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The Philosophy of FileMaker

A blog by John Mark Osborne in Affiliate Blogs

  • Entries

    182

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    23,113

Entries in this blog

FLF

I've mentioned FLF (Find-List-Form) in several other articles on this web site but I think it's so important that I wanted to devote an entire article to the subject. So many developers have moved so far away from the roots of FileMaker that they almost don't even know what they are. Then they teach other budding FileMaker developers wacky workarounds for something that is so easy to accomplish with basic FileMaker tools, and these impressionable minds think it's always the right approach. Yes,

Stuff Ya Oughta Know

Some things in FileMaker require an entire article to explain thoroughly. Others are just a paragraph of description but are no less important to your FileMaker professional career. Some people call them tips but I like to think of them as nuggets of truth. The stuff in this article was hand picked by myself based on the criteria of how important they were to me when designing a successful solution in FileMaker. I've probably forgotten to mention so many cool tips I use on a daily basis but thi

Stuff Ya Oughta Know

Some things in FileMaker require an entire article to explain thoroughly. Others are just a paragraph of description but are no less important to your FileMaker professional career. Some people call them tips but I like to think of them as nuggets of truth. The stuff in this article was hand picked by myself based on the criteria of how important they were to me when designing a successful solution in FileMaker. I've probably forgotten to mention so many cool tips I use on a daily basis but thi

Alternatives to Serial Numbers

In this final article from a series of four articles, I want to cover alternatives to restoring records using serial numbers and relationships. The first method I will cover uses the Snapshot Link feature and is fairly straightforward. Just a few issues with interface to overcome. The second is a script to save and restore find criteria. Restoring find criteria is no walk in the park. Strap on your galoshes cause we'll be wading through muddy waters. There are also various advantages and disadva

Alternatives to Serial Numbers

In this final article from a series of four articles, I want to cover alternatives to restoring records using serial numbers and relationships. The first method I will cover uses the Snapshot Link feature and is fairly straightforward. Just a few issues with interface to overcome. The second is a script to save and restore find criteria. Restoring find criteria is no walk in the park. Strap on your galoshes cause we'll be wading through muddy waters. There are also various advantages and disadva

Collecting Unique Values

Since Darren Terry published his infamous article on saving found sets for future retrieval in 1996, a lot has changed in FileMaker. The additions from the last thirteen versions of FileMaker offer many alternatives for amassing unique identifiers. The differences in collection methods mostly come down to speed but there are a few other considerations that shouldn't be overlooked. However, restoring records remains the same, relying on the humble Go to Related Record (GTRR), and will not be disc

Collecting Unique Values

Since Darren Terry published his infamous article on saving found sets for future retrieval in 1996, a lot has changed in FileMaker. The additions from the last thirteen versions of FileMaker offer many alternatives for amassing unique identifiers. The differences in collection methods mostly come down to speed but there are a few other considerations that shouldn't be overlooked. However, restoring records remains the same, relying on the humble Go to Related Record (GTRR), and will not be disc

Saving a Found Set

Found sets are what make a database a database. Without found sets, a database wouldn't be much more than a relational spreadsheet. Found sets determine which records print, sort, export and preview. Practically all features in FileMaker are structured by the found set. Sometimes you have to break the found set, current record or sort order, unbeknownst to the user. Maybe the user is running a script that does something very complex that requires destroying one of these elements. The user doesn'

Saving a Found Set

Found sets are what make a database a database. Without found sets, a database wouldn't be much more than a relational spreadsheet. Found sets determine which records print, sort, export and preview. Practically all features in FileMaker are structured by the found set. Sometimes you have to break the found set, current record or sort order, unbeknownst to the user. Maybe the user is running a script that does something very complex that requires destroying one of these elements. The user doesn'

Preserving Found Sets

Imagining a database without found sets is like picturing a bird without feathers. It just doesn't make sense. Found sets are the essence of a database. If there were no found sets, you would need to sort your entire list of records and scroll to find a record. To say the least, this would be an inefficient process... especially if you have more than a thousand records. Found sets are what make a database a database. Not only do finds allow you to locate a specific record but they also enable yo

Preserving Found Sets

Imagining a database without found sets is like picturing a bird without feathers. It just doesn't make sense. Found sets are the essence of a database. If there were no found sets, you would need to sort your entire list of records and scroll to find a record. To say the least, this would be an inefficient process... especially if you have more than a thousand records. Found sets are what make a database a database. Not only do finds allow you to locate a specific record but they also enable yo

Multi-User Contradistinction

How you design a FileMaker solution often depends on how it will be accessed. Is it a single-user solution running off the local hard drive? Is it a multi-user database with all users accessing from the LAN? Maybe there is a occasional remote access from someone at home? What if the company is distributed across the United States and needs a completely cloud based solution? Maybe some users won't always have an internet connection? It could be that some users don’t even have FileMaker? These are

