 Select a form.

3 Click in a field, then press Tab to move from field to field, and within each

column if you have added a column divider. Press Shift-Tab to move in the reverse direction.

Note To enable the Tab key to move to all controls, make sure “All controls” is

selected in the Mac OS X Keyboard and Mouse preferences (Keyboard Shortcuts tab).

Moving Fields and Objects on Forms

To move one field or object:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Move your mouse near the field label or the edges of the field or object.

When the cursor changes into a hand, click to select the field or object, then drag it to a new location.

Bento allows you to drag fields above, below, next to, or between other objects on the form.

Chapter 5 Using Form View 59

To move multiple fields or objects:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Command-click or Shift-click to select multiple fields or objects.

Tip To quickly select many fields and objects, click in an empty part of the form, and

while holding down the mouse button, drag to select multiple items.

Resizing Fields and Objects

Any field and any object can be resized.

To resize a field or object:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Select the field or object.

3 Move the cursor to one of the handles. When the cursor changes to a double

arrow, drag to change the size.

Removing Fields from a Form

To remove a field from a form:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Select the field, then press the Delete key or drag the field off the form.

The data in the field is still in Bento even though the field is no longer displayed on the form.

60 Chapter 5 Using Form View

Customizing Form Layouts

You can quickly change the appearance of a form.

Changing the Theme

You can change a form’s theme (the coordinated colors, layout, and text attributes) at any time. For example, you can use a light-colored theme for printing records.

To change a form’s theme:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Choose Forms > Theme Chooser.

3 In the Theme Chooser, select a theme, then click OK.

You see a ripple effect as the theme changes. If you don’t want the ripple effect, choose Bento “Display animation.”

If you want to preview a theme before applying it to your form, click Try It.

Resizing Column Widths

You can change the width of columns. Increase the width to accommodate wider fields or to increase the amount of blank space between columns.

> Preferences, click General at the top of the window, then clear

To resize the width of a column:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Position the cursor over a column divider, then drag left or right.

Changing the Position and Size of Labels

You can change how the labels for fields are positioned on a form.

To change the position of labels adjacent to fields:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Choose Forms > Labels.

3 Select Above or Beside.

To change the size of text in labels:

1 Choose Forms > Labels.

2 Select Small, Medium, or Large.

Chapter 5 Using Form View 61

Changing the Size of Text

You can change the size of text that is displayed in fields.

To change the size of text in fields:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Select the fields.

3 Choose Forms > Text Size.

4 Select a size from the list: Smallest, Small, Medium, Large, Largest.

Changing the Shading of Fields

You can change the level of shading that is displayed behind fields.

To change the shading of fields:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Select the fields.

3 Choose Forms > Shading.

4 Select a level of shading: None, Light, or Dark.

Aligning the Right Edges of Fields

You can align the rightmost edges of selected fields within a column.

To align the right edges of fields:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Select the fields whose right edges you want to align within a column.

Command-click or Shift-click to select multiple fields.

Tip To quickly align the right edges of many fields, click in an empty part of the

form, and while holding down the mouse button, drag to select multiple items.

3 Choose Forms > Align Right Edges.

62 Chapter 5 Using Form View

Adding Text Boxes

Add a text box if you want text such as a heading on your form.

To add a text box:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Choose Insert > Tex t Box.

An untitled box appears at the bottom of the form.

3 Drag the text box to the desired location, double-click in the text box, and

start typing.

Adding Image Boxes

Add an image box if you want an image such as a logo or letterhead to appear on every record in your form.

To add an image box:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Choose Insert > Image Box.

An image box appears on the form.

3 Drag an image file from the Finder into the image box.

4 Click in the image box to reposition or change the display size of the image.

For more information, see ”Positioning Images” on page 96 and ”Changing the Display Size of Images” on page 96.

Adding Horizontal Separators

A horizontal separator is an object you can add to a form. Separators help organize forms by visually separating the items above and below the separator. The appearance of the horizontal separator is defined by the theme applied to the form. You can change the horizontal separator's width but not its height.

To add a horizontal separator:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Choose Insert > Horizontal Separator.

3 Drag the horizontal separator to the desired location on the form.

Chapter 5 Using Form View 63

Adding Column Dividers

You can divide up space on a form with column dividers.

To add a column divider:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Choose Insert > Column Divider.

3 Drag the column divider to the desired location on the form.

Adding Spacers

Use a spacer to create a blank space between items on a form. For example, add a spacer to separate groups of fields. When editing the form, you can change the spacer's width, height, and shading.

To add a spacer:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Choose Insert > Spacer.

3 Drag the spacer to the desired location on the form.

Drag the right or bottom edge of the spacer to change its width or height.

4 (Optional) Choose Forms > Shading.

5 (Optional) Select a level of shading.

64 Chapter 5 Using Form View

Using Table View

One record

One field

In Bento, you use table view to display text and media in a spreadsheet-like format where rows represent records and columns represent fields.

This chapter describes how to create and modify records in table view, sort records, and rearrange, summarize, and display data in columns.

About Table View

In table view, you can see your records in rows with the fields in columns (in a format similar to a spreadsheet).

To go to table view, choose View > Table View.

