Community Videos, Tips, & Techniques, Articles.

This forum is ONLY for articles, tips & techniques - NOT for asking questions about FileMaker For all other support requests please choose ANOTHER forum that best applies to your post. ATTACHING A SAMPLE SOLUTION? PLEASE READ!!! If you are planning on including a sample solution you may be better suited to submit this to the Marketplace section of the site http://fmforums.com/files once you do post the file your a post will be automatically be placed here, as a reference and link back to your file. - Thank You.

DynaForms released DynaPDF 5.0, their newest version of the DynaPDF library. Price changesWith the new release DynaForms changes the prices and we follow them. The new prices for Lite, Pro and Enterprise licenses are lower. This makes the entry more affordable. Starter costs more and is now half of the Lite price. Maintenance updates are 15% of the product prices. Special offerFor the introduction of version 5, we offer a 15% special discount until March 15, 2026! Use coupon code DynaPDF5 in our web shop. Especially you can use the coupon to upgrade the license to a higher tier: Starter → Lite → Pro → Enterprise PlatformsDynaPDF 5 comes pre-built for these platforms: Plat…

For MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.1 we include new Llama functions to use local LLMs on your computer. Instead of paying for a web service to run the LLM on someone else's computer, you can run it locally on yours. About LlamaThe Llama.cpp project allows you to run efficient Large Language Model Inference in pure C/C++. You can run any powerful artificial intelligence model including all LLaMa models, Falcon and RefinedWeb, Mistral models, Gemma from Google, Phi, Qwen, Yi, Solar 10.7B and Alpaca. You do not need to pay to use Llama.cpp or buy a subscription. It is completely free, open-source, constantly updated and available under the “MIT” license. And Monkeybread Software p…

Breaking news: Claris has released a new FileMaker Server update with important security fixes! Instead of presenting on Backups this Friday at 1PM Pacific, Jacob Taylor will be diving into the latest FileMaker Server release and explaining why you should update immediately. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5690647475276715368927872354256068268577110426348879839792 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

As you may know, I had the honor to visit Tokyo for the Claris Engage Japan in 2025. The videos are now posted on the FileMaker Japan channel on YouTube. You can watch the English keynote here: With Ryan McCann - Claris CEO. and the AI presentation in English: Ronnie Rios - Claris Product Manager and Derek Lee. Enjoy watching the videos and see you at one of the next conferences!

Nick Hunter is starting a multi-week FileMaker LiveStream event on supercharging imports with MBS. We kick off Day 1 today at 1PM Pacific! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=1116817859356653838668455889686670314554342801106723282545 If you miss a day, not to worry. We'll be uploading each stream with a unique title so you can find the topics that matter the most to you. [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Some barcode types like QR-Code support structured appends. That means you can have a series of barcodes and carry metadata to identify them as belonging to the same series. And each of them carries the index within the series and the number of barcodes in total. For example you may have 1 or 3, 2 or 3 and 3 or 3. Our MBS FileMaker Plugin handles this with the Barcode.GenerateJSON function. You pass the StructuredAppend option with the JSON object containing index, count and Id entries for the series. The index is one based up to the value in count. Please note that the ID is limited to a few characters or numbers and this depends on the barcode type. Structured append…

We are happy to join the biggest US conference for FileMaker developers in 2026: This conference is an unconference, which means there is not really a fixed schedule. Everyone is welcome to submit sessions and the schedule changes at the conference. Please consider contributing something like showing some tips and tricks you have. Monkeybread Software sponsors the event and you will find there a booth with Christian Schmitz to ask all questions about the MBS Plugin. We may have a MBS News session to tell you what is new. Then we may have a MBS Enhancements session to tell you about our Script Workspace enhancements. We could also have special topic sessions for XML, SQL…

TOON: A Compact, LLM-Friendly Alternative to JSONJSON has become the universal data format for APIs, configuration, and data exchange. It’s precise, machine-friendly, and everywhere. But when JSON is fed into Large Language Models (LLMs), it’s not always ideal: braces, quotes, and repeated field names can waste tokens and obscure the structure that models need to reason about the data. That’s where Token-Oriented Object Notation (TOON) comes in. TOON is a compact, human-readable encoding of the JSON data model, designed specifically for LLM input. It is a lossless representation of JSON, meaning you can round-trip between JSON and TOON without losing information. What Is …

Let’s talk performance improvements - that are actually noticeable! HOnza and Vince will be presenting tomorrow, at 1PM Pacific, on FileMaker Multi-Keys and Key Ranges to perform your database. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=1116817859356653838668455889686670314554342801106723282545 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

For the next version 16.1 of MBS Plugin, we'll add grouping and a copy menu to the search all scripts feature: Please try and let us know how well it works.

