ISO FileMaker Magazine

Making it easy for users to search for content is what your job is all about. If you're relying on FileMaker's default Query By Form method of searching, then many users may not know how to use the full functionality of FileMaker's search. This is where you, as the developer, get to control how users interact with the data. By taking advantage of both FileMaker's QuickFind and the normal Query By Form, you can implement really nice features like an easy-to-use search bar. In this video, we walk through the process of adding just such a search bar into the Custom Function database. If you're interested in learn about how you can take full control over the searching proce…

There are all kinds of methods in which you can provide visual feedback to users. You can use FileMaker's containers fields, calculation fields, and even normal text fields. There is, however, a great way to provide the visual feedback you desire by using FileMaker's Button Bar object. You gain a lot of flexibility with this method because it's so easy to copy and paste once you've put it into your solution. By using multiple segments in the button bar, and some creative use of hiding and conditional formatting, you can achieve all kinds of cool visual indications of whatever you might want to showcase. In this video, I walk through the process of adding some up/down ar…

If you've been learning and using FileMaker for any amount of time, then you'll likely know that FileMaker also has access to JavaScript. It does this through the Web Viewer object which can easily be added to any layout. For some FileMaker developer's they may answer the question of "Why don't you know/learn Javascript?" with a response of it either being too hard or not being able to take the time to learn it. It' only when FileMaker can't do what what needs to be done when some developers start to look outside of FileMaker's core set of available tools. The cool thing about JavaScript is that like many tools, it can do a variety of things better than FileMaker alone.…

FileMaker 16 introduced a new and very powerful feature. Its called Card Windows and they allow you to access a totally different context than what is currently being viewed. If you're unfamiliar with what context is in FileMaker, then to put it plainly, it's the layout being viewed, its own associated table plus all related tables connected to that layout's table occurrence. It's what the current layout can "see" in terms of accessible data. Yep, that's a bit confusing if you're not super familiar with FileMaker. But, if you are, then congratulations, you should be able to see how powerful this new feature is. The way FileMaker, Inc. has implemented Card Windows is a n…

Whether you're a hobbyist developer or a full-time professional, it's important to make sure your development environment is both stable and reliable. Unless you're in the process of learning a new environment, not that many developers are keen to spending a bunch of time re-configuring their development environment. The worst feeling in the world, while developing, is one of instability. Having that looming fear that your application or file may crash at any time is not a happy place. It's like you're constantly looking over your shoulder waiting for the next FileMaker crash. For FileMaker development, the solution to this problem is to always develop using FileMaker Se…

Whether you're a hobbyist developer or a full-time professional, it's important to make sure your development environment is both stable and reliable. Unless you're in the process of learning a new environment, not that many developers are keen to spending a bunch of time re-configuring their development environment. The worst feeling in the world, while developing, is one of instability. Having that looming fear that your application or file may crash at any time is not a happy place. It's like you're constantly looking over your shoulder waiting for the next FileMaker crash. For FileMaker development, the solution to this problem is to always develop using FileMaker Se…

When it comes time to “professionalize” your FileMaker solution, this typically includes integrating a splash screen. Even if your solution is only used internally, that extra bit of branding solidifies that mental spot of recall when a user needs to communicate which database they’re using. So what better way to say “You are here” than presenting a nice, attractive splash screen? In this video, I walk through the step-by-step process of adding a cool-looking splash screen to our ongoing project of the Custom Function database. In the process of doing so, I explain a variety of other reasons as to why I choose the method showcased in the video. It’s more than just the p…

When it comes time to “professionalize” your FileMaker solution, this typically includes integrating a splash screen. Even if your solution is only used internally, that extra bit of branding solidifies that mental spot of recall when a user needs to communicate which database they’re using. So what better way to say “You are here” than presenting a nice, attractive splash screen? In this video, I walk through the step-by-step process of adding a cool-looking splash screen to our ongoing project of the Custom Function database. In the process of doing so, I explain a variety of other reasons as to why I choose the method showcased in the video. It’s more than just the p…

Within FileMaker development, there are a variety of must-know features and methods for doing certain things. You’ll be hard pressed to find these critical bits of info within the provided help. However, these are nuances which come with the environment and really only make sense once you start to integrate them into your user interfaces. One of these “hidden” features is known as Multi-key relationships. Using multi-key relationships, you can present data within the user interface which is derived from a variety of tables. There’s really no limit on how much data you can show from however many tables you desire. The limitation is truly only your imagination about how t…

Within FileMaker development, there are a variety of must-know features and methods for doing certain things. You’ll be hard pressed to find these critical bits of info within the provided help. However, these are nuances which come with the environment and really only make sense once you start to integrate them into your user interfaces. One of these “hidden” features is known as Multi-key relationships. Using multi-key relationships, you can present data within the user interface which is derived from a variety of tables. There’s really no limit on how much data you can show from however many tables you desire. The limitation is truly only your imagination about how t…

As you see and write more and more code within any development environment, you start to view code which simply looks clean and efficient as opposed to long and inefficient. In this video, we’re taking a look at some so called FileMaker “One Liners”. These are simple snippets of code which typically only take one line in order to do something pretty cool. While the code doesn’t always take exactly one line, because FileMaker uses more than just actual code, it’s the super simple implementation which makes them so cool. Take a look at this video to see five different examples of FileMaker One Liners and see how this know-how will help you with your own FileMaker developm…

As you see and write more and more code within any development environment, you start to view code which simply looks clean and efficient as opposed to long and inefficient. In this video, we’re taking a look at some so called FileMaker “One Liners”. These are simple snippets of code which typically only take one line in order to do something pretty cool. While the code doesn’t always take exactly one line, because FileMaker uses more than just actual code, it’s the super simple implementation which makes them so cool. Take a look at this video to see five different examples of FileMaker One Liners and see how this know-how will help you with your own FileMaker developm…