Table view gives you flexibility while working with your data. For example, you can:

• see more than one record at a time

• choose which fields are displayed as columns

• sort records in ascending or descending order by using sort commands in the

column header pop-up menu

• duplicate one or more records

• delete multiple records

• enter, select, copy, and paste values in one or more cells, in a spreadsheet-like

manner

• summarize data

• select and drag multiple records to create new collections within one library

• create, view, and edit media fields

In table view, you cannot see related data fields or any of the list field types, such as address, email address, file list, message list, and simple list. See Data Fields” on page 93 and ”Working with List Fields” on page 90.

”Working with Related

Viewing a Table and Form at the Same Time

You can view a selected record in table view and form view at the same time. Select the record, then choose View > Split View.

Setting Table View Text Size

You can change the size of text for displaying records in table view.

To change the size of text used in table view:

1 Choose Bento > Preferences.

2 For “Table View Text,” select Small or Large.

Selecting Records in Table View

To select one record in table view:

Click a row number.

To select multiple records in table view:

Click a row number, then Shift-click the last row you want to include in the selection. Or Command-click individual rows to include in the selection.

Creating Records in Table View

You can create records in table view or form view.

To create a record for a library or collection:

1 Select the library or collection you want to add a record to.

2 In table view, choose Records > New Record. Or click in the last empty row

and start typing.

At the bottom of the window, the record count indicator increases.

66 Chapter 6 Using Table View

3 Type data in the columns.

If you type data in the last column, Bento creates a new field with the default name Field.

4 Press Tab to move to the next field in the same record. Press Shift-Tab to move

to the previous field in the same record.

To add existing records to another collection within the same library:

Select the records, choose Edit > Add To, then choose a collection from the list. The selected records are added to the collection that you chose in the list.

Editing Records in Table View

To edit a record:

1 Select the library or collection that contains the record you want to edit.

2 Double-click a field (table cell). Press Tab to move to the next field in the same

record. Press Shift-Tab to move to the previous field in the same record.

Press Command-Return to insert a line break in a text field.

Copying and Pasting Data in Table View

You can copy and paste data between Bento records in the same or other libraries as well as between Bento and spreadsheet applications such as Numbers and Excel.

To co py data:

1 Do one of the following:

• In Bento, select one or more rows of data by clicking the row number. To

select adjacent rows, select one row, then hold down the Shift key as you select adjacent rows. To select nonadjacent rows, hold down the Command key as you select rows.

• Drag a selected block of data from a spreadsheet application to Bento.

Note In your spreadsheet application, you may need to switch rows of cells to

columns or columns to rows before copying the data.

2 Choose Edit > Copy.

Bento copies the selected data to the Clipboard.

Chapter 6 Using Table View 67

To past e data:

1 Click a cell.

2 Choose Edit > Paste.

Bento creates additional records and columns as necessary.

Note When pasting into existing fields, Bento pastes as many values as possible. If

the data being pasted doesn’t match the field type, Bento gives you the choice of rejecting the data or changing the field type to Text.

To paste data into new columns:

1 Click a cell in the empty column after the last column of data.

2 Choose Edit > Paste.

Bento creates new text fields, and additional records as necessary.

Duplicating Records in Table View

To quickly add a record with the same or similar data as an existing record:

1 Select the library or collection.

2 Select one or more records, then choose Records > Duplicate Record.

If you duplicated a record in a collection, the record is created in the parent library and displayed in the collection.

Deleting Records in Table View

To permanently delete selected records from a library:

1 Select the library.

2 Select the records, then choose Records > Delete Selected Records or press

Command-Delete.

In the dialog, click Delete.

To permanently delete selected records from a collection:

1 Select the collection.

2 Select the records, then choose Records > Remove Selected Records or press

Command-Delete.

In the dialog, if you click Delete, the records are permanently removed from both the library and the collection. If you click “Remove from Collection,” the records are removed only from the collection, not the library.

68 Chapter 6 Using Table View

Sorting Records

To sort records:

Click the pop-up menu in a column header, then choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending.

If you want to sort two or more fields, sort by the least significant field first, followed by the more important field or fields. For example, to sort records by last name and first name, first sort by the First Name field, then by the Last Name field.

Working with Fields and Columns in Table View

Creating Fields in Table View

To create a field in table view:

1 For blank libraries, the first field is automatically created with the default

name New Field.

2 Double-click the column header and type a new name for the field, then

press Return.

3 Enter data in the field.

Bento creates a Text field by default. You can change the field to another type. See

”Changing the Field Type” on page 70.

4 Press Tab to create another field, where you can continue typing in the same

record.

5 Repeat steps 2-4 to create as many fields as you want.

Adding Fields in Table View

To add a field before or after a column:

1 Click near the right edge of a column header.

2 Choose Add Field Before or Add Field After.

A new column is inserted before or after the current column with the default name Field.

3 Type a new name for the field.

Chapter 6 Using Table View 69

Press the Space bar to view the selected media field.

Working with Media Fields in Table View

You can create, view, and edit media fields in table view in the same way as you do other field types.