When using COM functions in FileMaker, you may have seen this dialog: We saw it a lot recently with WIA for scanning. It's the default dialog for COM for the case a message can't be answered quickly. So with remote method calls, the busy app may not answer to another app quickly, because well, it's busy. The dialog is simply annoying for us and we just prefer to tell COM to wait a little bit and try again. With our MBS FileMaker Plugin for FileMaker, you can call FM.InitMessageFilter function. It installs a message filter, which will delay & retry all calls automatically without a dialog. Please try.

Nick Hunter returns with a 3-day FileMaker LiveStream on when to use Conditional Formatting for visual cues and when to use Hide object to remove clutter. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5665194635097788645626842921357097257682515678129940815801 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. We talk about the scripts to install MBS Plugin automatically. Blog articles: Linux, macOS and Windows. More videos Installing the MBS Plug-in In FileMaker Via Script FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 16.0 Update FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.5 Update FileMaker MBS Plug-in Q&A FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.4 Update Make iOS Apps with the FileMaker App SDK & the MonkeyBread Plug-in FileMaker MBS Plu…

Let's say you like to install the MBS FileMaker Plugin on your Mac for FileMaker Pro. DownloadFirst you download our MBSPlugin.dmg from our website. For macOS please use the dmg file. This one is notarized, so Apple had a chance to run their malware scanner on it. While you could also load the zip archive with the same content, you would then get warnings about the plugin being unnotarized. The download may take a while. You open the disk image and there you find a folder with the macOS plugin and inside the MBS.fmplugin file. Extensions folderThe plugin is installed into the extension folder. Please go to Settings in FileMaker Pro to open the settings dialog. Then you …

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. We show what is new in the MBS Plugin version 16.0: Announcement, Release Notes, New Functions and MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.0 News. More videos FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 16.0 Update FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.5 Update FileMaker MBS Plug-in Q&A FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.4 Update Make iOS Apps with the FileMaker App SDK & the MonkeyBread Plug-in FileMaker MBS Plug-in Q&A FileMaker M…

Hi all, you can zip and unzip any FileMaker field without a plugin. This article will describe the Mac side of things and I’m still looking for a way to do the same on Windows. Will post it here when I figure it out. (Don’t know yet how to send PowersShell commands in the background and get screen output back into FM. 1) Zipping Pretty straightforward: 1.1) You export a container field to the TemporaryPath directory, 1.2) zip it and 1.3) insert the zipped file back into a container field. From then on you could store it in any type of field, just be sure to use the Bas64 functions, otherwise the contents will be changed when saving to a different field type…

Let's say you like to install the MBS FileMaker Plugin on your Windows PC for FileMaker Pro. DownloadFirst you download our MBSPlugin.zip from our website. For Windows you pick the zip file. The dmg is there for macOS. The download may take a while. You open the zip archive and there you find a folder with the Windows plugin and inside the MBS.fmx64 file, the one with the colorful icon. Extensions folderThe plugin is installed into the extension folder. Please go to Settings in FileMaker Pro to open the settings dialog. For this please use the menu command: And then you see this dialog: Inside the dialog, please go to the Plug-ins tab. There you see no plugin in the li…

Announcing the release of Elemental SVG. This is a powerful and reliable SVG editor built from the ground up specifically for FileMaker Developers! Are you ever frustrated that the SVG icon you download from your favourite icon site never works properly on buttons or button bars? With elemental_svg we hope to fix that issue forever. Elemental SVG carries out the required transformations on any SVG to get it working in FileMaker. We have a 100% success rate on SVG’s so far in development. In addition to the conversion for FileMaker elemental_svg comes packed with heaps of useful features to edit and transform one or multiple SVG icons. Current features include: Load in …

Looks like Proofgeist’s modlog has moved, so I thought I would give it a go. https://fm-xml-reader.rivetcom.ca

Did you know that you can use our Saxon functions to run XPath Queries against the XML file that FileMaker wrote with the Save as XML script step? Use the menu command or write yourself a script to run every night to use Save as XML... in the Tools menu and write a new XML file. Query BaseTablesSo let's start with the xml file and it starts like this: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <FMSaveAsXML version="2.2.3.2" Source="22.1.1" File="Assets.fmp12" UUID="BAFECB9B-E017-4706-977D-7262EEE9E358" locale="English" Has_DDR_INFO="False"> You could run a simple query to list the string-join(//BaseTable/@name, ' ') This may give you a list of the base tables,…

