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Featured Entries

Hacking Your Own FileMaker Platform Solutions

By Steven H. Blackwell April 7, 2016

Hacking Your Own FileMaker Platform Solutions Should FileMaker Platform developers mount hacking attacks on their own solutions? At first glance, this may seem an odd question. But I believe that the answer is “Yes, we should.” Consider this. As developers we see our solutions from a totally different perspective than Threat Agents see them. Without practicing our own hacking skills, we can become blind to the vulnerabilities a Threat Agent can exploit to compromise the Confidentiality
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- 5,519 views
A Conversation About '2 Factor Authentication'

By Josh Ormond February 8, 2016

[ Edit: 3/16/2016 - With the help of some other people, we have been able to recover, or recreate some of the original images from original thread. ] Security is always a big topic when it involves data, or people, or possessions. Recently, over on the FileMaker Community, there was a very beneficial discussion regarding security. Unfortunately, that discussion was the victim of a necessary action...and was deleted. It was deleted, because the discussion was tied to a video that, as was det
- 1 comment
- 5,558 views

Friendly Alphabet Filtering

As a developer, it’s often hard to get out of a mindset where your response of “It’s simple silly, you just search for a portion of the word, not the whole word.” to the question of a particular search not providing a user’s expected results. This type of response may come from a user when they mention they know the user “Petrowsky” is in the database but it doesn’t come across verbally that they’re really searching for “Petrowski” - which obviously doesn’t match the version ending in a “y” ins

FileMaker Magazine

January 4, 2016

Tips ’n’ Tricks, part 2

Welcome back for a second dip into the developer bag of tips and tricks. A few of today’s entries assume familiarity with part 1, so if you haven’t already checked it out, I invite you to do so before proceeding. We begin today with a couple ExecuteSQL tips. Tip #1: Get to know COALESCE The […] View the full article

Kevin Frank

December 29, 2015

Defensive Layout Navigation

Attachment Size DefensiveLayoutNavigation.zip 295.9 KB By Matt Petrowsky Download Video If it hasn’t happened to you yet, then it will at some point. Your FileMaker solution will simply grow and grow and you’ll be adding complex layers of security and access as you develop. As you add that security, your users may report back that they can’t do what they’re supposed to do. Maybe they’re locked out of a given layout with a giant gray screen with the small words of “No Access”. U

FileMaker Magazine

December 28, 2015

Defensive Layout Navigation

If it hasn’t happened to you yet, then it will at some point. Your FileMaker solution will simply grow and grow and you’ll be adding complex layers of security and access as you develop. As you add that security, your users may report back that they can’t do what they’re supposed to do. Maybe they’re locked out of a given layout with a giant gray screen with the small words of “No Access”. Ughhh! What does your user do now? Why should you even be dealing with this issue? What you really need

FileMaker Magazine

December 28, 2015

Simplified Search Queries

No Access? Watch the preview video here. SimplifiedSearchQueries_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size SimplifiedSearchQueries.zip 380.57 KB By Matt Petrowsky As a software/database developer, one of your primary goals is making your solutions easy to use. This means users should be able to perform common queries by simply clicking buttons which run the queries automatically. This is probably something you already do. But, the big question is this, “Do you make it easy on yourself for cre

FileMaker Magazine

December 17, 2015

Simplified Search Queries

As a software/database developer, one of your primary goals is making your solutions easy to use. This means users should be able to perform common queries by simply clicking buttons which run the queries automatically. This is probably something you already do. But, the big question is this, “Do you make it easy on yourself for creating those simple queries?” Many developers will create a unique script for each of the various queries, and in some cases this is just fine. It’s when you start fe

FileMaker Magazine

December 17, 2015

Developer Tools & Tips 2015

No Access? Watch the preview video here. DeveloperTipsTricks_Pre.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky As with all mastery of any trade, it’s a matter of familiarity with the tools, along with practiced skill, in which a craftsman can hone his or her proficiency. In development, it’s often a matter of knowing which tools are available, and how to use them, which may make the difference. In this video, I showcase the tools I use, their most important features and how I personally use them. If becomin

FileMaker Magazine

December 10, 2015

Developer Tools & Tips 2015

As with all mastery of any trade, it’s a matter of familiarity with the tools, along with practiced skill, in which a craftsman can hone his or her proficiency. In development, it’s often a matter of knowing which tools are available, and how to use them, which may make the difference. In this video, I showcase the tools I use, their most important features and how I personally use them. If becoming a more efficient and capable FileMaker developer is one of your goals then make sure to watch th

FileMaker Magazine

December 10, 2015

2016 FileMaker Training Course Schedule

Our 2016 FileMaker training courses are scheduled! Our trainers are Certified FileMaker Developers, who have been developing custom solutions at Skeleton Key for many years. Please visit each page for information, dates, and to register. If you would like an individual invoice, please contact us. We offer a multi-person discount for companies that would like to send more than one trainee. Please contact us with interest in this discount. We offer on-site training for companies that qualify.

