Custom Dialog Design

Intermediate

Design informative, user-friendly custom dialogs -- choosing between Show Custom Dialog and card windows, designing confirmation flows, and providing context-rich feedback.

What you'll learn

Show Custom Dialog options: buttons, input fields, and message formatting
How to branch script logic based on dialog button choices
When Show Custom Dialog is sufficient vs. when a card window is better
Best practices for confirmation dialog text and button labels

Show Custom Dialog is FileMaker's built-in modal dialog with a text message and up to three buttons. It is sufficient for simple confirmations but limited for complex input or rich feedback. Card windows replace it for anything beyond yes/no choices. Understanding when each is appropriate produces UI that feels professional without over-engineering.

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Show Custom Dialog anatomy

Show Custom Dialog has: a title, a message body, up to 3 buttons (right to left: 1, 2, 3), and up to 2 input fields. Get(LastMessageChoice) returns which button was clicked (1, 2, or 3).

FileMaker Script

// Show Custom Dialog configuration:
// Title: "Confirm Delete"
// Message: "Are you sure you want to delete this invoice?
//           This action cannot be undone."
// Button 1: "Delete"    (default -- user presses Enter/Return)
// Button 2: "Cancel"    (user presses Escape)
// Button 3: not used

// After dialog:
If [ Get ( LastMessageChoice ) = 1 ]    // "Delete" was clicked
  Delete Record/Request [ No dialog ]
Else
  // User cancelled -- do nothing
End If

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