Presenting a week of FileMaker and WordPress with CWP Snippets with Ron Glen Cates! We kick off this 5-day event today at 1PM Pacific with an introduction to the CWP Snippets plug-in. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=2283333250414705482838898538014457064901709445005987375638 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

With over 7,800 functions to extend FileMaker, it makes sense to want to install the MonkeyBread plug-in into your own copy. Learn how to do just that, via script, with Christian Schmitz, tomorrow at 1PM Pacific! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=3346587424825286810481920598752202845883625845489389603895 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

If done properly, similar to icons, Emojis have the potential to elevate your FileMaker database. Tomorrow at 1 PM Pacific, Nick Hunter will be demonstrating how to use emojis in FileMaker to improve data visibility. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=948720178956332542278619761598676986396659607160143738415 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

In this article we want to introduce you the new functions from the MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 16.0. Search in scripts for Windows and MacFirst, I will introduce a change that will probably make Windows users' hearts beat faster, but the new feature is also an enhancement for Mac users. We have added a new search button that allows you to search through the scripts. Mac already had the option of entering a term in the search field, which would then search the individual scripts and allow you to click through them. Now there is a search function for Mac and Windows that searches all scripts at once and displays the results in a list. This allows you to check, for exam…

FileMaker has a lot of flexibility for developers. How do you decide which are the "best" choices? Nick Hunter will show how to choose between Auto-Enter vs Calculations in a two-day event, starting today at 1PM Pacific. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=400264112545575243420029977889462618739382772815884859965 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

What a better way to wrap up the week than with a new release of the MonkeyBread Plug-in for FileMaker. Join Christian Schmitz today at 1PM Pacific to see what is new in the latest 16.0 release! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=169377799109020639463590206957458056945148899015469766721 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Last minute reminder! Auto-Entry vs Relookups today at 1PM Pacific. Nick Hunter will be walking us through the differences and when to get the most out of each. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4439948738658702539890654296953650374758605054953458694586 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Live from New York: Tony White! Learn various FileMaker tips and tricks to make development more productive and fun, tomorrow at 1PM Pacific. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=6096759527535615241151454403562558593221141412627398909291 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

FileMaker Developers: Claris would like your feedback on quality-of-life improvements to the Claris FileMaker platform. Join us tomorrow at 1PM to walk through the survey and discuss with the FileMaker community! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=138359314477373000406947557805602631910975958724676276318 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

There is a new feature in development for MBS Plugin and you can see it 16.0pr6 (see announcement here). We add the possibility to search in all scripts in the script workspace and find things. For this we add a new search button (magnifier glass) to the toolbar on macOS on the right: As well as on Windows with a regular button: We even got a fancy tooltip to explain the button. When you click the button, we take a snapshot of the current scripts in the window. Then we open a search window and pass the scripts. This may take a few seconds (or a minute for huge databases). Once the snapshot is loaded in the search window, you can start searching: As you see we show you …

Have you seen all the entries for the 2025 advent calendar? 24 articles to highlight various MBS Plugin SQL features: Introduction SQL with FileMaker's own functions FM.ExecuteFileSQL FM.SQL.Executeand life in the matrix Count your field and rows Joins Precise entries and their types Error handling Totals and averages Minimum and Maximum Adding records UNION Last SQL SQL and JSON Information about tables and base tables Delete Compare tables Update CSV and TSV Copying records to a new table with SQL XML Table statistics Dictionary Insert or Update You can download the example file here: Christmas2025.fmp12.zip and the complete pdf here. From two years ago, the advent cale…

Since macOS 26 (and iOS 26) you can use the Translate framework to perform on-device translation services. You can use this with the upcoming MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.0, currently in beta test. We also back ported it to macOS 15 and iOS 18 for most of the functionality. Available?First you may check whether the translation services are available. This basically checks only for whether you have macOS or iOS. If [ MBS( "Translation.Available" ) = 1 ] Show Custom Dialog [ "Translation is available" ] Else Show Custom Dialog [ "Translation is not available" ] End If Supported LanguagesNext you could ask for the list of supported language. Currently this list contains:…

David Simpson from .com Solutions inc. will be joining us tomorrow at 1PM Pacific to wrap up the week! Join us to learn about his FmPro Migrator tool, an application that migrates FileMaker data to MySQL, Oracle and more! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=6026785670275365286707543300878934302635346438760846791404 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

For the old year, we can check our statistics on the FileMaker Servers. The share of Linux continues to raise. In August 2023 Linux overtook Windows, then in July 2024 the Linux share crossed to over 50%. Now we are at about 80%. If we continue with that adoption, I'd expect Linux to be at 90% end of 2026 and Claris can retired the MacOS and Windows servers in the next years. You all vote withy your wallet, so no complains please. Of course this assumes that Claris sees similar statistics. Here is a graphics for the OS share: The versions are also of interest. For me to know what FileMaker versions to support. Since 2023 got end-of-live mark in December, it may not …

