Commit Records: skip validation and no-dialog flags

Beginner

Use Commit Records/Requests flags to control data-entry validation, dialog suppression, and silent commits in scripted workflows.

What you'll learn

What "Skip data entry validation" actually skips (and does not skip)
When to use "No dialog" to suppress the validation error dialog
How scripted commits interact with field-level validation rules
How to check for commit errors after No dialog commits
Best practices for batch commits with error accumulation

Commit Records/Requests has two significant options: "Skip data entry validation" and "No dialog". Understanding when to use each prevents unexpected validation dialogs from interrupting batch scripts and prevents silent data integrity bypasses in interactive flows. The flags have different effects depending on whether the record is new, modified, or already committed.

1/3

Understand the validation flags

"Skip data entry validation" suppresses validations that are marked "Only during data entry" in the field's validation options. It does NOT skip validations set to "Always". Use it in import scripts and batch operations where you are setting fields programmatically and know the data is clean. Never use it to bypass required-field checks you want to enforce in all contexts.

FileMaker Script

# Scenario: importing records from an external system
# The Name field has "Required (Only during data entry)"
# The AccountID field has "Required (Always)"

# This commit succeeds even with Name empty -- validation is skipped
Commit Records/Requests [ Skip data entry validation: On ; No dialog: On ]
# Get(LastError) = 0

# But if AccountID is empty, it STILL fails
# because "Always" validation is not skippable by this flag

Perform Script with parameter: JSON encoding and decoding Open URL from a FileMaker script