Our FileMaker Custom Function database is moving along quickly as we add more user-based features. The feature being added in this part of the series is a Tags/Tagging feature where it takes the concept of a “favorite” much further. Rather than using a single field for tagging a record as a favorite, we’ll be using a join table and allowing the user to add as many different tags as desired. The implementation applies to “all users” of the database system, but could easily be modified to become a user centric tagging feature - such that each user could maintain their own set of tags and tagged records. Understanding how to implement the full suite of options for interact…

Our FileMaker Custom Function database is moving along quickly as we add more user-based features. The feature being added in this part of the series is a Tags/Tagging feature where it takes the concept of a “favorite” much further. Rather than using a single field for tagging a record as a favorite, we’ll be using a join table and allowing the user to add as many different tags as desired. The implementation applies to “all users” of the database system, but could easily be modified to become a user centric tagging feature - such that each user could maintain their own set of tags and tagged records. Understanding how to implement the full suite of options for interact…

FileMaker 16 added a variety of new features designed to support its new ability to interact with web services using JSON. One of those supporting features was the addition of more cryptographic functionality. Previously, the only native feature available was an MD5 hash. At the time of it being added, it was already out of fashion as a security based feature, but it could be used to compare two things against each other. By adding new encryption and decryption capabilities, we are now able to encrypt and decrypt data directly within the database itself. This means we can, if desired (and your security policies allow it), store things like credit cards and other sensiti…

FileMaker 16 added a variety of new features designed to support its new ability to interact with web services using JSON. One of those supporting features was the addition of more cryptographic functionality. Previously, the only native feature available was an MD5 hash. At the time of it being added, it was already out of fashion as a security based feature, but it could be used to compare two things against each other. By adding new encryption and decryption capabilities, we are now able to encrypt and decrypt data directly within the database itself. This means we can, if desired (and your security policies allow it), store things like credit cards and other sensiti…

Moving forward with the Custom Function database project, we now have the opportunity to copy and paste our groups of custom functions. The trick to accomplishing this requires a modification to the singular copy/paste being used for a single custom function. The database now needs to provide a list of functions, in the xml snippet format, to be copied to the clipboard. This is easily accomplished through the relationships and by modifying the original script. If you’ve never had the problem where you needed to copy well structured data through a few relationships, then watching this video will give you some insight in the the various possible ways and the one way which…

Moving forward with the Custom Function database project, we now have the opportunity to copy and paste our groups of custom functions. The trick to accomplishing this requires a modification to the singular copy/paste being used for a single custom function. The database now needs to provide a list of functions, in the xml snippet format, to be copied to the clipboard. This is easily accomplished through the relationships and by modifying the original script. If you’ve never had the problem where you needed to copy well structured data through a few relationships, then watching this video will give you some insight in the the various possible ways and the one way which…

Over the years, FileMaker has added, enhanced and modified various areas of the development platform. One of the areas which has seen a big transition is the way favorites are managed. If you're a long-time developer of FileMaker solutions, then one of the more recent changes in FileMaker 16 may be a bit disconcerting. The change was to how favorites are managed. In fact, they simply took out the menu option and sorta left you hanging. The "Manage favorites..." menu is no longer present within FileMaker 16. If you were used to heading to that menu item in order to reorder, add or remove favorites, then your access to the dialog was recently cut off. It was replaced a wh…

Over the years, FileMaker has added, enhanced and modified various areas of the development platform. One of the areas which has seen a big transition is the way favorites are managed. If you're a long-time developer of FileMaker solutions, then one of the more recent changes in FileMaker 16 may be a bit disconcerting. The change was to how favorites are managed. In fact, they simply took out the menu option and sorta left you hanging. The "Manage favorites..." menu is no longer present within FileMaker 16. If you were used to heading to that menu item in order to reorder, add or remove favorites, then your access to the dialog was recently cut off. It was replaced a wh…

Most everyone likes to know what's going on when something is happening. Being kept in the dark is something which causes possible anxiety and certainly a fair amount of impatience. So, it's always nice to provider your user with a little bit of status when there's some type of progress happening. Fortunately, this is a very easy thing to solve when a lot of the work is already done for you. All you need to do is wire things up within a FileMaker web viewer. Using the information within this video you can easily present your users with an indeterminate progress indicator. At least letting them know that something is happening rather than nothing. Click the title or lin…

Most everyone likes to know what's going on when something is happening. Being kept in the dark is something which causes possible anxiety and certainly a fair amount of impatience. So, it's always nice to provider your user with a little bit of status when there's some type of progress happening. Fortunately, this is a very easy thing to solve when a lot of the work is already done for you. All you need to do is wire things up within a FileMaker web viewer. Using the information within this video you can easily present your users with an indeterminate progress indicator. At least letting them know that something is happening rather than nothing. Click the title or lin…

FileMaker Pro, beyond your normal join table, offers a unique method of storing collections, or groups, of items. You can do this with what is called a multi-key field. This isn’t to be confused with a compound-key, which is a primary key composed of multiple different values. Using a multi-key field we can store a collection of custom functions within our Custom Function database. This makes it possible to start the process of collecting groups of functions together and then adding a feature so we can copy them as a group. Of course, the trick to adding any complex functionality is to make it easy for the user while staying maintainable for us as the developers. This w…

FileMaker Pro, beyond your normal join table, offers a unique method of storing collections, or groups, of items. You can do this with what is called a multi-key field. This isn’t to be confused with a compound-key, which is a primary key composed of multiple different values. Using a multi-key field we can store a collection of custom functions within our Custom Function database. This makes it possible to start the process of collecting groups of functions together and then adding a feature so we can copy them as a group. Of course, the trick to adding any complex functionality is to make it easy for the user while staying maintainable for us as the developers. This w…

