BaseElements Clip Manager

BaseElements version 17 introduces a new Clip Manager function to allow you to store copied FileMaker data inside BaseElements for future use.

For example, if you're working in a solution and need a script or a set of script steps that you're going to repeat a few times, you can paste them into BE and then copy them back out at any time.

The best thing about the Clip Manager is that your clips are kept in a separate FileMaker file in your Preferences folder, so you can upgrade to new versions of BE or switch copies, or move from local to server and the clips you've previously used are retained.

How do I get to Clip Manager?

Any time you want to open the Clip Manager, just click the icon in the toolbar.  It's on every layout.

How to use Clip Manager

There's nothing to it really, open Clip Manager by clicking it's icon, and then just hit Paste ( CMD-v / Ctrl-v ). If the cursor is not in a field, it will create a new record with your copied object as XML.

You don't even need to have a DDR from that solution in BE.  If you're working in another file, BaseElements could be purely a Clip Manager storage location for you.

What does Clip Manager look like?

Below is an example of what you can put into Clip Manager in BaseElements 17.  I've pasted an object, some Scripts and some Custom Functions, and currently there is an Object selected, which also shows the PDF representation of the object at the time it was copied.

What can I do with these Clips?

From here you can do all the usual things you can do with a FileMaker text field.  The Find ( magnifying glass ) icon in the toolbar brings up the FileMaker Find and Replace dialog, so you can replace some text in the local field, or even across all the records.

The Delete icon will delete the current record.

The Copy icon will copy the currently selected to the clipboard using the FileMaker internal type, so they can be copied back into a FileMaker solution.

You can select multiple items by shift clicking in the portal on the left.  If all the items are of the same type, you can then copy multiple items and paste them at once back into FileMaker.  Especially useful for things like script steps or Custom Functions.

You can create your own Clips and store in them whatever you want.  Just remember to set the Type field on the top right if you want to copy them in FileMaker format.

Where are the clips stored?

Anything you put in the ClipManager is kept even if you upgrade to a new version of BaseElements.  We do this by keeping the ClipManager file in the preferences folder, instead of alongside the three main BaseElements files.  We use a recent feature in FileMaker to have a dynamic file path, and calculate the path to the prefs folder on startup.