Large FileMaker files don’t just take up disk space, they also hurt performance. HOnza and Vince join us tomorrow at 1PM Pacific to discuss what exactly is making your Database so large, and how you can go about fixing it. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4615701423739033019151864781774264928728273284277388678184 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

We have been using GraphicsMagick functions for years to draw some text, but we can do the same in DynaPDF. We draw text in a new PDF document and then render it as image without ever saving the PDF document. We can even use transparency and render the PDF with alpha channel and save as PNG image. Our first example places some text on the PDF page using the DynaPDF.WriteStyledTextEx function. This function can take text with styles from a field in FileMaker (or variable) and draw it into the PDF. The styles are converted for DyynaPDF's format commands. The text is wrapped to the desired width of 300 points and we use justify for alignment. After the text is drawn, w…

You may have seen similar barcodes, which use circles instead of blocks to draw a barcode. We can do the same with MBS FileMaker Plugin 15.1 using Barcode.GenerateJSON function. In order to do this, we added the option to output the drawing commands as JSON instead of drawing them to an image directly. The JSON includes the width and height of the barcode, which depends on the Scale parameter in the options. For our vector drawing, we would prefer bigger numbers, so a Scale of 4 or 8 may be good. The JSON contains arrays for rectangles, strings, hexagons and circles. For the QR-Codes, we only get rectangles, but an EAN code would have a text below the code. A…

Over the last years we had various instructions to install MBS Plugin on a FileMaker Server. Today we have a new way: an installation script wininstall.ps1 (and wininstall.bat). This script downloads the MBS Plugin and install it. We put a lot of effort into making this secure and verify that the plugin is correct one. Especially we try to avoid installing the Windows plugin on Linux/macOS by accident, avoid installing the wrong plugin if we mixed them up server side, avoid installing a half downloaded plugin or an error page. This script is to help Windows administrators and we may improve it based on your feedback. How to useYou can copy and paste these commands to th…

Over the last years we had various instructions to install MBS Plugin on a FileMaker Server. Today we have a new way: an installation script macinstall.sh. This script downloads the MBS Plugin and install it. We put a lot of effort into making this secure and verify that the plugin is correct one. Especially we try to avoid installing the macOS plugin on Linux/Windows by accident, avoid installing the wrong plugin if we mixed them up server side, avoid installing a half downloaded plugin or an error page. This script is to help macOS Server administrators and we may improve it based on your feedback. How to useYou can copy and paste these commands to the Terminal shell:…

Happy New Year and Welcome Back! We’re excited to kick off a new year of Claris FileMaker LiveStreams with you all. Whether you’re a beginner or advanced developer, thank you for being part of our community. Find the LiveStream schedule here: www.FMTraining.TV [email protected] www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Over the last years we had various instructions to install MBS Plugin on a FileMaker Server. Today we have a new way: an installation script linuxinstall.sh. This script downloads the MBS Plugin and install it. We put a lot of effort into making this secure and verify that the plugin is correct one. Especially we try to avoid installing the Linux plugin on macOS/Windows by accident, avoid installing the wrong plugin if we mixed them up server side, avoid installing a half downloaded plugin or an error page. This script is to help Linux administrators and we may improve it based on your feedback. How to useYou can copy and paste these commands to the linux shell: curl -L…

Today we start with the first door of this year's MBS Advent calendar. This year, we have come up with a themed Advent calendar for you. Over the next 24 doors, you will learn how to work with SQL within a FileMaker database using MBS functions. So let's start today with the question: What is SQL in general, and what can I use it for? SQL stands for Structured Query Language and refers to a language that can be used to query, modify, create, and delete data in a relational database. SQL can be used to work with a wide variety of databases, including MySQL, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL. SQL can also be used in FileMaker. On the one hand, it allows you to …

Take a peek "under-the-hood" of the FileMaker clipboard with the free & open source FmPro Clipboard Explorer tool. David Simpson will be on the LiveStream tomorrow at 1PM Pacific demonstrating this tool! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=495661514766752980690354672953568611317873750248136845758 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. We show what is new in the MBS Plugin version 15.5: Announcement, Release Notes, New Functions. More videos FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.5 Update FileMaker MBS Plug-in Q&A FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.4 Update Make iOS Apps with the FileMaker App SDK & the MonkeyBread Plug-in FileMaker MBS Plug-in Q&A FileMaker Monkeybread P…