There are all kinds of nice graphic tips and tricks within FileMaker and one of my most favorite is using the transparent line setting in order to create the rounded effect on multiple segment Button Bars. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

There are all kinds of nice graphic tips and tricks within FileMaker and one of my most favorite is using the transparent line setting in order to create the rounded effect on multiple segment Button Bars. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

As with visiting any new country where they speak a different language, if you can’t speak it, then it’s pretty hard to communicate. The same thing applies to intercommunication between technical systems. If you don’t take the time to learn the format being used, then you obviously won’t get very far. In this video, we take a look at processing JSON from GitHub’s API. It’s one of the last places we’re looking for FileMaker Custom functions. GitHub is a web site which hosts hundreds of thousands of code repositories. These code repositories represent many hundreds of thousands of coding hours. To not take advantage of any pre-existing resources seems a bit silly. The tri…

As with visiting any new country where they speak a different language, if you can’t speak it, then it’s pretty hard to communicate. The same thing applies to intercommunication between technical systems. If you don’t take the time to learn the format being used, then you obviously won’t get very far. In this video, we take a look at processing JSON from GitHub’s API. It’s one of the last places we’re looking for FileMaker Custom functions. GitHub is a web site which hosts hundreds of thousands of code repositories. These code repositories represent many hundreds of thousands of coding hours. To not take advantage of any pre-existing resources seems a bit silly. The tri…

Who likes spending time doing things in FileMaker Pro when you can do things faster? How about no one. That’s why this video will help you save some time when you discover the various ways you can interact with layout objects and your data. So, here’s 5 different tips which will save you some time while working in FileMaker Pro. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

Who likes spending time doing things in FileMaker Pro when you can do things faster? How about no one. That’s why this video will help you save some time when you discover the various ways you can interact with layout objects and your data. So, here’s 5 different tips which will save you some time while working in FileMaker Pro. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

Some buttons in your user interface are likely more than obvious in terms of what they do. But what about those times when they're not and it's just nice to let the user know what just happened? Using a combination of Slider panels and mutli-segment Button Bars you can provide any type of feedback you might like to show. This video presents a method for showing the user some feedback about the results of clicking a button or any other user interface action taken. Note to subscribers: If you're looking for the file, then you'll find it within the Part 11 download. The link is provided below. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full artic…

Some buttons in your user interface are likely more than obvious in terms of what they do. But what about those times when they're not and it's just nice to let the user know what just happened? Using a combination of Slider panels and mutli-segment Button Bars you can provide any type of feedback you might like to show. This video presents a method for showing the user some feedback about the results of clicking a button or any other user interface action taken. Note to subscribers: If you're looking for the file, then you'll find it within the Part 11 download. The link is provided below. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full artic…

With FileMaker’s PatternCount(), Left(), Right() and Middle() functions you can certainly extract a lot of data. The functions, however, are severely limited when it comes to matching variable patterns of data. That’s where, in the world of programming, Regular Expressions, or RegEx for short, is SUPER handy! It’s used in pretty much EVERY computing language and I don’t personally know a professional developer who can develop without it. It’s been available since the 1950’s and it’s a worthwhile tool to know for sure. Recently, I personally reduced a complex FileMaker file from three tables and close to twenty dedicated scripts, all for parsing some data, down to one ta…

With FileMaker’s PatternCount(), Left(), Right() and Middle() functions you can certainly extract a lot of data. The functions, however, are severely limited when it comes to matching variable patterns of data. That’s where, in the world of programming, Regular Expressions, or RegEx for short, is SUPER handy! It’s used in pretty much EVERY computing language and I don’t personally know a professional developer who can develop without it. It’s been available since the 1950’s and it’s a worthwhile tool to know for sure. Recently, I personally reduced a complex FileMaker file from three tables and close to twenty dedicated scripts, all for parsing some data, down to one ta…

Integrating third party APIs can be a bit daunting when you’ve never worked with them before. Fortunately, the most difficult part of the process is simply taking the time to research the API and implement the features you’d like to have. When you’re working within FileMaker, you’re often capturing content which may need to be pushed into another online location - such as Dropbox. If your FileMaker solution needs this, then adding FileMaker Dropbox integration is the way to go. With FileMaker 16, you can now use the native cURL functionality in order to directly upload a file into a designated Dropbox account. Once you’ve made the connection with Dropbox, you can pretty…

Integrating third party APIs can be a bit daunting when you’ve never worked with them before. Fortunately, the most difficult part of the process is simply taking the time to research the API and implement the features you’d like to have. When you’re working within FileMaker, you’re often capturing content which may need to be pushed into another online location - such as Dropbox. If your FileMaker solution needs this, then adding FileMaker Dropbox integration is the way to go. With FileMaker 16, you can now use the native cURL functionality in order to directly upload a file into a designated Dropbox account. Once you’ve made the connection with Dropbox, you can pretty…

This video will teach you all about using the new FileMaker 16 Card Window and show you how to take advantage of the fact that you can have a totally different position for the card window outside of the parent which where it belongs. With a bit of creative FileMaker scripting you can create some really nice features for your FileMaker database. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

This video will teach you all about using the new FileMaker 16 Card Window and show you how to take advantage of the fact that you can have a totally different position for the card window outside of the parent which where it belongs. With a bit of creative FileMaker scripting you can create some really nice features for your FileMaker database. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

