Lisa M.

Update: that did it 😉. Thank you again for another fabulous solution!

Yes, I’ve seen the one possible flaw you mention; that’s just a user training issue. the entire thing is trying to be a directory for say a small office (since not everyone uses a PBX phone system with the same settings (extension length, extension start digit) or even uses a PBX (say everyone communicates using IM, or work issued cell phones the entire extension concept would be useless in that scenario thus the ability to turn extensions off in application preferences)

Hello: here's what I've got: 1) a table (AppPrefs) with 1 single record with the Fields "IsUsingExt", "G_IsUsingExt", "ExtStart", "G_ExtStart", "UserDigits", and "G_UserDigits" the "G_" variants are global fields that get their values from from their non-global counterparts. 2) A Layout based on (AppPrefs) with 3 fields that use the non-global variants of the fields; the fields are "Are You Using Extensions" (yes or no from a value list), "What digit should all extensions start with" (PopupMenu from value list with custom values of the digits 0-9 called "digits"), and "How many digits should an an extension contain AFTER the start digit?" (again same settings as the start digit setting above). 3) three variables defined in my startup script $$IsUsingExt, $$ExtStart, and $$UserNumber that represent the three fields identified above that are pulling the global fields as expected My objective is for that these preferences should be set one time and take effect everywhere and here's how: 1) each person record contains an extension field. Based on the preference for "Are you using extensions" the extension field should either be required or not 2) based on the extension start digit and number of digits after start digit values the extension field should populate (if start digit is 2 and user number is 3 then simply entering 123 would result in 2123) thus you put in X digits (all the way up to 9 and the system adds the leading digit Y on commit. If the field doesn't meet these criteria (using the same example as above but this time entering 12, then get an error) 3) if the "Are you using extensions" is set to "No" then none of it really matters and it should be allowed to be blank. When I look at the data viewer, all the variables populate like they should, when I enter a new extension based on the settings I specified in preferences (start digit is 2 and user number is 3, using extensions is "Yes") then click out the field tries to populate with 8 plus whatever I entered rather than start digit plus whatever I entered it's set to auto-enter calculation with the formula being PersonExt= AppPrefs::G_ExtStart & PersonExt So the question is how do I make this work the way I want (if extensions are set to "Yes" then they should be whatever is entered proceeding by the start digit. Whatever is entered should have a length no less than or no greater than the value for user digits also extensions should be unique. if extensions are set to "No" then it's OK to leave it blank but don't allow any value in the field for the anyone's extension. Thanks for any help on this one!

That is exactly what I’m doing. In the meantime. Right now everything works under the current windows 11, however shed something blowup in my face as it often does then I can fall back to running FM 12 and applications as such in a virtual machine. If I wanted to sell my solutions then Clearly, this would not be the way to go as who would want to pay for a separate VMWare Workstation License, which vmware is my preferred virtualization platform of choice.

Well, I’m currently on 12 and that’s mostly a desktop app solution

Hi, I’m still working in 12 as I’m very slow to upgrade or make changes for medical reasons. The next FM update I’m planning on making is vista or 7 but just like my OS choices for medical reasons (My systems only go that far as 7) Thus this is where I am. I understand my concerns are regarding now-outdated technology; but I’m not the only one

According to the FileMaker Documentation, if I provide certain legal warnings about removal of admin rights, presence of passwords only I know, etc. they will not assist customers in recovering files in its on a layout called “About” my question is as follows: 1) can I place my contact info elsewhere (e.g. in a tab called “Support Information” and thus modify the language in the warning to read “…Author listed in the Support Information tab…”? 2) What is FMI’s process for recovering damaged files? Is it any different than just using the “Recover” option in the menus?

Hello: I want to ensure that my stand-alone runtime solutions are protected from software piracy, rather than trying to make a serial checking algorithm myself, I have a software protection system that wraps my runtime EXE in a shell that then keeps track of the trial limits and handles entering of registration keys. My questions are as follows: 1) my software protection system can protect a handful (literally 5) of “Additional files” (namely *.dll, *.ocx, *.exe); which files that get created with my runtime app should I add to the additional files area if any at all, should just protecting the runtime EXE be ok? 2) to allow mac users to try my solution using FileMaker on Mac or FileMaker Go on mobile (or if they want to test in a networked environment) what kind of barriers can I place within my file itself to make the demo unsuitable for production use (e.g. record limits without the presence of a separate key file, auto-delete all records on exit, etc.) and how would I implement those to allow for evaluation in a network environment or on mobile? thanks again for the help

Hi: I understand that Runtime Solutions are designed to be single-user, but could a runtime solution be deployed on a Windows Terminal Server and there be no ill effects, or would the thing just refuse to run under such conditions? I know that when I installed my copy of FileMaker Advanced 12 on a terminal server; it didn’t like that too much as apparently my key isn’t enabled for that. So would a runtime app also complain?