Changing Options for a Field

To change field options:

1 Click near the right edge of a column header.

2 Choose Edit Field.

3 Change the field name or set options.

Duplicating Fields

To duplicate a field:

1 Click near the right edge of a column header.

2 Choose Duplicate Field.

Changing the Field Type

You can change the type of some fields to another. For more information see ”Changing an Existing Field from One Type to Another” on page 90.

To change the field type:

1 Click near the right edge of a column header.

2 Choose Change To, then select a field type from the list.

Showing and Hiding Columns

To hide columns:

1 Click near the right edge of a column header.

2 Choose Hide Field.

70 Chapter 6 Using Table View

Select

checkboxes

to display

fields.

To show or hide columns using the Fields pane:

In the Fields pane, select a field’s checkbox to display the field in table view. Clear the checkbox to hide the field in table view. To select multiple fields at once, select one field, then Shift-click another field to select all fields in between. To quickly clear them, press the Space bar.

When you hide a field in table view, the field and its data are not deleted from the library or collection.

Tip To display more data, hide the Libraries and Fields pane. Choose View > Hide

Libraries & Fields Pane.

Deleting Fields in Table View

To delete a field in table view:

1 Click near the right edge of a column header.

2 Choose Delete Field.

3 In the dialog, click Delete.

The fields and their data are permanently removed from the library.

Chapter 6 Using Table View 71

Drag header to reorder column.

Drag header edge to resize column.

Fill handle

Reordering Columns

To re order a co lumn:

Drag the column header left or right to a new location.

Resizing Columns

To resize a column:

1 Drag the edge of a column header to the width you want.

Filling Fields Automatically

Bento lets you use the content in one or more rows to automatically add or replace records below the selected fields.

To fill fields automatically:

1 Select one or more fields in one or more records.

2 Drag the fill handle to copy the fields’ values downward as far as you drag.

Summarizing Column Data

The summary row provides an easy way to perform basic operations on the data in a column and display the results. The summary row is located at the bottom of table view and at the bottom of related data fields.

To show or hide the summary row, choose View > Show Summary Row or Hide Summary Row.

72 Chapter 6 Using Table View

Choose Sum in the summary row to calculate the total of the amounts listed in the Budget column.

Depending on the field type, the following summary functions are available.

Name Purpose

Sum Calculates the total of the values in the selected field

Count Reports the number of items that have an entry in the selected field

Average Reports the average of the values in the selected field

Minimum Reports the lowest value of the values in the selected field

Maximum Reports the highest value of the values in the selected field

You can use the Count function on any type of field. You can use the Sum, Average, Minimum, and Maximum functions on fields of the following types: Number, Currency, Duration, Rating, Automatic Counter, and Calculation (when the result is number, currency, or duration). You can also use the Minimum and Maximum functions on Date and Time fields.

To calculate a summary for a column:

Click in the summary row of the selected column, then choose a function from the pop-up menu. The name of the function and the results are displayed in the summary row.

When you do a search or an Advanced Find, the summary is recalculated based on the records that are found.

Chapter 6 Using Table View 73

74 Chapter 6 Using Table View

Using Grid View

Media fields displayed in grid view

Form thumbnails displayed in grid view

In Bento, you can work with your media fields (pictures, music, and movies) and forms in an easy-to-use grid layout.

This chapter describes how to work with a library’s media fields and form thumbnails in grid view, look at a record in grid view and a form view at the same time, filter grid view items, set and change labels of grid view items, change the display size of grid view items, and work with library folders in grid view.

About Grid View

In grid view, the media fields in each record of a library or collection are displayed as thumbnails in rows. Each thumbnail is a grid view item. If a library or collection does not contain any media fields, Bento displays thumbnails of the forms.

Move the cursor back and forth over a grid view item to flash in succession all the media fields within the grid view item.

To go to grid view, choose View > Grid View or click .

Viewing the Grid and a Form at the Same Time

You can view a selected record in a form view and grid view at the same time.

If you are in grid view, select the record, then choose View > Split View or click .

If you are in form view, select the record, then choose View > Split View or click .

Displaying Grid View Items

To display grid view items:

Click to display photos, music, movies, and documents.

Click to display form thumbnails.

Setting Grid View Options

To set labels for grid view items:

1 Click .

2 Choose the fields to be used for the labels that appear below the grid view

items.

You can specify up to two fields per line.

Note If you don’t want any labels to be displayed, click the Title pop-up menu,

then choose the dash symbol for both fields. Click the Subtitle pop-up menu, then choose the dash symbol for both fields.

To set the default media field for grid view items:

1 Click .

2 Click the image in the Grid Settings window, then choose a media field.

Changing the Display Size of Grid View Items

To change the display size of grid view items:

Drag the zoom slider.

76 Chapter 7 Using Grid View

Library folder

Working with Library Folders in Grid View

When you select a library folder, you see a grid view of all the libraries contained in the folder along with information about the number of records and forms in each library.

Move the cursor back and forth over a library to flash in succession all the forms it contains.

To go to a specific form:

1 Move the cursor over a grid view item until you see the form you want.

2 Control-click and choose Go to Form from the pop-up menu.

To set the default form displayed for grid view items:

1 Move the cursor over a grid view item until you see the form you want.

2 Control-click and choose Set Default Grid Form from the pop-up menu.

Chapter 7 Using Grid View 77

78 Chapter 7 Using Grid View

Using Fields

Bento provides a wide variety of field types to store the kinds of information you use in your daily life.