While it would be wonderful if FileMaker Pro had built-in functionality for all of the features we can possibly think up, it’s not too practical. Besides, what would be left for us to develop? So, what about saving user state? Do you think you would enjoy leaving your desk for a few moments and coming back to a completely rearranged environment? I doubt it, and that’s almost exactly what FileMaker does when working within a hosted file. The most common approach to solving this problem is to simply provide a “directory like” structure. Like walking into a mall and heading to the directory map in order to find out where you can possibly go. Call it what you like, a dashbo…

While it would be wonderful if FileMaker Pro had built-in functionality for all of the features we can possibly think up, it’s not too practical. Besides, what would be left for us to develop? So, what about saving user state? Do you think you would enjoy leaving your desk for a few moments and coming back to a completely rearranged environment? I doubt it, and that’s almost exactly what FileMaker does when working within a hosted file. The most common approach to solving this problem is to simply provide a “directory like” structure. Like walking into a mall and heading to the directory map in order to find out where you can possibly go. Call it what you like, a dashbo…

On May 9th 2017 FileMaker Inc. released FileMaker version 16. This version included a big number of major features designed to support FileMaker's ability to communicate with the rest of the Internet. As a globally connected software application, FileMaker has clearly stated that it's a highly viable platform for rapid application deployment. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

On May 9th 2017 FileMaker Inc. released FileMaker version 16. This version included a big number of major features designed to support FileMaker's ability to communicate with the rest of the Internet. As a globally connected software application, FileMaker has clearly stated that it's a highly viable platform for rapid application deployment. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

The Inspector palette is your primary tool for designing your layouts. Of course, being familiar with all its various options and settings is what makes it possible for the creation of great looking layouts. This video focuses on going through the second and third tabs of the Inspector and looking at the impacts of all the various settings which control styles and themes. While the settings themselves may seem all to obvious in terms of what they do, it’s the combination of using those settings which makes the difference. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

The Inspector palette is your primary tool for designing your layouts. Of course, being familiar with all its various options and settings is what makes it possible for the creation of great looking layouts. This video focuses on going through the second and third tabs of the Inspector and looking at the impacts of all the various settings which control styles and themes. While the settings themselves may seem all to obvious in terms of what they do, it’s the combination of using those settings which makes the difference. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

If you’re new to FileMaker, or even an old hat at FileMaker development, then it’s always nice to understand how to use your own tools. In this video, I start the process of walking through the standard Inspector palette. By taking a bit of time to understand each of the unique areas of the Inspector palette, you may gain a tip or trick in terms of what you can do with this critical part of FileMaker development. Spend a few minutes to watch this video about the first of the four sections of FileMaker’s Inspector palette. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

If you’re new to FileMaker, or even an old hat at FileMaker development, then it’s always nice to understand how to use your own tools. In this video, I start the process of walking through the standard Inspector palette. By taking a bit of time to understand each of the unique areas of the Inspector palette, you may gain a tip or trick in terms of what you can do with this critical part of FileMaker development. Spend a few minutes to watch this video about the first of the four sections of FileMaker’s Inspector palette. Click the title or link to this article to view the video. View the full article

There’s an addictive quality to solving problems within FileMaker. Especially, when you wire things up to the user interface. Click the button, and what would have taken many times longer, is shortened into a few milliseconds of time. It quite literally feels like you’re a magician - at least to this developer. So, when developing a solution the other day, and needing to copy the contents of one portal over to another, I quickly came up with a solution and put it into place. Within about a half an hour, things were pretty close to how I’d like them to work. The result of that effort is now ready for you to learn from - and add yet one more tool to your arsenal. So, if y…

There’s an addictive quality to solving problems within FileMaker. Especially, when you wire things up to the user interface. Click the button, and what would have taken many times longer, is shortened into a few milliseconds of time. It quite literally feels like you’re a magician - at least to this developer. So, when developing a solution the other day, and needing to copy the contents of one portal over to another, I quickly came up with a solution and put it into place. Within about a half an hour, things were pretty close to how I’d like them to work. The result of that effort is now ready for you to learn from - and add yet one more tool to your arsenal. So, if y…

Heading back into our series on the Custom Function database, there’s always an opportunity to explore yet another area of using FileMaker to create solid solutions. This video focuses on the fact that we’re storing canonical data which we want to leverage, yet not alter. When you store data for any type of templating system or data which acts as the basis for further variations you have a number of choices in terms of how users interact with that data. For this solution we want the user to be able to easily modify the data but not the original data. Instead, giving the user their own copy allows them to keep the original and have their own custom modifications as well. …

Heading back into our series on the Custom Function database, there’s always an opportunity to explore yet another area of using FileMaker to create solid solutions. This video focuses on the fact that we’re storing canonical data which we want to leverage, yet not alter. When you store data for any type of templating system or data which acts as the basis for further variations you have a number of choices in terms of how users interact with that data. For this solution we want the user to be able to easily modify the data but not the original data. Instead, giving the user their own copy allows them to keep the original and have their own custom modifications as well. …

One of the most enjoyable things about working in FileMaker, or any development environment where looping is supported, is the pure joy of automation. Even thinking about checking off any more than a few records at a time brings me to a mental state of counting the number of seconds it takes for the single action itself, then multiplying times the number of objects I need to affect. So the question arrives. “How do I automate this?” or “How do I make this process easier for the user?”. The answer, quite simply is applying the knowledge you have about solving it. There are, however, times when you just don’t know what can be done to make it even easier. In this video, I…

One of the most enjoyable things about working in FileMaker, or any development environment where looping is supported, is the pure joy of automation. Even thinking about checking off any more than a few records at a time brings me to a mental state of counting the number of seconds it takes for the single action itself, then multiplying times the number of objects I need to affect. So the question arrives. “How do I automate this?” or “How do I make this process easier for the user?”. The answer, quite simply is applying the knowledge you have about solving it. There are, however, times when you just don’t know what can be done to make it even easier. In this video, I…

