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Productive Computing

A blog by PCIPal in Affiliate Blogs

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Entries in this blog

Advanced FileMaker Certification

As you gain experience with FileMaker, you may find yourself taking on projects that ask more of you as a developer. Maybe you’re working with a complex solution, connecting FileMaker to other systems, or trying to understand a database someone else built. At some point, knowing the fundamentals is not enough. You need opportunities to practice more advanced skills and guidance from people who understand the work. Productive Computing University’s Advanced Certification program is designed t
  • PCIPal

Persistent Data Store in FileMaker 2026

When you open your FileMaker solution, you may expect it to display the correct company logo, use your company’s time zone, or open a window at a familiar size. Those settings do not appear by accident. Your developer must give the solution a way to retain the information and retrieve it when it is needed. FileMaker 2026 provides a new option for doing this with the persistent data store. Settings and preferences your solution may need Most of the information in your FileMaker so

What’s the Next Step After Learning the Basics of FileMaker?

Learning the fundamentals of Claris FileMaker is an important first step, but many developers eventually reach a point where they’re ready to build more capable and robust business applications. That’s often when new questions begin to surface. How do you connect FileMaker with external services? How do you automate common business processes? What’s the best way to organize a growing solution and keep it maintainable over time? Developing these skills requires more than learning new feat

Moving from QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online

What FileMaker Developers and Business Owners Need to Know If your FileMaker solution integrates with QuickBooks Desktop, now is a good time to understand how Intuit’s evolving product lineup could affect your business. For users of QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Premier, support will eventually come to an end. While QuickBooks Enterprise remains available for businesses that want to continue using a desktop solution, many organizations are evaluating QuickBooks Online as their next step.

5 Common FileMaker & QuickBooks Integration Strategies

Plan Before You Build Connecting FileMaker with QuickBooks can reduce duplicate entry, improve access to accounting information, and give your team better visibility into the information they need to do their jobs.  Before writing scripts or exchanging data, it is worth taking time to decide what information should move between systems and which application should manage it. The most effective integrations give each application a clear role. FileMaker manages customer-facing and oper

AI Essentials for FileMaker Developers – Course Updates

Artificial intelligence continues to evolve rapidly, and keeping your FileMaker AI projects aligned with current technologies can be a challenge. To help you stay up to date, we’ve refreshed the AI Essentials for FileMaker Developers course with revised lessons, enhanced demo files, and support for the latest AI models from OpenAI and Google Gemini. Whether you’re new to AI or revisiting the course to expand your skills, you’ll find practical examples and techniques that reflect today’s AI l

What’s Hiding Inside Your FileMaker System?

Let’s Look Under the Hood Most FileMaker systems do not become difficult to maintain overnight. They evolve over time as new features are added, business processes change, and development priorities shift. A layout created for a special project may remain in the file long after the project is finished. Scripts are modified, reports are duplicated, and old ideas are abandoned before they are completed. The system continues to work, so there is little reason to question what is happening b

FileMaker 2026 Is Here!

Check Out New Features, Video Overview, and Free Sample Files Claris has officially released FileMaker 2026, introducing new capabilities designed to help you work with AI, improve solution organization, and simplify everyday development tasks. Highlights in FileMaker 2026 include: AI capabilities that make it easier to work with documents, external services, and modern data sources Enhancements to improve solution organization and make development projects easier to manage ove

Become a More Confident Claris FileMaker User

Many people use Claris FileMaker every day without ever receiving formal training on how the platform works. They learn enough to get by, but over time, simple tasks can become frustrating, inefficient, or intimidating. Maybe you inherited a FileMaker solution at work. Perhaps your company relies on FileMaker to run operations, track customers, manage projects, or organize internal data. Or maybe you simply want to better understand the platform so you can work more efficiently and communica

Pull QuickBooks Invoices and Payment Links into FileMaker

Many organizations use FileMaker to manage operations while relying on QuickBooks Online for accounting and invoicing. One common frustration is keeping invoice documents and payment information connected between both systems without creating extra work for your team. New FM Books Connector Online features help simplify that process by allowing FileMaker to pull invoice PDFs and payment links directly from QuickBooks Online. Pull Invoice PDFs Directly into FileMaker FM Books Connecto

What to Do After Inheriting a FileMaker System

Taking over an existing Claris FileMaker database can feel overwhelming, especially if you were not involved in building or maintaining it. You may not know how the system was built, whether it is still supported, who has access, if it is hosted, or even where the server lives. Before making development decisions, hiring a consultant, or planning upgrades, the most important thing you can do is understand what you currently have. In the video, Inherited a FileMaker System? Your Next

Build a Working QuickBooks Integration for FileMaker

QuickBooks Online Integration Options for FileMaker Connecting FileMaker to QuickBooks Online is one of the most common integration challenges. Your operational data lives in FileMaker, while your accounting data is stored in QuickBooks. Without a connection between the two, your team is often re-entering data, working from different records, and losing time to manual processes. To solve this, you need a reliable way to push and pull data between systems. The real challenge is deciding h

MSP: FileMaker Support that Works

10,000+ Fixes and Improvements Delivered Over the past five years, more than 10,000 development requests have been completed through our Maintenance Support Program (MSP). That number reflects a simple reality. FileMaker systems are never finished. If you rely on FileMaker to run your business, small issues do not stay small. They slow your team down, create workarounds, and make it harder to keep your system aligned with how your business actually operates. Ongoing improvements are