We asked for the audience to send in their files, and now Nick will tackle them live! We will discuss performance, UI, UX, scripting improvements, and more in this fun mini series. Day 1 starts today at 1PM Pacific, register here: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=2913817218533961339393787127949237070258584801585468836792 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. This time we had multiple topics and they cut it into nine videos: LibXL for Excel XML Functions Digital Signatures Container Rotate Image Send Email Update Plugin Apple Store Schema Tracking More videos FileMaker Monkeybread Plug-in Q&A FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.4 Update Make iOS Apps with the …

With every new release of Claris FileMaker, the question “Should I upgrade my FileMaker?” always comes up. Join us today at 1PM Pacific with Jacob Taylor to learn the pros and cons of upgrading! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=2939729500321978179620389267970113814430779067563588288657 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Vince Menanno and HOnza Koudelka join us tomorrow, at 1PM Pacific, to demonstrate how layout design can impact your FileMaker solution’s performance. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5366438444646323605001286894857925206178902699465842805809 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

In this article we want to introduce you the new functions from the MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 15.5. Schema Change With the new SchemaChange functions, you can monitor changes to the schema on the server and, when changes occur, log them in a table, for example, or send an email notification. In order for things to be changed on the server, we must activate this monitoring once with SchemaChange.Enable. With SchemaChange.Changes, we can then query the changes, which are then delivered to us as JSON. You may have a scheduled script running on the server to react to changes. The SchemaChange.TimeStamp function, which provides the last change time, is helpful h…

As you may know Americans love to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year Black Friday is 28th November. About half our customers are in North America, so we are happy to offer you a discount if you buy this weekend. Please use coupon code BlackFriday for the web shop with 20% off for new licenses of MBS Plugins, DynaPDF, Saxon and LibXL. Order MBS FileMaker Plugin Order LibXL Renewals are already offered with discount (usually 50%) compared to new purchases and and our academic prices already have a discount, too. If you like, you can email us to get an order link for all licenses you need or provide an invoice if needed. Especially if you like to…

Rick Kalman from Claris stopped by the LiveStream last week to talk about the latest Claris FileMaker Pro and Go release - 22.0.4. Check out the recording to learn more: https://youtu.be/d7zc8o9n61g [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Do you have a FileMaker Server with multiple databases? Do you like to keep track who makes changes? With FileMaker Server 21.1 the Plugin SDK got a new entry point for requesting schema changes. This provides a way for the plugin to be notified about changes to any of the databases on the server. With changes to the schema, we mean changes for these catalogs: custom function custom menu set data source extended privilege field layout privilege set script table table alias theme user account value list There may be more catalogs. Whenever one is these catalogs is touched,…

The live recording of the MBS FileMaker Plugin Presentation at the EngageU conference in Malmö, Antwerp, Belgium in November 2025. Christian summarizes what is new in the plugin for 2025. Watch on YouTube. Let us know if you have questions. The official recording from the conference will come in the next months and have a better quality for the video and audio. More conferences coming up for next year including EngageU 2026, probably in November in Malmö.

"The new open source FmPro Clipboard Explorer manages FileMaker Pro's clipboard data, easing AI-generated script import into the Script Workspace." David Simpson joins us tomorrow at 1PM Pacific to demo this free tool! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=613522345848769014699126518793897090358166123306846899904 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Kick off the week with Nick Hunter, today at 1PM Pacific, for a 3-day mini-series on the latest FileMaker AI toolkit: Perform Find by Natural Language. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=3147857856343244360048943425454407298956192726133263512790 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Introducing CWP Snippets, a way to bridge the gap between your FileMaker database and your WordPress website. Learn more with Ron Glen Cates, tomorrow at 1PM Pacific. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=3417391807086447578791612615928142544695744455960139582875 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Public Service Announcement: Before updating to the latest Operating System, verify that the new OS is fully compatible with FileMaker. Watch the video to learn more! [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

We’re going back to the basics and covering Claris FileMaker WebDirect from a Beginner view point: Friday (11/7): Overview, Planning & Licensing (Register: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4005292776304891489098392226917132152881203942450097695492) Monday (11/10): Design Basics and Strategies for Performance (Register: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4984963331399790103801937832716456592541524262647336059674) [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

As a developer, it’s nice to have some tricks up your sleeve. Join Kevin Frank tomorrow at 1PM Pacific to learn some helpful FileMaker Tips, Tricks & Hacks! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=282503497134853141078388619807912424280284051357637346980 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