In Bento, you can choose from many different field types to track things such as names, addresses, dates, times, prices, images, movies, songs, and lists of files.

This chapter describes the purpose of the field types, how to create and modify fields, how to use the Fields pane, and work with the various types of fields that Bento provides.

About Fields

Each library (except the Blank library) contains a set of fields. Each field allows you to store a particular kind of data. In the record pictured on the next page, there are several fields. For example, the Project Name field contains text.

Once you have created a field, you can use it on multiple forms and tables within the same library or collection. When you want to link data between libraries or collections, you can use related data fields.

From address, email, IM account, phone number, and URL fields you can perform tasks such as sending an email message, getting directions to an address, or displaying a phone number in large type.

Table viewForm view

Text field

Fields

Date field

Currency field

Related data field

Choice field

Display phone

number in large type

Field Types

These are the types of fields you can create in Bento:

Field Type Purpose

Text Store anything you type*

Number Store numeric data, with formatting options**

Choice Create a pop-up menu in order to select an item from a list

Checkbox Provide an on-off type of choice

Media Store and use image, movie, and sound files

Simple list Store text data in a list format

File list Store and view thumbnails of aliases to other files or folders that are on

Message list Display emails, notes, and RSS articles from the Mac OS X Mail application

Related data Store one or more records from another library or collection that are

Time Choose and store a time of day, in hours, minutes, and seconds, AM or PM

Date Choose and store a date and time value. Displays the date by default and

Duration Store an amount of time in weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds

Calculation Display the result of a specified calculation. Supported operators are

your computer

related to the current record

can also display the time.

addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and concatenation (joining two or more words or sentences).

80 Chapter 8 Using Fields

Field Type Purpose

Currency Store an amount of money and display it in the selected currency format

Automatic counter Assign a higher number to each new record

Rating Set the rating value of an item by clicking stars in the field

Encrypted Protect sensitive or confidential data and hide it from view (data is

displayed as bullets). Encrypted data is stored in your Bento database.

Address Store all components of a single street address

Phone number Store a phone number, including the area code

Email address Store an email address

URL Store a website, FTP site, or AFP site address***

IM account Store an IM account and service name

Notes:

*Maximum text field size is approximately 2 GB.

**The largest number supported is 2

***The URL field does not support URL values that contain Japanese characters.

For a list of field types that you can import data into, see ”Field Types Supported for Import” on page 109.

List Fields

When you create address, phone number, email address, URL, and IM account fields, Bento creates an associated list field that lets you display multiple addresses, phone numbers, and so on for one record. When you enter data in one of these single field types, Bento displays the same data in the associated list field.

For example, suppose you have a form that displays a home phone number in a phone number field named “Home Phone Number.” You add work and mobile phone numbers to two other phone number fields. Bento creates a list field and displays all three phone numbers in that list field, but the work and mobile phone numbers are not added to the “Home Phone Number” field you created.

Chapter 8 Using Fields 81

On Form 1, you enter data in single phone number fields.

On Form 2, Bento displays the data in the phone number list field that you entered in the single phone number fields.

Phone number list field created by Bento

Single phone

number

fields

Form 1 Form 2

You can import and export values stored in regular fields (for example, “Home Phone Number” in the form shown above) but you can’t import or export values stored in list fields. You can see values stored in list fields in form view but not in table view.

Creating Fields

Follow the steps below to create all types of fields, except calculation, file list, message list, and related data fields. For more information about those field types, see ”Creating Calculation Fields” on page 83, ”Creating File List Fields” on page 84, ”Creating Message List Fields” on page 85, and ”Creating Related Data Fields” on page 85.

To create fields:

1 Choose Insert > New Field or press Control-N.

2 Choose a field type.

82 Chapter 8 Using Fields

3 Name the field.

The name must be unique within the library.

4 Set the options on the field, if any.

5 Click “Create and Continue” or press Command-Return.

6 Repeat steps 2-5 to create additional fields.

7 Click Close.

The fields are added to the Fields pane.

This is what you see in the calculation field for the current record.

The formula for the calculation

Operator buttons

8 Use the Fields pane to add or display fields.

To Do this in the Fields pane

Add a field to a form in form view or split view

Display a field as a column in table view or split view Select a field’s checkbox.

Drag to the form.

Note In table view, you cannot see related data fields or any of the list field types, such

as address, email address, file list, message list, and simple list.

After you have created a field, you can enter data into it.

Creating Calculation Fields

To create a calculation field:

1 Choose Insert > New Field.

2 Choose Calculation.

3 Click Continue.

4 Name the field.

5 Build a formula for your calculation.

To ad d Do this

A reference to a field In the Available Fields list, double-click a field name.

A mathematical or text operator

The current date Click Today to insert the current date.

The current time Click Now to insert the current time.

A pre-formatted value

Click an operator button or type an operator in the formula.

Click Value, then select a value from the list. Replace the pre-formatted value with the value you want.