Using AWS as Your FileMaker Development Environment

Getting started with AWS can feel overwhelming, especially when you are trying to support a FileMaker workflow. With so many services and configuration options, it is not always clear what you actually need to build a reliable development or testing environment. A structured approach can make a big difference. When you understand how to set up and manage an AWS environment, you can create flexible, on-demand systems that support your FileMaker projects without relying on physical hardware. O

Mastering Claris Studio: Learn the New Way to Connect FileMaker

If you are working with FileMaker and Claris Studio, understanding how these two platforms connect is key to building modern solutions. The Mastering Claris Studio course has been updated with new lessons that show you how to connect FileMaker and Claris Studio using synced data. This approach gives you more control over your data and a clearer way to manage how information moves between systems. Learn More Build Smarter Solutions with Claris Studio Claris Studio allows

Build FileMaker Skills with PCU

Try the first of 3 certification programs If you are looking to learn FileMaker in a structured, practical way, Productive Computing University’sBeginner Certification Program provides a clear starting point. It is designed to help you build real skills you can apply in your day-to-day work, whether you are supporting a system, improving workflows, or preparing to take on development tasks. Get Started! The Beginner Certification focuses on the fundamentals of the Claris Fil

Free JSON Training for FileMaker Developers

If you are looking for free JSON training for FileMaker developers, we offer a course designed to help you build practical, real-world skills you can use immediately. JSON plays a central role in modern FileMaker development, especially when working with APIs, AI services, Claris Connect, and JavaScript-based integrations. Understanding how JSON works inside FileMaker makes these integrations far more approachable and reliable. JSON Fundamentals for FileMaker Developers is a free training co

Learn to Integrate FileMaker with QuickBooks Online

Connecting FileMaker with QuickBooks Online does not have to involve trial and error or rebuilding accounting systems inside FileMaker. The Connect FileMaker to QuickBooks Online course is a free, practical training course that helps build reliable, real-world integrations using the FM Books Connector Online plug-in. The course walks through the full integration process, starting with a clean FileMaker file and building toward a working solution that can push and pull data with QuickBooks On

A Practical Guide to the Claris Platform

An Overview for FileMaker Users If you are familiar with FileMaker, you may be curious about how the Claris platform expands on what you already know. With multiple tools designed to work together, it can be difficult to understand where each one fits and how they support real business workflows. The Claris platform brings together app development, data collection, automation, and deployment options under one ecosystem. Gaining a clear overview of these components helps you evaluate whet

Using the Perform Find by Natural Language Script Step in FileMaker

Searching in FileMaker has traditionally required users to understand field names, layouts, and how to build multi-step find requests. For smaller teams and non-technical users, that learning curve can slow things down and lead to frustration. Natural language finds change that experience. Instead of constructing complex criteria, users can simply type what they are looking for in everyday language. FileMaker then uses AI to interpret the request, build the appropriate find criteria, and ret

Create Barcodes and QR Codes in FileMaker

Creating barcodes and QR codes in FileMaker is easier than ever. Using the free demo file from Productive Computing University, you will be able to use a single script step to generate both traditional barcodes and QR codes directly within FileMaker 2025. No fonts, no plug-ins, and no complex setup are required If you’re managing inventory, printing labels, or sharing links, this approach makes it quick to generate professional barcodes and QR codes with minimal effort. The only requirement
  • PCIPal

Using AI for Text Summaries, Clean Up, and Translation in FileMaker

If your team collects field notes, service updates, support comments, or quick entries from mobile devices, you know how inconsistent and unstructured text can be. Misspellings, shorthand, scattered thoughts, and long explanations can make important information hard to understand. With the AI capabilities available in FileMaker 2025, you now can clean up messy notes, generate clear summaries, and translate text into other languages directly inside your solution. Our AI text manipulation tool
  • PCIPal

Outlook Manipulator: Connecting FileMaker and Outlook

The Outlook Manipulator plug-in makes it easy to connect your Claris FileMaker solution with Microsoft Outlook and the new Microsoft 365 Outlook (we refer to it as Outlook Remote). Whether you want to centralize contacts, archive emails, manage calendar events, or automate communication, Outlook Manipulator gives you the tools to make Outlook an integrated part of your FileMaker workflow. Direct Integration with Outlook Remote and Outlook Classic Outlook Manipulator supports both modern
  • PCIPal

Using AI for an Internet Search in FileMaker

See how FileMaker can use AI to perform live internet searches and return real-time company data, news, and insights. Explore how to connect FileMaker to OpenAI to gather and organize results directly within your solution. AI models are powerful, but their training only extends to a specific date, which means they often lack awareness of recent news or developments. When you enable AI search, FileMaker can look up current information on the web and combine it with the model’s existing knowle
  • PCIPal

How AI is Transforming FileMaker Development

A Claris Community Live Recap On September 11, 2025, the Claris Community gathered for another Community Live event during which Marc Larochelle, Productive Computing CEO, discussed artificial intelligence and FileMaker. The session featured real-world examples of how AI is already transforming the way developers and businesses build solutions. How to Use AI in FileMaker The conversation centered on practical AI use cases in FileMaker, not just theory but rather demonst
  • PCIPal

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