Understanding Line Indentation in Text Fields

by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on Jan 10, 2012, filed under: Get ( Answers ), Tips & Tricks, General Tips

I recently had a student ask, “How do I get word wrapping to indent the second line, and all lines thereafter, for a standard [edit box] text field?”.

“That’s easy,” I said, and I proceeded to show the class by going into Layout Mode, selecting a large text field, turning on the text ruler and … uh… what?  I suddenly remembered that the indent tools (i.e., the “first line indent”, “left indent”, and “right indent” sliders) are only activated when a text object (or merge field) is being edited … but cannot be leveraged at all for edit boxes.

I looked up and saw the entire class staring at me, waiting, with that same smug look on their collective face: “Let’s see you explain this one, smart guy.”

After a good cry, I finally found the answer by playing with the Paragraph menu (located in Format > Line Spacing > Other… or, using the Inspector tool, on the Appearance tab > Paragraph).  By selecting the edit box and using this dialog, I set the “Left” indent to 8 pixels, and set the “First line” to -8 pixels.  This is how we tell FileMaker, “Indent by 8 pixels all lines in this word-wrapping edit box; except the first line, have that one start right up against the left margin.”

Whew.  Sometimes all we need is a good cry.

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