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The Philosophy of FileMaker

A blog by John Mark Osborne in Affiliate Blogs

  • Entries

    182

  • Comments

    3

  • Views

    23,112

Entries in this blog

Efficiency

The old saying that time is money is more than just a saying. The faster you can develop a project, the more money you can make as a commercial developer or, the more time you can devote to other projects as an in-house developer. Being as efficient as possible is the key to success. That's the primary difference between amateurs and experts. Balancing speed with quality is challenging though but, can be done. As you gain experience, quality and speed will both increase naturally, especially if

Efficiency

The old saying that time is money is more than just a saying. The faster you can develop a project, the more money you can make as a commercial developer or, the more time you can devote to other projects as an in-house developer. Being as efficient as possible is the key to success. That's the primary difference between amateurs and experts. Balancing speed with quality is challenging though but, can be done. As you gain experience, quality and speed will both increase naturally, especially if

Keeping the Faith

Steven Blackwell almost always starts a phone call with "greetings and salutations" and often ends with another famous quote, "keep the faith". I've never asked what he means but I'm pretty sure it's not religious. Steven Blackwell loves the FileMaker platform and he likes other people who feel the same as he does. Keeping the faith is just trusting in the FileMaker platform. I'm also pretty sure he didn't start using this quote when he started developing FileMaker solutions. It's just how he se

Keeping the Faith

Steven Blackwell almost always starts a phone call with "greetings and salutations" and often ends with another famous quote, "keep the faith". I've never asked what he means but I'm pretty sure it's not religious. Steven Blackwell loves the FileMaker platform and he likes other people who feel the same as he does. Keeping the faith is just trusting in the FileMaker platform. I'm also pretty sure he didn't start using this quote when he started developing FileMaker solutions. It's just how he se

Planning

I like to compare the process of creating a database solution to the construction of a house. If you start by hiring a contractor, you probably won’t get the house of your dreams. The first step is to hire an architect. You tell the architect you want five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a man cave and a swimming pool and he designs a house based on your specifications. The architect then shares the plans with you so you can validate his design. Maybe you decide to change a few things. The architect

Planning

I like to compare the process of creating a database solution to the construction of a house. If you start by hiring a contractor, you probably won’t get the house of your dreams. The first step is to hire an architect. You tell the architect you want five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a man cave and a swimming pool and he designs a house based on your specifications. The architect then shares the plans with you so you can validate his design. Maybe you decide to change a few things. The architect

Subsummary Sandwich

The biggest mistake I see amateur developers make is using relationships and calculations to create reports. They work great in single-user mode with test records. Put that same solution in a multi-user environment with thousands of records and performance starts to grind to a halt. Add a WAN into the mix and it degrades the speed even further. The same is true for dashboards which often use the same techniques. The aim of this article is to teach standard reporting methods for beginners and sea

Subsummary Sandwich

The biggest mistake I see amateur developers make is using relationships and calculations to create reports. They work great in single-user mode with test records. Put that same solution in a multi-user environment with thousands of records and performance starts to grind to a halt. Add a WAN into the mix and it degrades the speed even further. The same is true for dashboards which often use the same techniques. The aim of this article is to teach standard reporting methods for beginners and sea

Window Naming

So, what's wrong with the default window name given by FileMaker? Imagine a user of your solution has multiple windows spawned on a small screen and goes to the Window menu to select the desired window. Without good window management, all he sees is "CONTACTS", "CONTACTS - 2", "CONTACTS - 3" and so on. With good window management, you can make it easy for users to quickly find the window they want without cycling through all of them. View the full article

Window Naming

So, what's wrong with the default window name given by FileMaker? Imagine a user of your solution has multiple windows spawned on a small screen and goes to the Window menu to select the desired window. Without good window management, all he sees is "CONTACTS", "CONTACTS - 2", "CONTACTS - 3" and so on. With good window management, you can make it easy for users to quickly find the window they want without cycling through all of them. View the full article

The Front Door

Close scripts generally aren’t very important in a FileMaker solution, especially a multi-user solution, but Open scripts should be employed on just about every solution created. Open scripts setup up your solution for the user, making it easier to use. In the following paragraphs, there are many examples of common Open script snippets you can include in your own solutions but Open scripts are as varied as there are developers and the solutions they create. The ideas in this chapter are just a s

The Front Door

Close scripts generally aren’t very important in a FileMaker solution, especially a multi-user solution, but Open scripts should be employed on just about every solution created. Open scripts setup up your solution for the user, making it easier to use. In the following paragraphs, there are many examples of common Open script snippets you can include in your own solutions but Open scripts are as varied as there are developers and the solutions they create. The ideas in this chapter are just a s