6 Choose the correct data type for the result you want and set any other options.

Chapter 8 Using Fields 83

7 Click Create.

The new field is added to the Fields pane.

Tip If you are unfamiliar with creating calculations, click Show Examples to see and

experiment with examples of calculations.

Creating File List Fields

Use a file list field to store a list of aliases to files or folders on your computer. Each alias contains a path to a specific file or folder in a specific location on your hard drive.

You can quickly open files or applications that are stored in file list fields. For example, you could store a PDF file of a resume in the record for a prospective employee. If you double-click the PDF icon, the document opens in either Preview or Adobe Reader, depending on your system default values.

If you move or rename a file or folder that an alias refers to, the alias is broken. If you tr y to open the file or folder, you can navigate to it or remove the alias from the list.

To create a file list field and add files to it:

1 Choose Insert > New Field.

2 Choose File List.

3 Name the field.

4 Click Create.

The new field is added to the Fields pane.

5 In form view, drag the field to a form.

See ”Adding Fields to a Form” on page 59.

Tip You can see file list fields in form view but not in table view. Choose View >

Split View so that when you are working in table view you can also see file list fields in form view.

6 In the bottom-left corner of the table for the file list field, click or choose

Insert > File.

7 In the Open dialog, navigate to the file you want to include in the file list field,

then click Select.

You can also drag files from the Finder to the file list field.

8 Click and choose Open, or double-click an alias in the file list field to

open the file.

You can preview files that are stored in file list fields with Quick Look. See ”Previewing Files with Quick Look” on page 92.

84 Chapter 8 Using Fields

Creating Message List Fields

Use a message list field to store aliases to Mac OS X Mail messages, notes, and RSS articles that are relevant to a specific record. For example, you can keep a log of correspondence linked to a project or event.

Note Because the message list field stores aliases to messages, when you delete a

message from Mac OS X Mail, it is also deleted from the message list field.

To create a message list field:

1 Choose Insert > New Field.

2 Choose Message List.

3 Name the field.

4 Click Create, then Close.

The new field is added to the Fields pane.

5 In form view, drag the field to a form.

See ”Adding Fields to a Form” on page 59.

Note You can see message list fields in form view but not in table view.

6 Add Mac OS X Mail items (messages, notes, and RSS articles) to the field.

See ”Adding Mac OS X Mail Items to a Message List Field” on page 91.

Creating Related Data Fields

Use a related data field to display one or more records from a library or collection that are related to the record you are viewing.

For example, if you used the Projects library to manage planning a holiday party and wanted to display a list of vendors on a form, you could create a related data field to display the vendors that you hired to supply different types of party equipment. These records come from the Vendors collection under the Address Book library. If you add a new record in the related data field, the record is displayed there but is stored in the Vendors collection and the Address Book application.

Chapter 8 Using Fields 85

1. Drag the Vendors collection onto the Projects form.

2. Bento creates a related data field on the form.

3. Add the selected vendors to the related data field.

You can create a related data field by dragging a library or collection to a form, as illustrated above, or you can use menu commands, as outlined below.

You can see related data fields in form view but not in table view.

You see the contents of media fields as thumbnails in related data fields when you display the fields in a grid.

To create a related data field:

1 Select the library or collection you want to add a list of related records to.

2 Choose Insert > New Field.

3 Choose Related Data.

4 Name the field.

5 Choose the data source from the list.

The data source can be a library, collection, or Smart Collection. If you select a library, you can add any record from the library to the related data field. If you select a collection, you can only add records from that collection to the related data field.

6 Click Create.

The new field is added to the Related Data section of the Fields pane.

86 Chapter 8 Using Fields

Related data field

Drag here to show or hide the Notes section.

Go to the selected

record in its source

library or collection.

View related

records in a

grid.

Show or hide the summary row.

Switch between fields listed in the Fields pane (data source or library).

7 Drag the field to the form you want.

8 Click to display records from the data source you specified in step 5.

Click to add a record. If the data source is a Smart Collection, is disabled, since you can’t add records to a Smart Collection.

9 Select the records you want to add, then drag them to the related data field

or click Add to List.

10 Press Esc to close the library or collection window.

• To remove a record from a related data field, click . This removes the

record from the related data field only. The record still remains in the data source (the library or collection) that the related data field is based on.

Chapter 8 Using Fields 87

• If you delete a library or collection that a related data field is based on,

the related data field is also deleted.

• If a record that appears in a related data field is deleted in its data source,

the record is also deleted from any other related data field it appears in.

Using the Address Book, iCal, or iPhoto Library as a Data Source

You can create related data fields that display records from the Address Book library or an Address Book collection. If you add Address Book records to the related data field and make changes to the records, you are updating the data in the Address Book application.

If you delete a contact record from the Address Book application, it is removed from any related data field where it appeared in Bento.

You can create related data fields that display records from the Bento iCal Events and iCal Tasks libraries. If you change an iCal Event or iCal Task record in a related data field, you are updating the data in the iCal application.

If you delete an event or task record from the iCal application, it is removed from any related data field where it appeared in Bento.

You can create related data fields that display records from the Bento iPhoto library or an iPhoto collection.

If you delete a record from the iPhoto application, it is removed from any related data field where it appeared in Bento.