Skeleton Key

December 8, 2015

Company News

FileMaker Embraces Crowdsourcing - New Product Ideas Space

Have you heard of FileMaker's New Product Idea Space on the Community? Learn more about it and why we love it! Video included. https://www.dbservices.com/articles/filemaker-embraces-crowdsourcing/ dbservices.com

dbservices in Company News

December 2, 2015

Tips ’n’ Tricks, part 1

Over the last few years I’ve been collecting miscellaneous tips and tricks with the thought of eventually aggregating them into a blog posting, and it appears that day has finally come. Ideally there will be something new and useful here for developers of all levels, from the neophyte to the most grizzled of FileMaker veterans. […] View the full article

Kevin Frank

December 1, 2015

Sending Email with Merge Fields

No Access? Watch the preview video here. SendingEmailMerging_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size SendingEmailMergeFields.zip 388.62 KB By Matt Petrowsky What would a database solution be without the ability to send email? Well, it would be a database solution without the ability to send email - but who wants that right? Email is obviously an integral part of our modern day communication. And, despite what the Twitters, Facebooks and Instagrams of the world would have you believe, email

FileMaker Magazine

November 30, 2015

Sending Email with Merge Fields

What would a database solution be without the ability to send email? Well, it would be a database solution without the ability to send email - but who wants that right? Email is obviously an integral part of our modern day communication. And, despite what the Twitters, Facebooks and Instagrams of the world would have you believe, email is here to stay. The easiest way to add email support to a FileMaker database is to simply use the Send Mail script step. But, that’s boring, and sometimes it d

FileMaker Magazine

November 30, 2015

Creating Color Palettes

By Matt Petrowsky As we’ve all likely heard before, a movie isn’t just great because of the cinematography, it’s the sound that counts just as much. What you hear, not just see, is what makes the difference between good and great. So, if sound is so critical to a movie, then the analogy to a FileMaker layout is color. Sure, anyone can move and arrange fields and objects into some semblance of order. And, using FileMaker’s layout objects to furnish your layout for the best possible user

FileMaker Magazine

November 18, 2015

Creating Color Palettes

As we’ve all likely heard before, a movie isn’t just great because of the cinematography, it’s the sound that counts just as much. What you hear, not just see, is what makes the difference between good and great. So, if sound is so critical to a movie, then the analogy to a FileMaker layout is color. Sure, anyone can move and arrange fields and objects into some semblance of order. And, using FileMaker’s layout objects to furnish your layout for the best possible user experience does take a bit

FileMaker Magazine

November 18, 2015

Company News

FileMaker vs. Quickbase

Time to look for a technology that fits your needs, but not sure where to begin? Check out our comparison of FileMaker and QuickBase. YouTube video comparison included. https://www.dbservices.com/articles/filemaker-vs-quickbase/ dbservices.com

dbservices in Company News

November 18, 2015

FileMaker naming conventions

In a recent discussion at the FileMaker Community a question was asked about why a FileMaker developer would choose NOT to use SQL-friendly field names. It's an important question that I believe many FileMaker developers often answer incorrectly. Here's a bit about how my view of naming conventions has changed over time. For reference, a SQL-friendly field name in FileMaker would be a name that: starts with a letter contains only letters, numbers, and underscore characters is not

Skeleton Key

November 10, 2015

Saving Window State

No Access? Watch the preview video here. SavingWindowState_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size SavingWindowState.zip 232.71 KB By Matt Petrowsky When developing in FileMaker, the feature set it offers accounts for a good number of common tasks and provides easy solutions for most of these problems. There are a few issues, however, which FileMaker either hasn’t addressed or wants to leave up to the developer. One of these is saving the current window state. This applies to tab panels, sl

FileMaker Magazine

November 5, 2015

Saving Window State

When developing in FileMaker, the feature set it offers accounts for a good number of common tasks and provides easy solutions for most of these problems. There are a few issues, however, which FileMaker either hasn’t addressed or wants to leave up to the developer. One of these is saving the current window state. This applies to tab panels, sliders and moving from layout to layout or when closing the file. The desired result, for the end user, is to simply return to where they left off when re

FileMaker Magazine

November 5, 2015

Button Bars for Navigation

No Access? Watch the preview video here. ButtonBarsNavigation_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size ButtonBarsforNavigation.zip 301.1 KB By Matt Petrowsky Most of FileMaker’s layout objects allow you to easily specify settings directly on those objects. For example, using Button Bars for the purpose of navigation means you can specify which of the multiple segments should be presented as active. Of course, your can also easily target which layout a button click should take the user to with

FileMaker Magazine

October 29, 2015

Button Bars for Navigation

Most of FileMaker’s layout objects allow you to easily specify settings directly on those objects. For example, using Button Bars for the purpose of navigation means you can specify which of the multiple segments should be presented as active. Of course, your can also easily target which layout a button click should take the user to without creating a dedicated script. The problem, however, is that FileMaker systems end up growing ever larger and the evolution process means you’re constantly ma

FileMaker Magazine

October 29, 2015

Some Vulnerabilities Associated With Ersatz Log-On Systems

Some Vulnerabilities Associated With Ersatz Log-On Systems October 29th 2015 My recent post [http://fmforums.com/blogs/entry/1410-new-paradigms-in-filemaker-platform-security/] on this BLOG about New Paradigms in FileMaker Platform Security has apparently occasioned a good deal of discussion in various FileMaker-related venues. Much of this reportedly has focused on the ersatz systems that I recommended be avoided. Many persons seem to have asserted that they use such systems for

Steven H. Blackwell

October 29, 2015

Multi-State Dynamic Graphic Buttons

I had a client request recently to toggle an image button to a second image on mouse over. Under normal circumstances, this would not be difficult to accomplish since you can assign one image to the Normal state, and a different image to the Hover state, like so. However, if you go this route, you can’t […] View the full article

Kevin Frank

October 26, 2015