Table Occurrence Naming Conventions in Depth
IntermediateDesign a TO naming system that scales to hundreds of occurrences and survives team handoffs, covering prefixes, suffixes, versioning, and documentation.
What you'll learn
- The components of a robust TO name: table, purpose/modifier, family
- How to handle utility TOs (globals, constants, helper tables)
- How to document the naming system in the solution itself
- Common anti-patterns and how to remediate them
Naming table occurrences (TOs) is one of the most impactful decisions in a FileMaker solution. Bad names ("Table1", "ContactsNew", "FIXED") become permanent fixtures that confuse every future developer. A consistent, documented naming system lets you navigate the graph, understand any TO's purpose at a glance, and confidently refactor.
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Name components: table + modifier + family
A TO name has up to three parts: the base table name, an optional modifier describing the filter or role, and the family suffix. Not every TO needs all three parts.
TEXT
// Pattern: [BaseName][_Modifier][_Family] // Examples: Contacts // anchor, no modifier needed Contacts_Active // anchor for a view showing only active contacts Invoices_Contacts // buoy: Invoices in the Contacts family InvoicesUnpaid_Contacts // buoy: filtered to unpaid invoices, Contacts family GlobalValues // utility TO: global fields table zConstants // utility TO prefix 'z' pushes it to bottom of lists
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