Planning out your UX (user experience) obviously requires less work on a smaller solution than it does within a larger solution. I guess that goes without saying, but no matter what solution you start working on, it will always seems to grow and expand to add new features and functionality. While you can’t always plan for what you don’t know is coming down the road, you can certainly work with what you have in front of you. Trying to prototype and account for how your solution will be used is what your primary focus should be. For the most part, this comes in two different forms. There’s the build it, then test it camp, and the get feedback/suggestions, then build it ca…

Planning out your UX (user experience) obviously requires less work on a smaller solution than it does within a larger solution. I guess that goes without saying, but no matter what solution you start working on, it will always seems to grow and expand to add new features and functionality. While you can’t always plan for what you don’t know is coming down the road, you can certainly work with what you have in front of you. Trying to prototype and account for how your solution will be used is what your primary focus should be. For the most part, this comes in two different forms. There’s the build it, then test it camp, and the get feedback/suggestions, then build it ca…

What would software be without icons? Would it be like looking at a tree without leaves? For some reason, a tree just looks more like a tree when it has leaves. Right? So, this video is about how FileMaker uses SVG icons within it’s buttons. If you’ve always wondered how to make the most of FileMaker’s support of SVG icons, then look no further. In this video I’ll show you my own personal workflow for creating and integrating icons into a FileMaker solutions. You can integrate icons into your solution in a surprisingly quick fashion if you’re willing to get familiar with a bit of node and gulp. Of course, even if you have no desired to install node.js, you may very well…

What would software be without icons? Would it be like looking at a tree without leaves? For some reason, a tree just looks more like a tree when it has leaves. Right? So, this video is about how FileMaker uses SVG icons within it’s buttons. If you’ve always wondered how to make the most of FileMaker’s support of SVG icons, then look no further. In this video I’ll show you my own personal workflow for creating and integrating icons into a FileMaker solutions. You can integrate icons into your solution in a surprisingly quick fashion if you’re willing to get familiar with a bit of node and gulp. Of course, even if you have no desired to install node.js, you may very well…

There comes a time when every great database must acquire a brand new look. This really applies if you’ve never even given your database a user interface or you’re looking to revamp the one you currently have. The best place to start, I find, is with the “primary objective” of the interface. In fact, I would argue that it’s best to focus on the number 1,2 and 3 aspects or goals of the user interface. I do this for every single layout being designed. By doing this before you start to throw fields on the layout, you afford yourself the ability to keep things simple before getting too complex. Many of the most popular products and software interfaces start out super simple.…

There comes a time when every great database must acquire a brand new look. This really applies if you’ve never even given your database a user interface or you’re looking to revamp the one you currently have. The best place to start, I find, is with the “primary objective” of the interface. In fact, I would argue that it’s best to focus on the number 1,2 and 3 aspects or goals of the user interface. I do this for every single layout being designed. By doing this before you start to throw fields on the layout, you afford yourself the ability to keep things simple before getting too complex. Many of the most popular products and software interfaces start out super simple.…

Lately, here at ISO FileMaker Magazine we’ve been covering a lot about web services and using technologies like REST, cURL and JSON. Well, that’s not about change with this video. We’re now needing to move forward with our Custom Functions database and make a connection to the web site where the custom functions are hosted. We do this with a dedicated Custom Function which takes advantage of the Base Elements plugin to make HTTP requests. With the knowledge learned in our cURL video about request & response headers, we can connect to the BrianDunning.com web site and get the id values of any new custom functions. Making this type of request means we are relying on …

Lately, here at ISO FileMaker Magazine we’ve been covering a lot about web services and using technologies like REST, cURL and JSON. Well, that’s not about change with this video. We’re now needing to move forward with our Custom Functions database and make a connection to the web site where the custom functions are hosted. We do this with a dedicated Custom Function which takes advantage of the Base Elements plugin to make HTTP requests. With the knowledge learned in our cURL video about request & response headers, we can connect to the BrianDunning.com web site and get the id values of any new custom functions. Making this type of request means we are relying on …

While FileMaker’s script step Insert from URL does allow for basic communication with web services, it is, by no means, comprehensive enough to provide all the features necessary. What’s really needed is the full cURL library. This open source tool has been available for over 15 years and is baked into a ton of software packages, including FileMaker itself. However, it’s really only exposed within plug-ins such as Base Elements and the MBS plug-in. So, in order to fully understand what going on, it’s best to start with the source. And, that’s understanding cURL itself and how options are managed and how you set and parse HTTP headers. This video walks through the proce…

While FileMaker’s script step Insert from URL does allow for basic communication with web services, it is, by no means, comprehensive enough to provide all the features necessary. What’s really needed is the full cURL library. This open source tool has been available for over 15 years and is baked into a ton of software packages, including FileMaker itself. However, it’s really only exposed within plug-ins such as Base Elements and the MBS plug-in. So, in order to fully understand what going on, it’s best to start with the source. And, that’s understanding cURL itself and how options are managed and how you set and parse HTTP headers. This video walks through the proce…

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When you know just a little part of how FileMaker works under the hood, you can come up with creative solutions to everyday problems. Take web services as an example. They use defined structures such as XML and JSON. And, when you consider that you’re using this third party defined structure and the need to mix in your own data, you want to find the easy way to solve the problem. In my case, I really like the path of least resistance. Of course, there are many ways to solve a problem. Let’s consider a FileMaker script. It can be self contained and have no dependencies on any other FileMaker elements. It can be called by another script and can be completely disassociated …