Navigating to Related Records

You can view the details of a specific record stored in a related data field, and you can quickly navigate among records stored in different related data fields.

To navigate among related records:

1 Click a record.

2 Click to go to the record in its library or collection and view the record’s

details.

You can edit the record you have navigated to.

3 As you navigate among records in different related data fields, you can

quickly return to the previously viewed related record by clicking navigation bar.

However, once you select an item in the Libraries pane, Bento stops keeping track of the related records you viewed and

88 Chapter 8 Using Fields

in the

disappears.

Field has not been added to the current form.

Field has been added to the current form.

Field is

displayed in

table view.

Field is not

displayed in

table view.

List field has no

checkbox

because it can’t

be displayed in

table view.

In table view

In form view

Address subfields can’t be added to the form individually.

Using the Fields Pane

The Fields pane displays an alphabetical list of the fields that are available for the selected library or collection. Use the Fields pane to select the fields that you want to add to the current form (in form view) or to display as columns (in table view). In split view, the Fields pane indicates the fields that can be added to the current form or can be displayed in table view.

In the Fields pane you can:

• create a field by clicking

• drag a field with to a form

• select a field’s checkbox to display the field in table view

• double-click field names to modify names and settings. Some fields are

locked

. You can’t modify their names or settings because they are shared

with Address Book, iCal, or iPhoto, or are reserved by Bento.

• duplicate a field by clicking and choosing Duplicate

Chapter 8 Using Fields 89

• delete a field and its data by clicking . When you delete a field, it is

deleted from the library and from collections and related data fields that use it. You can’t delete fields that are used for displaying data from Address Book, iCal, or iPhoto, locked fields, address subfields (for example, street, city, and country fields), and the Date Created and Date Modified fields.

Note In the Fields pane in table view, there is no checkbox next to related data

fields or the list field types (address, email address, phone number, IM account, URL, file list, message list, and simple list) because these fields can’t be displayed in table view.

Changing an Existing Field from One Type to Another

You can change the type of some fields to another.

Convert from:

Tex t

Number

Choice

Checkbox

Time

Date

Duration

Currency

Rating

Convert to:

Tex t

Number Choice Checkbox Time Date Duration Currency Rating Phone

• • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • •

• • •

• •

To change an existing field from one type to another:

1 Select a column name in table view.

2 Click .

3 Choose Change To, then select a field type from the list.

Working with List Fields

Other list fields

Each type of list field (address, phone number, email address, URL, and IM account) has a pop-up menu from which you can quickly perform actions such as displaying the selected phone number in large type, getting directions to or from the selected address, and displaying a map for the selected address.

Sending Emails

In form view and table view, you can quickly send emails to your family, friends, or colleagues.

90 Chapter 8 Using Fields

To send an email in form view:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Click next to the email address field.

If you see , the email address is not valid.

3 The default email application opens and displays a blank email message

addressed to the name in the email address field.

4 Compose the message and send it.

To send an email in table view:

1 Select one or more email address fields.

You can select any block of fields to quickly select multiple email address fields.

2 Choose Edit > Email Selected Address or Email Selected Addresses, or press

Shift-Command-M.

3 The default email application opens and displays a blank email message

addressed to the name or names in the selected email address field or fields.

4 Compose the message and send it.

Adding Mac OS X Mail Items to a Message List Field

In message list fields, you can store aliases to Mac OS X Mail messages, notes, and RSS articles that are relevant to a specific record. For instructions on creating message list fields, see

To add a Mac OS X Mail message, note or RSS article to a message list field:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 In the bottom-left corner of the message list field, click to open the Mac

3 In Mac OS X Mail, select a folder that contains messages, notes, or RSS articles.

4 Drag one or more items to the message list field.

”Creating Message List Fields” on page 85.

OS X Mail application.

Tip Click to show the fields for the message list field in the Fields pane.

To open the items in Mac OS X Mail, see “Working with Files Stored in File List Fields and Message List Fields” below.

Working with Files Stored in File List Fields and Message List Fields

When browsing records, you can quickly open files or applications stored in file list fields, and Mac OS X Mail messages, notes, and RSS articles stored in message list fields.

Chapter 8 Using Fields 91

To open files stored in a file list field or message list field:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Select one or more items in the file list field or message list field. Command-

click to select nonadjacent items.

3 Click and choose Open (file list) or (message list), or double-click the

items you want to open.

4 The application associated with each item starts and displays the contents of

the items.

For example, if you double-click a PDF file and a QuickTime movie file, the Mac OS

X Preview and QuickTime Player applications start and display the PDF file and the QuickTime movie file. If you double-click an email message, note, or RSS article, the Mac OS X Mail application starts and displays the Mac OS X Mail item.

To view files stored in a file list field:

1 Click to display the items in a table.

Click to switch back to the grid format.

2 Click to change the display size of the items.

Previewing Files with Quick Look

With Quick Look, you can quickly view the contents of an item in a file list field or message list field without opening it.