Multi-User Contradistinction

How you design a FileMaker solution often depends on how it will be accessed. Is it a single-user solution running off the local hard drive? Is it a multi-user database with all users accessing from the LAN? Maybe there is a occasional remote access from someone at home? What if the company is distributed across the United States and needs a completely cloud based solution? Maybe some users won't always have an internet connection? It could be that some users don’t even have FileMaker? These are

Reconciling Record Locking

One of the most important concepts to grasp hold of tightly, when moving from the design of single-user to multi-user FileMaker solutions, is record locking. It's a fairly simple concept to understand. It just prevents two people from editing the same record at the same time. The complex part of record locking is programming your scripts to manage record locking. In this article, I'll start by defining record locking, demonstrate what causes record locking, show you how to test for record lockin

Reconciling Record Locking

One of the most important concepts to grasp hold of tightly, when moving from the design of single-user to multi-user FileMaker solutions, is record locking. It's a fairly simple concept to understand. It just prevents two people from editing the same record at the same time. The complex part of record locking is programming your scripts to manage record locking. In this article, I'll start by defining record locking, demonstrate what causes record locking, show you how to test for record lockin

Eating Your Own Dog Food

I took a different technology approach than every other person out in cyber land writing FileMaker blogs. I actually created my own FileMaker database to manage my content. Go figure! I could have taken the easy way out and used canned blog software but FileMaker is perfect for this job. Besides, I'm a firm believer in eating your own dog food. It just makes sense since FileMaker is the career I have chosen. Let me tell you a little bit about why I chose FileMaker as blog back end and reveal som

Eating Your Own Dog Food

I took a different technology approach than every other person out in cyber land writing FileMaker blogs. I actually created my own FileMaker database to manage my content. Go figure! I could have taken the easy way out and used canned blog software but FileMaker is perfect for this job. Besides, I'm a firm believer in eating your own dog food. It just makes sense since FileMaker is the career I have chosen. Let me tell you a little bit about why I chose FileMaker as blog back end and reveal som

Wrangling Relationships

The relationship tab in Manage Database is not an ERD (Entity-Relationship Diagram). Sometimes it looks a lot like an ERD but it is so much more. An ERD represents the structure of your solution while the relationship graph contains structure as well as what I like to call techniques. Techniques are relationships that allow a feature to function properly, not provide structural integrity. You might create a filtered portal as an interface option or use a multi-key relationship and a script to dr

Wrangling Relationships

The relationship tab in Manage Database is not an ERD (Entity-Relationship Diagram). Sometimes it looks a lot like an ERD but it is so much more. An ERD represents the structure of your solution while the relationship graph contains structure as well as what I like to call techniques. Techniques are relationships that allow a feature to function properly, not provide structural integrity. You might create a filtered portal as an interface option or use a multi-key relationship and a script to dr

Preferences and Options

I'm no SQL expert but I know when, and when NOT, to use the ExcecuteSQL function. ExecuteSQL is not for creating replicas of portals, despite the numerous examples floating around the internet. It's also not designed to replace the built-in FileMaker find feature, even though it seems to replicate the search abilities of find mode. In fact, there’s really nothing ExecuteSQL can do that a relationship can’t do, it just can do it without a relationship. In other words, it resolves Relationship Gra

Preferences and Options

I'm no SQL expert but I know when, and when NOT, to use the ExcecuteSQL function. ExecuteSQL is not for creating replicas of portals, despite the numerous examples floating around the internet. It's also not designed to replace the built-in FileMaker find feature, even though it seems to replicate the search abilities of find mode. In fact, there’s really nothing ExecuteSQL can do that a relationship can’t do, it just can do it without a relationship. In other words, it resolves Relationship Gra

Becoming Certified

The most common non-technical question I get is, "how do I become certified" or "how do I study for the certification test"? It's a good question. If you're taking the test seriously then you need to study, right? Not only does it cost a few hundred bucks to sign up but it's an important milestone in your FileMaker career. I mean, why wouldn't you want to have that feather of certification in your proverbial FileMaker hat. It tells clients you have achieved a level of competency that only a coup

Becoming Certified

The most common non-technical question I get is, "how do I become certified" or "how do I study for the certification test"? It's a good question. If you're taking the test seriously then you need to study, right? Not only does it cost a few hundred bucks to sign up but it's an important milestone in your FileMaker career. I mean, why wouldn't you want to have that feather of certification in your proverbial FileMaker hat. It tells clients you have achieved a level of competency that only a coup

Logically Speaking

Logical functions are some of the most important and widely used functions. Think of decision making when considering logical functions. They enable you to decide if a formula will return one result or another. Which fork in the road will the formula take? Testing for true or false is often referred to as boolean in the FileMaker interface so get used to the terminology. While it is common for amateur developers to overuse these functions, if utilized properly, they are extremely powerful. Logic

Logically Speaking

Logical functions are some of the most important and widely used functions. Think of decision making when considering logical functions. They enable you to decide if a formula will return one result or another. Which fork in the road will the formula take? Testing for true or false is often referred to as boolean in the FileMaker interface so get used to the terminology. While it is common for amateur developers to overuse these functions, if utilized properly, they are extremely powerful. Logic

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