If you like to remove sensitive text from a PDF file in FileMaker, you can use the DynaPDF functions. We have parser functions to find text on a page, delete the text and we can draw a black bar on top of the word. Let’s go through the script part by part. First you need to initialise DynaPDF once. This can happen early in the start script of your solution or later in the first script needing DynaPDF. Next we create a new PDF environment and open an existing PDF from a container. Then we import the first page to edit it. You could of course use DynaPDF.ImportPDFFile instead to import the whole PDF file and then later make a loop over the page…

After installing the MBS FileMaker Plugin, register it to unlock licensed features and remove the trial dialogs. There are four ways to register — pick the one that fits your workflow. Ways to register 1) Preferences dialog — manual entry (macOS & Windows) Open the MBS plugin preferences and enter the five registration fields manually: Menu to open preferences macOS: FileMaker Pro → Preferences… → Plug-Ins → MBS Plugin → Configure… Windows: Edit → Preferences… → Plug-Ins → MBS Plugin → Configure… Fill the fields like this (copy & paste each value into the corresponding field) from the email: N…

You may have a license for our MBS FileMaker Plugin, so you may be interested to use more XML features. Since FileMaker has only built-in XSLT 1.0, you may enjoy the enhancements of XSLT 3.0 with way more options. You can use the Saxon library in your projects with MBS Plugin to work on XML: XSLT 3.0 for transformations XQuery 3.1 for queries XSD 1.1 for document validation XPath 3.1 for navigation within documents See our Saxon functions in the documentation. You can get a Pro or Enterprise Validation license from us. If you implement ZUGFeRD, X-Rechnung or Factur-X for electrical invoices, you can use Saxon funct…

Wrap up your week with an open FileMaker Server Q&A with Jacob Taylor tomorrow at 1 PM Pacific! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=2292055175277459201606614769905326119428464976622283348119 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

[Full Access], the Claris FileMaker unconference, is happening this week and FMTV will be there streaming live! Tune in at 1 PM Pacific the next couple days to see what’s happening. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=1868768312048561157426345823769403715508807486614784356457 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. First there is a talk from Rick Kalman about the new standby server feature in testing. Then in our Q&A we talk about various topics including DynaPDF.WebLink function and the Events functions for creating events and reminders in your calendar. Later we use WebView functions to click buttons on a webpage. More videos FileMaker Monkeybread Plug-in Q&A FileMaker…

Learn to program AI to deliver customer-facing value with FileMaker in this 2-day event, starting tomorrow at 1PM Pacific! Richard Carlton and Todd Geist will be installing ProofChat into FM Starting Point. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=1203375388269791762235429752896937515487185575279634077533 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Did you know Claris FIleMaker 25 introduced a new technique to rebuild Found Sets? Join Nick Hunter tomorrow at 1PM Pacific to learn more! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5342338236600112354363867333281995911919208800946107603516 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Did you know that macOS 26 (and iOS 26) come with a small local LLM from Apple? Since it runs local there is no cost involved and no network access. So why not tap into this resource when available to enhance your FileMaker solution? You could use the LLM for: Generate text based on key words Summarize texts Tone editing to make some text sound more professional. Translate text With the FoundationModels functions in MBS FileMaker Plugin, you can load a model and send in requests. Let us show you a sample script: Set Variable [ $session ; Value: MBS("FoundationModels.Initialize"; "General"; "Permis…

Starting TODAY at 1PM Pacific, Nick Hunter joins us for a 2-day event on FileMaker and AI! Join us to learn how to use AI as your FileMaker development assistant. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5594979929973845877280728529303081816735953813548157730645 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Learn to fully unlock the potential of the MonkeyBread Plugin at this Open Q&A with Christian Schmitz. Join us tomorrow at 1PM Pacific and bring all your MBS questions! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=278604996305661365893724563660769978069660413867262379153 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

If you enjoyed Kevin Frank’s first set of Hacks, Tips, Tricks and Traps for the Claris FileMaker platform, we have some good news for you! Kevin Frank returns tomorrow at 1PM Pacific for more Tips and Tricks. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4712259903414522377694130965057304981623121003939816910722 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Fall into October with Nick Hunter at 1PM Pacific tomorrow for a LiveStream on FileMaker Custom Portal Sorting. Learn how to build powerful custom sorting systems using calculation fields and the GetField() function. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=6178913632030564618894122949409974799942034659026623464682 Review Us on Google: https://bit.ly/fmtrainingreview