To preview a file:

1 Select a form in the navigation bar or choose View > Form View > Form Name.

2 Select one or more items in a file list field or message list field.

3 Click and choose Quick Look filename or press the Space bar.

The content you see depends on the type of file. If it’s an image, you’ll see a smaller version of it. If it’s a text document, you can read the text and scroll to see more. If you selected multiple items, you can use the arrow keys or the buttons at the bottom of the Quick Look window to move from one item to another.

Working with Simple List Fields

With a simple list field, you can drag it onto a form and just start typing to add data that is relevant to the record. A simple list field can only contain alphanumeric text.

You work with columns and rows in simple list fields in much the same way as you do in table view. See can copy and paste data from table view or a spreadsheet file into simple list fields.

”Working with Fields and Columns in Table View” on page 69. You

92 Chapter 8 Using Fields

Click to switch between the displays in the Fields pane.

Fields pane displaying columns in the simple list field

Fields pane displaying fields in the library

Notes fields

Related records from

the Ingredients library

Click to display records in a grid format.

You show or hide columns in simple list fields using the Fields pane. See ”Showing and Hiding Columns” on page 70.

Working with Related Data Fields

In a related data field, you can store information about records that is relevant to the data source but isn’t linked to the data source. This information is stored in a separate section of the related data field called notes.

For example, in a Recipes library that has a related data field linked to the Ingredients library, you could store information such as the required amount of each ingredient in a recipe in the notes section of the Ingredients related data field. In other fields in the notes section, you could add details about how to prepare the ingredient or the name of the store where you purchased it. The information in the note fields is not stored in the Ingredients library.

Chapter 8 Using Fields 93

To display the notes section:

Position your cursor on the right edge of a related data field. When the cursor changes

, drag it to the left. You see the notes section with the first notes field created for

to you.

To create additional fields in the notes section:

Double-click the New Column column header and type a new name for the field, then press Return.

To delete a field in the notes section:

Click the pop-up menu in a column header, then choose Delete Column.

To sort records in related data fields:

Click the pop-up menu in a column header, then choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending.

To display related data records in a grid format:

Click to display the records in a grid.

To set labels for grid view items:

1 Click .

You can specify up to two fields.

2 Click the Title pop-up menu, then choose the fields.

If you don’t want any labels to be displayed, choose the dash symbol in both fields.

Working with Media Fields

You can add many types of sound, image, and movie files to a media field, including JPEG, QuickTime, and MP3 files.

If you add a sound file that you purchased from the iTunes Store, you may have to enter the account name and password for the account that was used to purchase the sound file.

Note You can’t add movie files that you purchased from the iTunes Store.

94 Chapter 8 Using Fields

Taking Photos

If your computer has an iSight camera, you can take pictures with it to use in your forms.

To take a photo:

1 Click an empty media field.

For information about how to create a media field, see ”Creating Fields” on page 82.

2 Click .

3 In the window, click , then wait for the image to appear.

4 Optional: Click , then select a special effect to apply to the photo.

5 Click Set to save and load the image into the media field.

Tip To back up a photo, export it. For more information, see ”Exporting Images” on

page 96.

Adding Media Files

You can add sound, image, and movie files to media fields. Image files include images from the web or other applications such as iPhoto.

To add a media file:

1 Click in the media field.

2 Drag a media file from the Finder, iPhoto, or iTunes to the media field or click

to choose a file.

Except for iTunes files, when you add a media file, Bento copies it into the bento.bentodb file. When you add an iTunes file to a media field, Bento creates an alias to the file.

If you don’t want to copy the media file into Bento, hold down the Option key after you start dragging the media file to the media field. An arrow

the thumbnail. Bento creates an alias that contains a path to a specific file in a specific location on your hard drive. If you use an alias for the media file, and then move or rename the original media file, the alias to it is broken.

3 In the Open dialog, select the image you want to add, then click Open.

appears on

Playing a Movie or Sound File

Playing a movie or sound file in Bento is similar to how you play a movie or sound file in QuickTime Player.

Chapter 8 Using Fields 95

To play a movie or sound file:

1 Click in the media field.

2 Click in the playbar to start the movie or sound file.

Drag the slider up or down to adjust the volume.

3 To pause the movie or sound file, click . To restart playing the movie or

sound file, click .

Positioning Images

You can move an image in any direction within a media field.

To position an image:

1 Click in the media field.

2 Drag the image within the field.

If you drag the image out of view, select Fit to Frame to bring it back into view.

Changing the Display Size of Images

You can change the display size of an image within the media field.

To change the display size of an image:

1 Click in the media field.

2 Drag the zoom slider to zoom in or out on the image.

3 Select Fit to Frame to make the image the same size as the field.

Exporting Images

You can export (save) any image file with a different name or in a different location. It is saved in its original file format.

To export an image:

1 Click in the media field.

2 Click .

3 In the Save As dialog, navigate to the folder where you want to save the

image file.

4 Type a name, then click Save.

96 Chapter 8 Using Fields

Deleting Media Files

When you delete a media file from a record, it is permanently deleted from its library and from any collections within the same library.

To delete content in a media field:

1 Click in the media field.

2 Press the Delete key or choose Edit > Clear.

Working with Encrypted Fields

You can store sensitive data in encrypted fields. When you enter data in encrypted fields, it is securely stored in your Bento database and can only be read within Bento. Encrypted data in a locked field is displayed as bullets.

