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The other "issue" is not directly related to the import issue... To be transparent: I'm using MirrorSync and have a hub and spoke file hosted on the same server. The task to achieve is to regularly repopulate, via a script schedule, the spoke file with all of the data from the hub file. It appears that the general idea is solid but the specific implementation was not discussed. The direct import is what I took away from the call with 360works... it seems there is more to the story.

Maybe it would be better to start with that issue? As it is, it looks like another example of an XY problem. In any case, you certainly can import data from one hosted file to another, if necessary. You just cannot do it directly.

That's what I was afraid of. I only went down this path because a vendor tech support person suggested that the import from one to the other was the solution to an issue I was having... but maybe they neglected to provide the full details to how they were saying it should be implemented.

AFAIK (I am not really an expert on this) it's not possible to import directly from one hosted file to another. The Import Records script step in a server-side script can access only files located in the server's Documents or temporary folder: https://help.claris.com/en/pro-help/content/paths-in-server-side-scripts.html https://support.claris.com/s/article/Import-Export-script-on-FileMaker-Server-1503692951014?language=en_US Note also the limitation on supported file formats.

I'm having trouble getting a scripted import to work. I have 2 files hosted on the same server and I want to import from one to the other (all records in the table). The script works when I run it from the file I'm importing into that I have open locally against the hosted file but when I run it as a Server Scheduled script it fails to do the import part. (It DOES the truncates just fine!) Set Variable $sourcepath = "file:/HostName/Filename" ("file:/MyHostingProvider.cloud/FileImportingFromName") Go to Layout [the appropriate layout] Truncate Table [ dialog off; ,Current Table>] Import Records [dialog off; appropriate table; $sourcepath] What am I doing wrong? mark

A big thanks to Richard Carlton for hosting multiple members of the Proof+Geist team on his FMTV podcast during Claris Engage 2025. Check out the conversations and the short demos surrounding multiple free-to-try or fully free tools for FileMaker development. FMLayoutLens and FMPerception with Dave Ramsey In this conversation, Dave Ramsey discusses FMLayoutLens and FMPerception. […] The post Proof+Geist Talks with Richard Carlton appeared first on Proof+Geist. View the full article

Every solution starts out like an infant. It knows very little and works hard to manage your solution's data as it becomes a productive citizen of your digital society. As it grows, your solution will need to offer a variety of options. User A prefers things one way, while User B another. Your job, as the developer, is to accommodate those whims and preferences, or settings as we’ll call them, in the most efficient way possible. As is somewhat typical, you may be halfway through development when you stop and ask yourself if there's a better way to manage the growing list of settings. In this video, I showcase an effective method for managing solution settings. By combining popular FileMaker techniques, we can consolidate, present, and manage settings in a highly streamlined way. Whether your solution is decades old or a brand new build, there is always something new to learn about handling data. We will look at how to combine JSON with solution settings and how easy it can be to simplify the process. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

Every solution starts out like an infant. It knows very little and works hard to manage your solution's data as it becomes a productive citizen of your digital society. As it grows, your solution will need to offer a variety of options. User A prefers things one way, while User B another. Your job, as the developer, is to accommodate those whims and preferences, or settings as we’ll call them, in the most efficient way possible. As is somewhat typical, you may be halfway through development when you stop and ask yourself if there's a better way to manage the growing list of settings. In this video, I showcase an effective method for managing solution settings. By combining popular FileMaker techniques, we can consolidate, present, and manage settings in a highly streamlined way. Whether your solution is decades old or a brand new build, there is always something new to learn about handling data. We will look at how to combine JSON with solution settings and how easy it can be to simplify the process. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