When using DynaPDF in FileMaker with MBS FileMaker Plugin, you can set the draw mode with the DynaPDF.SetTextDrawMode function. Each mode has one of three flags set: Whether to draw the outline of the glyphs. Whether to fill the outline of the glyphs. Whether to apply the outline as clipping path. The text draw mode specifies how text should be rendered. Texts can be used as clipping paths such as normal vector graphics; however, the usage is not the same. To use a text as clipping path save the graphics state, set the text draw mode to a clipping mode, paint the objects which should be clipped into the path and restore the graphics state. …

Todd Geist returns tomorrow at 1PM Pacific for a second LiveStream. Prepare to have your mind blown as he integrates ProofChat, an AI Chat, into FM Starting Point! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5277103645346767236812383848009979615231018758919751640162 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Todd Geist joins us tomorrow at 1PM Pacific to show OttoFMS’s new built in MCP Servers. Learn how you can integrate Claude, Goose n8n and other AI powered tools! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4114019408577786491576928477446982161377737422177523043953 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

In this article we want to introduce you the new functions from the MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 15.4. Plugin In the last release, we talked about the possibility of registering FileMaker functions and script steps so that they can be used across multiple FileMaker databases. In the latest release, the functions for registering functions and script steps were added. To allow you to unregister them again, we have added the new functions Plugin.UnregisterFunction and Plugin.UnregisterScriptStep. You can now register functions to use JavaScript for the implementation. That may provide bigger performance for certain functions like processing JSON. see a…

As a FileMaker beginner, you just want your code to work but what is the next step? Join Nick Hunter tomorrow at 1 PM Pacific for a 2-day LiveStream on designing your code for performance optimization. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=3390670248117134898007179752425715105669974475361243719123 Review Us on Google: https://bit.ly/fmtrainingreview

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. We show what is new in the MBS Plugin version 15.4: Announcement, Release Notes, New Functions. More videos FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.4 Update Make iOS Apps with the FileMaker App SDK & the MonkeyBread Plug-in FileMaker MBS Plug-in Q&A FileMaker Monkeybread Plugin 15.3 Release with Christian Schmitz MonkeyBread Plug-in Open Q&A wit…

If you need to read RFID cards in your FileMaker solution, you can use the Phidgets functions in MBS FileMaker Plugin and a PhidgetRFID device. You may start with one of our examples, like the one for temperature sensors. There you load the phidget library for the platform you are on. The call for Phidget.Create is modified to pass "RFID" as device type. Then you may connect script triggers for attachment of the device and call Phidget.Open function to open a connection. Set Variable [ $$phidget ; Value: MBS( "Phidget.Create"; "RFID" ) ] Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "Phidget.SetScriptTrigger"; $$phidget; "Attach"; Get(FileName); "Attached" ) ] Set Variable…

How your data is displayed can sometimes be just as important as the data itself. Join Nick Hunter tomorrow at 1PM Pacific to learn how to reverse sort numbers in FileMaker with custom functions. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=2099016503798473243070167751415463584874008570215252841011 Review Us on Google: https://bit.ly/fmtrainingreview

Tomorrow’s LiveStream at 1PM Pacific: Jonathan Ray demonstrates how to render HTML as PDFs and insert those into FileMaker Containers! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5042825844935272710900103351933941839571055460833318657329 Review Us on Google: https://bit.ly/fmtrainingreview

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. We show you how to make an application with the FileMaker iOS SDK. This gives you a branded iOS app similar to FileMaker Go, but with your own name, icon and you can embed the MBS Plugin to run on the device. Your app can be configured to run on iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro or Mac. More videos Make iOS Apps with the FileMaker App SDK & the MonkeyBread Plug-in FileMake…

Wrap up the week with Christian Schmitz today at 1PM Pacific and learn all about the latest release of the MonkeyBread Plug-in! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=3497339787386606928281433512677594267945145635455846346506 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. We answer functions about Shell, DynaPDF and CURL functions. We use SOAP UI to parse the wsdl file for Fedex web service to learn about how to use that with CURL. Then we check XML functions, talk about mounting file sharing drives with Files.Mount and talk about various ways to insert data via SQL functions. More videos FileMaker MBS Plug-in Q&A FileMaker Monkeyb…

Join Nick Hunter tomorrow (9/10) at 1PM Pacific for a LiveStream on the importance of commenting your code. Make sure your scripts and calculations are easier to understand, maintain, and debug both now and in the future. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=618003527084019410717017311309898407246124802836260188604 Review us on Google: https://bit.ly/fmtrainingreview

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch. A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube. We check out the new plugin version 15.3: Announcement, New functions, News article. More videos FileMaker Monkeybread Plugin 15.3 Release with Christian Schmitz MonkeyBread Plug-in Open Q&A with Christian Schmitz The MonkeyBread Plug-in 15.2 Update with Christian Schmitz MonkeyBread Plug-in Open Q&A with Christian Schmitz The MonkeyBread Plu…

Did you know you can make an app for the Apple App store using FileMaker iOS App SDK (FIAS)? Join Christian Schmitz tomorrow (9/5) to learn more about how MonkeyBread can help. Register for this LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4740124821388592063401560649619763271346328231833326063734 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Which menu variation do you prefer? With MBS FileMaker Plugin 15.4 we have a feature to sort the menu for the part styles in addition to the menus for object styles. This helps people to find the style in the list by sorting them alphabetically. Not as impressive with a small menu, but once your solution grows and you have 20 or even 50 styles, this really helps!