If you attempt to enter data in an encrypted field and you have not already set the Database Password, you won’t be able to proceed until you do so. For information about setting the Database Password, see Database” on page 97.

You can search encrypted fields if they are unlocked. For more information about searching, see

”Search Field and Advanced Find” on page 27.

”Setting a Password for Your Bento

Setting a Password for Your Bento Database

You can set a password to protect your database. The Database Password also protects all encrypted fields. To set a password for accessing a shared database, see Password for a Shared Database” on page 36.

To set the Database Password:

1 Choose Bento > Preferences.

2 Click Security at the top of the window.

3 Select Use Database Password.

4 For Enter Database Password, type the password.

5 For Confirm, type the password again.

6 (Optional) For Password Hint, type a word or phrase to help you remember

the password.

7 Keep your password in a safe place. If you forget your password, it is not

possible to recover it.

8 Click Set Password.

9 Click the lock to prevent further changes.

”Setting a

Chapter 8 Using Fields 97

To clear the Database Password:

1 Choose Bento > Preferences.

2 Click Security at the top of the window.

3 Click the lock to make changes.

4 Deselect Use Database Password.

Locking Bento

You can lock Bento to hide the Bento window and protect your data.

To lock Bento:

1 Choose Bento > Preferences.

2 Click Security at the top of the window.

3 Click the lock to make changes.

4 Select “Require Database Password when Bento starts.”

5 Choose Bento > Lock Bento.

The Bento window is hidden.

To make the Bento window visible again:

1 Enter your Database Password.

2 Click Submit.

Locking and Unlocking Data in Encrypted Fields

Locking encrypted fields helps keep your data safer, since you have to first unlock the fields before viewing the data. After you lock encrypted fields, you can’t modify their contents until you unlock them.

To lock data in all encrypted fields:

In form view, select an encrypted field and click next to the field. Then select Lock Encrypted Fields. In table view, select an encrypted field and click the pop-up menu in the column header, then choose Lock Encrypted Fields.

A appears next to all encrypted fields and bullets replace the contents of all encrypted fields.

Note You can’t copy and paste when encrypted fields are locked.

98 Chapter 8 Using Fields

To unlock data in all encrypted fields:

1 In form view, select an encrypted field and click . Then select Unlock

Encrypted Fields. In table view, select an encrypted field and and click the pop-up menu in the column header, then choose Unlock Encrypted Fields.

2 Enter your Database Password, then click Submit.

A appears next to all encrypted fields.

Showing or Hiding Data in Encrypted Fields

To show data in an encrypted field:

In form view, select the encrypted field and click . In table view, click the pop-up menu in the column header, then choose Show Encrypted Field Contents.

The data you encrypted replaces the bullets.

To hide data in an encrypted field:

In form view, select the encrypted field and click . In table view, click the pop-up menu in the column header, then choose Hide Encrypted Field Contents.

Bullets replace the encrypted data.

Note You can’t copy and paste when the data in encrypted fields is hidden.

Chapter 8 Using Fields 99

100 Chapter 8 Using Fields

FileMaker Bento 3 User’s Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Bento® 3

Welcome to Bento

Bringing It All Together

Using Address Book Data

Using iCal Data

Using iPhoto Data

Managing Data in Libraries

Importing Data from Other Applications

Creating Collections

Creating Relationships

Summary

About This Document

Resources for Learning More

Overview of Bento

Home Dialog

Bento Window

Libraries Pane

Records Area

Search Field and Advanced Find

Fields Pane

Using Libraries

About Libraries

Creating a Library Using the Bento Templates

Creating a New Blank Library

Creating a Library by Importing

Changing the Icon for a Library

Sharing Your Bento Database

Turning Off Database Sharing

Looking for Shared Databases

Setting a Password for a Shared Database

Opening a Password-Protected Shared Database

Working with Shared Encrypted Fields

Grouping Libraries

Deleting Records from a Library

Deleting a Library

Using the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Displaying the Address Book, iCal, and iPhoto Libraries

Displaying Data from the Address Book Application

Displaying Data from the iCal Application

Displaying Data from the iPhoto Application

Address Book Library

Bento Address Book Fields That Update the Address Book Application

Troubleshooting Address Book Updates

Other Address Book Considerations

iCal Events and iCal Tasks Libraries

Bento Event Fields That Update the iCal Application

Bento Task Fields That Update the iCal Application

Troubleshooting iCal Updates

Other iCal Considerations

iPhoto Library

Bento iPhoto Fields

Troubleshooting iPhoto Updates

Other iPhoto Considerations

Using Related Data Fields in the iPhoto Library

Using Collections

About Collections

Creating Collections

Removing Records from a Collection

Deleting a Collection

About Smart Collections

Creating Smart Collections

Working with Smart Collections

Changing a Smart Collection

Using Form View

About Forms

Viewing a Form and a Table at the Same Time

Creating Records in Form View

Editing Records in Form View

Adding the Current Date and Time to a Field

Duplicating Records in Form View

Deleting Records in Form View

Creating Forms

Deleting Forms

Duplicating Forms

Renaming Forms

Adding Fields to a Form