Knowledge Base

FileMaker may prevent editing for several valid reasons, and the restriction does not necessarily indicate a problem with the solution. The record may be in use, your account may have limited privileges, or the field may be controlled by a calculation or business process.

FileMaker prevents two users from changing the same record at the same time. If another user has the record open for editing, you may see a message that the record is in use and will need to wait until that user commits or exits the record. 

Your account may allow you to view information without changing it, or it may restrict specific fields, records, or modules. These restrictions are often intentional and based on your role, department, or the status of the record.

Calculation, summary, and certain related fields display information produced elsewhere in the system. In those cases, the value must be changed at its source or through the workflow designed for that part of the solution. 

Completed invoices, approved time entries, posted transactions, or closed projects may be protected from further editing. This helps preserve historical accuracy and prevents changes after information has already been reported or transferred to another system. 

FileMaker may reject a value that is missing, duplicated, incorrectly formatted, or outside an allowed range. Read the complete message and note the value you entered so we can determine whether the validation is working as intended or needs adjustment.

If you believe you should be able to edit the information, send us a screenshot and identify the record and field involved. We can determine whether the issue is caused by record locking, privileges, validation, or the design of the solution.