Using artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini can significantly streamline your development process and enhance problem-solving capabilities. But to effectively leverage AI, it’s important to understand foundational AI terminology. This blog introduces you to the essential terminology you’ll need to make sense of how AI works and how it can improve your FileMaker development efforts. AI terms you should know Machine Learning (ML): A subset of AI that enables systems to learn from data and improve without being explicitly programmed. Natural Language Processing (NLP): The field of AI focused on enabling machines to understand and interact with human language. Large Language Models (LLM): AI models like GPT that have been trained on massive datasets to generate human-like text. Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT): A specific type of LLM used for generating text-based responses. Tokens: Units of text data used by AI models to process and generate responses. Prompt/Prompt Engineering: The practice of designing input queries to achieve the desired output from an AI model. API Key: A unique identifier used to authenticate and interact with an AI model. DDL (Data Definition Language): SQL commands used to define and modify the structure of a database. Embeddings: Numerical representations of text used for capturing semantic meaning in searches or comparisons. JSON: A data format used for structuring data exchanges between systems, like FileMaker and AI models. Vectors: Numerical arrays used to represent words or text, helping AI models understand relationships between data. Cosine Similarity: A measure used to evaluate the similarity between two vectors, often applied in text comparison tasks. Semantic Search: A search technique used by AI to understand the meaning behind words and provide more relevant search results. Understanding these terms will not only help you integrate AI into your FileMaker solutions but also enable you to work with AI more effectively in a range of applications. Watch the Video! Learn more about using AI with FileMaker Now that you’re familiar with some essential AI terminology, you might be wondering how to practically apply these concepts within your FileMaker solutions. Our AI Essentials for FileMaker Developers course is specifically designed to help you do just that. In the course, you’ll explore these terms in depth and discover hands-on techniques to integrate powerful AI technologies into your workflow. Whether you’re just starting your journey with AI or looking to sharpen your skills, you’ll find clear, step-by-step instruction tailored specifically to FileMaker developers. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: How to apply prompt engineering techniques to improve AI accuracy and performance. The difference between Consumer AI and Developer AI. Practical ways to leverage AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and more. Methods for enhancing search capabilities through semantic search and embeddings. By taking this course, you’ll not only deepen your understanding of AI fundamentals but also gain the confidence and practical experience needed to implement smarter, more efficient FileMaker solutions right away. Ready to learn more and see how AI can transform your FileMaker development? Enroll in the course Other products and services Productive Computing, Inc. offers: What can PCI do for you? – Overview Video of Productive Computing Services Consulting and Development – services billed by the hour Maintenance and Support – services billed monthly Packaged Services – flat fee for Health Assessment, Server Installation, etc. Plug-ins – tools to integrate with QuickBooks, Outlook, Google, etc. Core CRM Pro – customizable and scalable CRM built on FileMaker Claris and FileMaker Licensing – discounts on new seats and renewals FileMaker and QuickBooks Hosting – options to host your files in the cloud Productive Computing University – free and paid online video training courses for beginner to advanced users and developers The post Learn Essential AI Terms for FileMaker appeared first on Productive Computing, Inc.. View the full article

Eric from Proof+Geist joins us today and tomorrow at 1PM Pacific for a two day event on building web apps with FileMaker! Register for the Day 1 LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5884922293066375025587310645265305002534536559884735428630 support@rcconsulting.com www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Christian Schmitz returns to the LiveStream today (April 23rd) at 1PM Pacific for an Open Q&A! Join us with all your MBS questions, comments and concerns. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4048207882000996402135159406659072721355097733327393321139 support@rcconsulting.com www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

https://tinyurl.com/add-on-survey2

Join Jonathan Ray today (April 22nd) at 1PM Pacific to learn how to fully unlock the power of the text editor in Claris FileMaker! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=227897429491623287876789677984606631026035680370764446089 support@rcconsulting.com www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Demo file: transactional-card-window.zip (requires FM 20 or newer) Resources Card windows — Windowing in FM 16: First Impressions Transactions — A Practical Guide to Transactions in FileMaker (ClickWorks) Introduction Recently a colleague and I were discussing ways one might go about having a card window be both modal and transactional. By default card windows are… Continue reading Modal Transactional Card WindowView the full article

You can validate the field as Unique. But I still don't understand where you're coming from. Or rather, where are these ProductIDs supposed to come from. If they are coming from a third party and you cannot trust them to be unique, then don't use them. Otherwise you will run into a problem when validation kicks in and tells you that the value already exists - and then what is the user supposed to do?