We often need to collect data from the current found set, for example for interfacing with an API. Over the years several methods have been developed for such purpose, with differing levels of complexity. On many occasions the most convenient method to gather such data would be to use the ExecuteSQL() function. However, since SQL queries operate independently from the found set, this presents two obstacles: • reconstructing a complex find in SQL may be difficult and/or inefficient; • in some cases it is not possible to recreate the find at all since it was performed by the user - possibly even by omitting some records manually. The introduction of the Get…

You can copy and paste stuff in FileMaker: Layouts, script steps, scripts, custom functions, value lists, fields and table definitions. Each time FileMaker puts a XML on the clipboard, but you can't see it. It is kind of hidden, so FileMaker can find it for pasting. But you can't just paste it to your favorite text editor. With MBS Plugin 15.4 we change this. Our plugin monitors when FileMaker goes to back or comes to the front and updates the clipboard: If the clipboard has FileMaker's XML, we copy the XML into the text section, so you can paste it in a text editor. If the clipboard has text, which is valid XML for FileMaker, but not yet the section that F…

Have questions about the MonkeyBread Plug-in? Bring them to our Live Q&A with Christian Schmitz tomorrow (8/29) at 1PM Pacific and get them answered! Register for this LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=5596821672510236438838997538406536204005883658397647436838 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

With MBS FileMaker Plugin 15.3 we allow you to dynamically register custom function via plugin functions. Yes, make your own functions on the fly and use them in all your database files. Instead of defining custom functions in FileMaker directly and then copying & pasting them to other files, you can store them in records and register them at startup. Each function gets the following: ID It needs an unique ID which is what FileMaker internally uses to find the function. Please use an ID >= 3 and assign them yourself to the functions. Name An unique name, which doesn't match a FileMaker function or an existing cus…

Last week HOnza and Vince Menanno joined for a quick lesson on “Go to List of Records”. They both return tomorrow (8/28) at 1PM Pacific for an advanced look at the new script step. Register for this LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=6267576476932978591550071579391940020942271731265061483761 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

One day of 360Works’ MirrorSync and FM StartingPoint wasn’t enough so Jesse Barnum is returning tomorrow (8/27) to continue the conversation! Join us to learn how you can sync offline FileMaker solutions. Register for this LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=1421077929525970110963523311304743939349612646002104209874 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

Rick Kalman, from Claris, is back with more exciting Claris FileMaker 2025 news! Check out this recording to learn about the latest FileMaker Pro and Go updates. You can also read the release notes here: https://help.claris.com/en/pro-release-notes/content/index.html [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

MirrorSync from 360Works allows you to sync offline FileMaker solutions and now the MS scripts and layouts are pre-setup in FM Starting Point. All you have to do is buy a license and sync. Join Jesse Barnum tomorrow (8/22) to learn more! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=4237816003638079921512569608244313097543825304657759769246 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

HOnza and Vince Menanno join us tomorrow (8/21) for a quick lesson on the new “Go to List of Records” script step! Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=2380428552311183387876352322730974339446991906129377810219 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

“Using InspectorPro, FileMaker developers can analyze their solutions to gain insight into performance” and it is now FREE! Vince Menanno joins us today (8/19) for a two-day breakdown of InspectorPro 9. Register for the LiveStream: https://fmtraining.tv/register.php?eventid=2791064889353062958575603871484874152766413622727582322698 [email protected] www.FMTraining.TV www.FMStartingPoint.com www.rcconsulting.com

For MBS FileMaker Plugin 15.3 we added iOS support to the ListDialog functions in addition to MacOS and Windows. You can just use it anywhere in a script or calculation to have the user pick something from a list. For example you can fill the list with a text field holding all options. or you use SQL to either go over values in a table to collect them (with distinct option) or you use FileMaker_ValueLists in SQL to query a value list content. Here a small example script: Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS("ListDialog.Reset") ] Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS("ListDialog.SetPrompt"; "Please select your country:") ] Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS("ListDialog.Se…