Looping through a found set in FileMaker

Intermediate

Learn the reliable counter-loop pattern for iterating through records. Understand why "Exit after last" is unreliable and how to build loops that always terminate correctly.

What you'll learn

Why "Exit after last" on Go to Record is unreliable and causes infinite loops
How to write the canonical counter loop pattern
How to collect results into a JSON array during a loop

Looping through a found set is one of the most common scripting tasks in FileMaker. The built-in "Exit after last" option on Go to Record seems convenient but produces subtle bugs. The counter loop pattern is reliable, readable, and easy to debug.

1/4

Never use "Exit after last" on Go to Record

The "Exit after last" flag depends on an internal state that FileMaker does not guarantee will be set correctly after every operation. In practice, it can fail to exit, causing an infinite loop.

FileMaker Script

# DO NOT DO THIS:
Loop
  # ... process record ...
  Go to Record/Request/Page [ Next; Exit after last ]  # unreliable
End Loop

FileMaker script error handling with Set Error Capture FileMaker Set Variable — scope, naming, and when to use it