When you know just a little part of how FileMaker works under the hood, you can come up with creative solutions to everyday problems. Take web services as an example. They use defined structures such as XML and JSON. And, when you consider that you’re using this third party defined structure and the need to mix in your own data, you want to find the easy way to solve the problem. In my case, I really like the path of least resistance. Of course, there are many ways to solve a problem. Let’s consider a FileMaker script. It can be self contained and have no dependencies on any other FileMaker elements. It can be called by another script and can be completely disassociated …

As you’re probably aware, whenever a great craftsman has a project in front of themselves, they’re likely picking from not just one tool but many. What this means, in the context of FileMaker, is that you can’t just stop with using FileMaker alone. There are many times when it makes more sense, or will net bigger benefits, when you go outside of FileMaker. The trick is this, you don’t necessarily need to go too far outside of FileMaker to accomplish some amazing things. Right within FileMaker is the Web Viewer object with direct access to JavaScript and just a little beyond that are plug-ins which can access pretty much anything else you could ever want. On the Macintos…

As you’re probably aware, whenever a great craftsman has a project in front of themselves, they’re likely picking from not just one tool but many. What this means, in the context of FileMaker, is that you can’t just stop with using FileMaker alone. There are many times when it makes more sense, or will net bigger benefits, when you go outside of FileMaker. The trick is this, you don’t necessarily need to go too far outside of FileMaker to accomplish some amazing things. Right within FileMaker is the Web Viewer object with direct access to JavaScript and just a little beyond that are plug-ins which can access pretty much anything else you could ever want. On the Macintos…

In the world of software development, you’re basically taking things apart. Adding data here, taking away data there and remixing things. Simply put, it’s all just a matter of how the data needs to be presented to those who wish to see it. In the first video in this series, we did the data collection and now we need to do something with that data. In most cases, you’re typically going to be parsing data if it’s not in a format ready to be stored. So, we need to parse the custom functions and their details from their source. We’d like to store them in a format which will meet our own objectives. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to parse data. When it comes to nati…

In the world of software development, you’re basically taking things apart. Adding data here, taking away data there and remixing things. Simply put, it’s all just a matter of how the data needs to be presented to those who wish to see it. In the first video in this series, we did the data collection and now we need to do something with that data. In most cases, you’re typically going to be parsing data if it’s not in a format ready to be stored. So, we need to parse the custom functions and their details from their source. We’d like to store them in a format which will meet our own objectives. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to parse data. When it comes to nati…

Developing software is simply a matter of solving a problem by organizing and collecting data in a manner which makes the data useful to the end user. So, we’re just a bunch of data organizers and presenters. One of the biggest benefits to a software developer is their known resources. There are tons of resources available to us every day. Sometimes, it’s a matter of knowing where those resources are and others it’s a matter of taking advantage of what we already have. In this video, I start a brand new project which will be a Custom Function database. Along the way, while coding the solution, we’ll be taking a look at a lot of features present within the current FileMa…

Developing software is simply a matter of solving a problem by organizing and collecting data in a manner which makes the data useful to the end user. So, we’re just a bunch of data organizers and presenters. One of the biggest benefits to a software developer is their known resources. There are tons of resources available to us every day. Sometimes, it’s a matter of knowing where those resources are and others it’s a matter of taking advantage of what we already have. In this video, I start a brand new project which will be a Custom Function database. Along the way, while coding the solution, we’ll be taking a look at a lot of features present within the current FileMa…

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No Access? Watch the preview video here. UltimateValueLists_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size UltimateValueListControl.zip 279.84 KB By Matt Petrowsky People like to have things their own preferred way. Wasn't there some slogan for 40 years somewhere that said "Have it your way."? If people - developers in particular - can control the output, then life is good. Within FileMaker, value lists are one of those areas where you may feel like you simply don't have the amount of control you should have. It's neither obvious nor inherently possible to control the order in which values are presented in anything other than an explicit value list. You know, the one where …

No Access? Watch the preview video here. MardownWebviewers_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size MarkdownWebViewers.zip 307.67 KB By Matt Petrowsky It certainly would be interesting to know if more information is consumed via plain text in email, text messaging and e-books like PDFs and Kindle or via HTML on the web. Of course, the format for the information doesn't matter as much as the content, but it sure is nice to be able to easily support a plain text format which easily integrates with the web's ubiquitous HTML. This is why Markdown was created. Markdown, if you don't already know about, and use it, is a markup format which allows for converting plain text,…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. WebViewerCropping_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size WebViewerCropping.zip 254.51 KB By Matt Petrowsky When it comes to solving problems within FileMaker, there's nothing quite so satisfying as visually seeing the result of a cool technique. Especially if it includes a picture of yourself! Ok, vanity aside, this video and its technique file are just such a solution I had an immediate need, and put the technique to the test. It was all about collecting a variety of images from all kinds of different sources and making their presentation unified. Images were emailed to me which came from cell phones, high quality DSLR camer…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. StartupSecurity_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size StartupSecurity.zip 142.04 KB By Matt Petrowsky Security is something of increasing concern these days - seriously! It seems as if we can't have a solid week pass by without hearing about some kind of significant breach. While web security has its own issues to think about, you can't just ignore your FileMaker databases. It may seem all too easy to simply assume that FileMaker is a "low risk target" and just "hope" things are secured. In fact, it turns out that FileMaker's initial server setup is a bit insecure - at least if certain plug-ins are installed to the server wi…