Modular Scripting

When you start writing scripts for the first time, they are fairly simple and can be understood quickly. Even weeks or months down the line, the name of the script should be enough to identify the functionality. As your scripts increase in complexity, you need to consider modular scripting. Modular scripting is essentially writing your scripts in pieces and connecting the pieces with a parent script. View the full article

Modular Scripting

When you start writing scripts for the first time, they are fairly simple and can be understood quickly. Even weeks or months down the line, the name of the script should be enough to identify the functionality. As your scripts increase in complexity, you need to consider modular scripting. Modular scripting is essentially writing your scripts in pieces and connecting the pieces with a parent script. View the full article

FileMaker Videos

I normally don't like to directly advertise products and services on this blog but there is real FREE content here. What I'm going to do is provide inline videos from part one of my new FileMaker 16 three part video series. I'll discuss why the lessons are important and provide some insight as to how they fit into the whole of the videos series. Happy FileMaking! View the full article

FileMaker Videos

I normally don't like to directly advertise products and services on this blog but there is real FREE content here. What I'm going to do is provide inline videos from part one of my new FileMaker 16 three part video series. I'll discuss why the lessons are important and provide some insight as to how they fit into the whole of the videos series. Happy FileMaking! View the full article

Compare and Contrast

In this article, multiple scripts will be created to accomplish the same task. This may seem silly at first but, it's an important exercise to learn the best approach to a problem. If you are new to this concept, you should actually build the different scripts to cement the concept in your mind. I've been using this methodology for a very long time so it just comes naturally. In fact, most of the work occurs in my head. In time, the process will become second nature and you will find yourself bu

Compare and Contrast

In this article, multiple scripts will be created to accomplish the same task. This may seem silly at first but, it's an important exercise to learn the best approach to a problem. If you are new to this concept, you should actually build the different scripts to cement the concept in your mind. I've been using this methodology for a very long time so it just comes naturally. In fact, most of the work occurs in my head. In time, the process will become second nature and you will find yourself bu

FileMaker by Beginner

I was asked to write an article about my experiences, troubles, pitfalls and recommendations to those starting out with FileMaker. I find many times, and this applies to any industry, when experts help beginners, the experts forget what it was like to be a beginner. While the expert is generous with his or her advice, although perfectly accurate, it sails over the beginners head. The beginner just doesn’t have the experience and tools to digest and disseminate the advice offered. On many of the

FileMaker by Beginner

I was asked to write an article about my experiences, troubles, pitfalls and recommendations to those starting out with FileMaker. I find many times, and this applies to any industry, when experts help beginners, the experts forget what it was like to be a beginner. While the expert is generous with his or her advice, although perfectly accurate, it sails over the beginners head. The beginner just doesn’t have the experience and tools to digest and disseminate the advice offered. On many of the

Sweet Sixteen

The new release schedule, designed to get fresh versions of FileMaker to the public faster, is in full swing with the release of FileMaker 16. It took the FileMaker 16 development team just one year to program a fully featured upgrade with changes to Pro, Go, Server and WebDirect. A truly amazing feat. While FileMaker 15 was a platform upgrade, with few visible changes to Pro or Advanced, FileMaker 16 focuses back on the desktop application we all love to program. Everything begins at the deskto

Sweet Sixteen

The new release schedule, designed to get fresh versions of FileMaker to the public faster, is in full swing with the release of FileMaker 16. It took the FileMaker 16 development team just one year to program a fully featured upgrade with changes to Pro, Go, Server and WebDirect. A truly amazing feat. While FileMaker 15 was a platform upgrade, with few visible changes to Pro or Advanced, FileMaker 16 focuses back on the desktop application we all love to program. Everything begins at the deskto

FileMaker and the Real World

FileMaker is an incredibly versatile and scalable platform, but it is genuinely unique in the way it allows you to solve real world problems quickly, efficiently and super cost effectively. I work for a company that manufactures water softeners (the best ones actually) and I was asked to solve a particular problem we were having in diagnosing rare cases of abnormal operation in the field. In this case study, FileMaker was a perfect fit! View the full article

FileMaker and the Real World

FileMaker is an incredibly versatile and scalable platform, but it is genuinely unique in the way it allows you to solve real world problems quickly, efficiently and super cost effectively. I work for a company that manufactures water softeners (the best ones actually) and I was asked to solve a particular problem we were having in diagnosing rare cases of abnormal operation in the field. In this case study, FileMaker was a perfect fit! View the full article

FileMaker vs Web

One of the most common FileMaker fallacies is a web browser client will save money. I hear it almost weekly from the people who contact me directly. I get it. Everyone wants to save money. But, just because a web browser is free doesn't mean it saves you money. This article will consider specific points about why a FileMaker client provides a better experience for the user than a web browser at the same price. View the full article

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