Not sure what you mean by "force it". If you strip the formatting at entry/modification, then users have no way to enter formatted text into the field, even if they want to. Similarly, if you don't give them access to the Paste command, they won't be able to paste formatted text. What more would you want?

OK. Looks like there's no way to force it. Thanks.

Sorry. How do I prevent entering the same product ID twice? How do I tell Filemaker that ProductID must be unique?

You can use a custom menu to make Paste Text Only the default action. Another option is to remove formatting using an auto-entered calculation - but this could make it difficult to apply formatting when you do want it.

Whenever I paste data into my Filemaker database using command-v (we use Macs), it shows up with the original formatting and not the formatting of the field. I'm attaching an example using my name. If I do command-z it wipes out the formatting and shows the formatting on the layout as in the second image. Is there a way to force the data to just use the field formatting and ignore whatever the original formatting was without having to do command-option-shift v (Paste Text Only) or command-z? I'm pretty careful about this but I'm afraid that as more people use the solution the formatting will be all over the place. Thanks in advance.

I don't understand your question. If the product number is unique and immutable then you can use it as the primary key instead of an auto-entered UUID / serial number.

Total noob question and I'm embarassed I don't already know the answer. I have a table of products and want the product number to ensure the record is unique. I'd like to use this product ID as the unique record identifier, rather than the UUID. How is this a complished?

Today we like to connect to a DuckDB database from FileMaker using the SQL functions in MBS FileMaker Plugin. For that we need the client libraries for DuckDB, but where to get them? macOS with homebrew For macOS you can use homebrew to install the duckdb package. Then you get the duckdb library installed. You find the library on an Apple Silicon Mac: /opt/homebrew/Cellar/duckdb/1.2.1/lib/libduckdb.dylib For an Intel Mac, you find it in the /usr/local folder in a sunfolder. All platforms Just got to the DuckDB installation website: Installation There you can click Version: Stable Release Environment: C/C++ Platform: Pick yours Download method: Direct Download Architecture: Pick x86_64 for Intel or arm64 for Apple Silicon Then you can download the dylib/dll/so file and point the plugin to it. Connect To connect, we then define a connection string with host, port and database name. Or for a local file, we just pass the file path. Set Variable [ $Connection ; Value: MBS("SQL.NewConnection") ] # Tell plugin where PostgreSQL library is Set Variable [ $result ; Value: MBS("SQL.SetConnectionOption"; $Connection; "DUCKDB.LIBS"; "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/duckdb/1.2.1/lib/libduckdb.dylib") ] # Connect to database Set Variable [ $result ; Value: MBS("SQL.Connect"; $Connection; "/Users/cs/Desktop/test.duckdb"; ""; ""; "DuckDB") ] If [ $result ≠ "OK" ] Show Custom Dialog [ "Error: " & $result ] Set Variable [ $result ; Value: MBS("SQL.FreeConnection"; $Connection) ] Else # do something here End If # Cleanup Set Variable [ $result2 ; Value: MBS("SQL.FreeConnection"; $Connection) ] Once connected, you can do whatever queries you like to like the ones below: // create command $Command = MBS("SQL.NewCommand"; $Connection; "SELECT * FROM Test") // run select $result2 = MBS("SQL.Execute"; $Command) // go to first row $result3 = MBS("SQL.FetchNext"; $Command) // result 3 is 1 if we got a record // read first name field from result: $firstname = MBS("SQL.GetFieldAsText"; $command; "FirstName") // later release command MBS("SQL.FreeCommand"; $Command) Let us know if you have questions

"AND LIVE FROM Claris Engage 2025 - It's FMTV!" We recorded a series of interviews with Claris Staff and Community Members while at Claris' developer conference in one of the new Apple Studios. These are all now available for you to enjoy: https://fmtraining.tv/engage-2025/ support@rcconsulting.com www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

I arrived in Austin excited to see some familiar faces and show off all the cool stuff we’ve been working on at Proof+Geist. I left Claris Engage feeling grateful for the people, the conversations, and the chance to be part of something that keeps evolving. Winning as a team Claris recognized Proof+Geist with an Excellence […] The post Claris Engage 2025: Energy, innovation, and community appeared first on Proof+Geist. View the full article