", "forceHTML5": true, "forceSSL":true}' class="video-js vjs-default-skin" width="640" height="360" controls="controls" preload="auto"> DynamicContent_Full.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky FileMaker Pro is such a wonderful environment for being able to rapidly create software which is extremely powerful and functional. The fact that the database is just there, built-in and available saves an enormous amount of time over other environments. This applies to many aspects of the environment. When you combine the ability to interact with the world’s greatest source of information distribution, the Internet, then wonderful things can happen within your solution. In this…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. WebServices_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size WebServices2.zip 157.08 KB By Matt Petrowsky The Internet has definitely changed the world we live in and how people interact with information. Your own FileMaker solution may seem like an island until you throw a web viewer onto the layout. As soon as you do that, you're thinking about how much easier it would be if you could just "click a button" to interact with the web site being viewed. Fortunately, in today's Internet world, the interconnection of things is extremely pervasive. There aren't too many solutions which don't provide some type of API where you can connect w…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. PortalNavConsistency_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size PortalNavigationConsistency2.zip 139.66 KB By Matt Petrowsky Using portals, for the purpose of record navigation, have their downsides. The most obvious of these, is the fact that portals reset when moving from one record to the next. This can be disconcerting to the user who is familiar with user interfaces which do not "reset" your sidebar and seemingly adjust your selection. In 2011 I showcased a solution to this problem called Portal Navigation Consistency. With the release of FileMaker 12 and higher, the functionality previously covered had broken. Not only th…

", "forceHTML5": true, "forceSSL":true}' class="video-js vjs-default-skin" width="640" height="360" controls="controls" preload="auto"> OffscreenTricks_Full.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky FileMaker 12 introduced a totally new landscape for layout design. Along with the new way in which objects are represented, was the new way in which a layout was defined. We now have this offscreen area of a layout. It's a convenient "storage area" of sorts. Where you can store "in progress" layout elements and documentation. It doesn't stop there, however. You can include a lot of things which contribute to the actual logic of how your FileMaker solution functions. Take layout…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. ContextualMenuExecution_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size ContextualMenuExecution.zip 153.54 KB By Matt Petrowsky One of FileMaker's biggest strengths for working with outside web services, as well as your own data, is the convenient Web Viewer. This one layout object allows you to reach outside of your database and reference anything out on the Internet. My personal subscriber's database for managing this very web site uses a number of dedicated web viewers within a multi-pane tab panel. The most useful aspects of web viewers is being able to either pull information out of them, via the GetLayoutObjectAttribute() funct…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. SublimeAudit_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size SublimeAudit1.0.zip 216.05 KB By Matt Petrowsky Over my many years of FileMaker Pro development, I’ve often heard the following, “Why can’t they just build that feature in?”. This type of request pretty much applies to everything you can think of. I can even recall wishing personally that simply flipping a switch for automatic audit logging would be nice. While having that wish come true would still be a nice convenience, it would take away from the learning and understanding one can have when implementing such a feature. It may also rob us of the flexibility we so often en…

", "forceHTML5": true, "forceSSL":true}' class="video-js vjs-default-skin" width="640" height="360" controls="controls" preload="auto"> IntegrateEasySync_Full.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky Having recently arrived at the need for a syncing solution for a pro bono database, my options were pretty much limited to “create your own” or use what’s free. It turns out that FMEasySync, from Tim Dietrich, is very robust and powerful syncing solution. In fact, it was awarded the FileMaker Excellence Award for FBA Development of the Year in 2014 by FileMaker, Inc. It has also been integrated into a few of FileMaker’s own solutions, such as the Devcon Speaker Proposal databa…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. DeveloperTipsTimeSavers_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size Syntax.zip 105.68 KB By Matt Petrowsky When you spend a lot of time developing in one specific environment, you tend to pick up your own “way of doing things”. This applies to pretty much every developer and everyone has their own suite of favorite tools. Because I’m asked this question often enough, I’m providing you with this video about the tools and tips I use which make my development experience with FileMaker just a bit more enjoyable. If you’ve found a workflow, plug-in or tool which you enjoy using, then please leave a comment on this article’s page. If …

No Access? Watch the preview video here. PopoverPower_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size PopoverPower.zip 231.91 KB By Matt Petrowsky Have you discovered the big advantages of FileMaker’s Popover objects? Not using FileMaker 13 yet? This video may have all the reasons why you should switch as quickly as possible. In this video, I showcase how simply powerful a Popover button can be. I was deciding whether I should call the video and file “Single Step Coding” because so many of the objects within the popover only use one single script step. I decided, however, that what I was really showing was how much power you get when you pack a lot of functionality within a …

", "forceHTML5": true, "forceSSL":true}' class="video-js vjs-default-skin" width="640" height="360" controls="controls" preload="auto"> CreativeLayouts_Full.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky When first starting to use FileMaker, the templates you’re exposed to may impose certain conceptual limits on how you use the various areas of FileMaker Pro. Take layouts for example, you use a form view to enter data and list view to view a list of options you can choose from. There are, however, aspects of each of these areas within the application that lend themselves to abstracted uses. While List View may be used most of the time for viewing a list of data, this isn’t forc…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. UserInterfaceAutomation_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size ISOSnippetsTool.zip 93.23 KB By Matt Petrowsky Personally, I’m all about the time-savings. I think most people are. If I can accomplish anything, without sacrificing quality, in a shorter period of time I’ll take it! Well, this video is going to be worth its weight in gold if you’ve spent any amount of time within FileMaker’s Layout mode doing a ton of repetitious tasks working with layout objects. You see, FileMaker is a very powerful tool, but, it does have its own shortcomings. It suffers from a serious degree of “dialogitis”. You often have to drill down thro…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. UserSpecificPrivileges_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size UserSpecificPrivileges.zip 280.08 KB By Matt Petrowsky When was the last time you used FileMaker's Extended Privileges? Never? Well, how about taking advantage of them in such a way that you gain a double level of control over individual user-based privileges. Using one single privilege set, it's possible to control which specific users can view, edit or delete records from your database. You can also turn off, or on, a specific privilege such as editing an invoice for a whole group of users or one specific user. It's already hard enough to figure out how to make …

", "forceHTML5": true, "forceSSL":true}' class="video-js vjs-default-skin" width="640" height="360" controls="controls" preload="auto"> SearchFeatureScripting_Full.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky What FileMaker developer wants their solution to be so difficult to use that it causes users not to want to use it? My guess, not a one. So, the first general order of business, beyond your schema, may be adding many of those familiar features which users have already come to expect from any nice software package. When it comes to features, some type of easy-to-use search feature is most likely at the top of the list. The trick is making it work and feel like all the oth…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. FamiliesGroupsPeople_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size CubScouts.zip 287.4 KB By Matt Petrowsky When first learning structure and schema within any development environment, including FileMaker, the question of “Am I doing this the right way?” always seems rear its ugly head. The answer to that question, however, is not “Yes” or “No” but the more frustrating “It depends”. The reason for this ambiguous response is that the needs of the solution often dictate how it should be structured. True, there are common pitfalls which should be avoided when planning out the structure of your database. Also, understanding fundamentals…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. OneSingleDesign_Pre.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky FileMaker Server attempts to provide the holy grail of software development. That is, code once and run universally. For the most part, it accomplishes this pretty well. At least when it comes to looks. Of course, there's always some type of trade off somewhere. With Web Direct, you don't control the output. FileMaker Server does. You can't add in your own JavaScript, sprite images and many of the other whiz bang features you find on modern day browser-based software sites. You also can't expect too much from Web Direct in terms of scalability - at least, not yet. However, what…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. DataTypeDetection_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size DataTypeDetection.zip 255.77 KB By Matt Petrowsky Learning how to create an efficient FileMaker database requires multiple disciplines. How to efficiently store data, how to present data, how to optimize for performance and other similar objectives such as readable code and ongoing maintenance. Much of what you know now will evolve with what you learn as your solution grows. I’m often saying it’s important to know that how you store data may be much different than how you present and interact with that same data. It really all depends on the solution objectives. A datab…

", "forceHTML5": true, "forceSSL":true}' class="video-js vjs-default-skin" width="640" height="360" controls="controls" preload="auto"> SolutionNavigation_Full.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky Every profession has tips, tricks and tools for getting things done. The same holds true for FileMaker Pro. Over my many years of development, I’ve created a variety of tools and methods for making things easier on myself. One of those methods is to use FileMaker itself to manage navigation within my FileMaker solutions. This video is about a tool which I use that handles the display and opening of layouts within a FileMaker solution. In fact, it can quite easily handle the …

No Access? Watch the preview video here. HoverPopovers_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size HoverPopovers.zip 160.68 KB By Matt Petrowsky It's great to be able to build all kinds of things within FileMaker. It's those few times when you find yourself saying "I wish FileMaker could just do such and such". Of course, once you come to the point where you realize that FileMaker has access to all these other great technologies, you find yourself saying "I wonder how", instead of "I wish". Along the way, someone comes upon some discovery which allows you to do more with FileMaker than was previously known. Sometimes, using a hack that the programmers of FileMaker never …

No Access? Watch the preview video here. DefensiveCoding_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size DefensiveCodingObjects.zip 160.14 KB By Matt Petrowsky In the world of programming, the notion of code which breaks, especially as a solution grows and is used by an every increasing number of people, is known as 'software brittleness'. This is, obviously, something you don't want within your FileMaker solution. What's cool about FileMaker is the fact that, by itself, the software is quite robust and flexible. You can easily develop a solution in an evolutionary way. As you learn new skills, and ways of doing things, your solution can accommodate these changes by allowing…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. SortingDataFast_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size SortingDataSuperFast.zip 319.53 KB By Matt Petrowsky Inside of FileMaker is one of the most powerful engines you could ever hope for. It's not even the native FileMaker calculation engine. It has almost two decades of optimization applied to it, and much of the world's most popular software takes full advantage of it. It's JavaScript - and you have access to it. If you don't (yet) know JavaScript then you can't say "Oh, I just do FileMaker". Because doing so is the same as saying "Oh, I don't really care about solution speed." In this video article and technique file, yo…

", "forceHTML5": true, "forceSSL":true}' class="video-js vjs-default-skin" width="640" height="360" controls="controls" preload="auto"> ScriptTriggers_Full.mp4 By Matt Petrowsky FileMaker's Script Triggers can be seen as either a big help or a big hindrance. It really depends on what your experience is with them and how you've created your solutions. If you've never really worked with Script Triggers, then you're missing a big key to the automation puzzle. If you've used them, but found they get in the way more than help, then you need this video. If you've found that sweet spot of using them and not being discouraged by their idiosyncrasies, then take a…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. PerformanceBenchmarking_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size PerformanceBenchmarking.zip 272.1 KB By Matt Petrowsky Imagine driving your car without a speedometer. You still know there are laws where a ticket will cost you if you drive over a certain speed. You need information. You need to know how fast you're going. Now flip that around for FileMaker and what you need to know is how slow your scripts are running. When it comes to creating your FileMaker solution, in particular your scripts, in many cases, you don't know how fast they're running. You just know it "takes some time", and the general approach may be "Well, it…

No Access? Watch the preview video here. JumpingSubSummary_Pre.mp4 Attachment Size JumpingSub-summaryListViews.zip 184.55 KB By Matt Petrowsky User navigation is one of the most fundamentally obvious features of any software solution. How easy this navigation is, is often a mix of the platform/device being used, the process flow, and what the developer knows about providing navigation based features within FileMaker. As well, one of the most exhilarating things about developing a clean feature within your database is knowing it's a low-impact, high value feature. Something which makes life easier for users and adds that little bit of extra "coolness" …