Hi everyone: given that a runtime app is a stripped-down fileMaker with just enough FileMaker to make the thing go; I would assume that just the runtime environment and the data file’s minimum system requirements would be very similar to if not slightly less than the System Requirements For The Full FileMaker Pro 12 or 12 Advanced applications as stated by Claris/FileMaker does anyone have an idea as to if the requirements are less than, greater than, or equal to those linked above? If the minimum requirements for runtime apps differ in any significant way; please specify how they differ. thanks for the help

I really appreciate your help 🙂 thanks! Edit: here's the little blurb I placed in my help file about record locking: " If you are using this product in a networked environment via either FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Advanced, or FileMaker Server; many people can be looking at the same data at the same time, but only one person can be actively making changes. This is not a bug of our product or the FileMaker platform, this is a feature called Record Locking; and its purpose is to ensure data integrity. The FileMaker database platform uses what's called a pessimistic concurrency model meaning that once a user has begun to edit a record, that user has exclusive control of that record and no one else can edit it until the first person commits the record; however, many people can view the record. Find below an example of how pessimistic concurrency works: Background: Let's say that we were working at a bank and a customer (let's call him John for the sake of example) and his wife (let's call her Susan for example) were both at separate teller windows trying to make changes to the same joint account (in this case let's say moving $20 from the joint account to their personal account). Before either of them get to the teller window, the account has say $100. Scenario 1 (Pessimistic Locking): John is called up first and asks for the balance of the joint account ($100) then he decides he wants to move $20 to his personal account. The teller makes the transaction. In the meantime, Susan is also called up to speak to the next available teller and says that she wants to make the same transaction; however, the teller helping Susan cannot make the change until the teller helping John commits their changes. All the teller helping Susan can do is just look at the current state of the account. Scenario 2 (Optimistic Locking): Let's use the same example and the same events as above; but this time, assume that the teller helping Susan can make the requested change before the Teller helping John has a chance to commit the record: the teller helping Susan would commit first and the teller helping John might lose their data depending on how the particular database is set up. Scenario 3 (No Locking): Let's assume that all of the scenario and background was the same from scenario 1 but this time John makes his transfer and the teller does not commit thus the balance is still showing $100), Susan's teller makes her transfer (the account shows a balance of $100 when it should show a balance of $80). At the end of the day, record locking no matter what form it takes is designed to prevent two or more users from being in the same place at the same time making changes on the same record. Think of it like a runway; only one plane can be on the runway at any given time (all of us can watch as the one plane takes off, but there will only ever be only one plane on that runway at any given time)."

Hi, I’m curious how record locking is handled in FileMaker 12 (optimistic concurrency or pessimistic concurrency) thus i can put it in my help documentation thanks again for the help

That was it... That fixed me 🙂 at least as far is integrating my *.chm into it! I simply get the location of the executable (either the FileMaker runtime or the full FileMaker app) and prepend "file://" and then tack on "h360.chm" to the end (the url used to construct the path is: [code]"file://" & $$dblocation & "h360.chm"[/code]) where $$dblocation is a global variable set at startup to grab the above mentioned executable path) where $$dblocation returns as follows: /C:/Project/ thus that whole calculated URL would return "file:///C:/Project/h360.chm" which is exactly what the open URL script step needs! againm I cannot thank you enough!

so sorry for the late reply; been dealing with some personal issues lately. Great news is that was it... that fixed me 🙂 You are an absolute rockstar!

Hi: My dialog looks like this:

I will check this the next time I’m at the computer and I’ll post it back here how that dialog is set up

Hello: I've created custom menus one of which either About my App or Quit. I inserted my custom Quit Option and the default Exit shows up. How do I fix this? Screen 01: Menu W/ 2 options to quit. I'd much prefer to have the First option (Quit Hologram 360) as the one and only way to quit the application Screen 02: Menu as it is defined under File > Manage > Custom Menus. Any Idea why on Earth I'm getting a double Quit menu item and how to get rid of the one I don't want?

Hi Again Everyone: I've got a custom help file (*.chm) for windows that I would like to appear when the user clicks on a custom emu item. Is that at all possible? Also along the same line of questioning I've got a custom "About" layout that I'd like to have launch in the runtime app when the user clicks on Help > About. Any ideas on how to do these things?

So here's the situation I'm in: 1) got several custom menus 2) while in a report, I click on Action > Print, Preview, or Send to External Application, the script runs but the tool buttons for "Excel", "PDF", "Print" and "Print Setup" are all grayed out even with equivalent options in the Action menu. Note that this only happens with the default user (Hologram), and not the Admin user. Screen 01: Gray Toolbars For end-user Screen 02: No Gray Bars For Admin The script that calls the Print, Preview, or Export menu item looks like this: Screen 03: Script to Go Preview Mode, then wait for user action The default user has permission to print and export, the default has read, create, an delete rights on all relevant fields. Screen 04: Previlege Set for Default User (Hologram) in group (Hologram 360 Users) Did I miss something at oh dark 30 while I was making this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks 🙂 I'll give that a shot as soon as I get to it. Right now I'm kind of playing "Let's see how this works... in a lab with Mac OS 9 right now so fun times!

Hi All: So, I'm back in FileMaker 12 once again to make yet another database and I think I've gotten my wires crossed a bit. What I'd like to do is create a troubleshooting system as follows: First select a problem type (iPhone/iPad Issues) and hit next select a subtype (Accessibility). If the problem isn't listed in the first screen of radio buttons, show a "It's Something Else" radio button to show even more radio buttons with first level choices (if there truly is that many choices in the first-level problems table). loop through the first two until the most specific problem definition possible has been arrived at (Example: iPhone/iPad Problem > Settings > Accessibility > Vision > VoiceOver > Speech > Customer wants to change the voice used by VoiceOver) display a brief text explanation of where we are thus far, and offer possible solutions based on the previous selections that are now known about the problem (example: Changing the voice used by VooiceOver allows one more level of customization to your iPhone or iPad, I'll walk you through how to do it) once a solution is clicked display information about the solution in a setp-by-step wizard fashion (example: "go to your home screen then open settings." or "Ask Siri to Open VoiceOver Settings.") then when you hit "next" based on the route the customer took either explain where the voice selection is one screen or so at a time. or if they're already there just explain where that setting is) once you're all out of steps ask if that fixed the problem, if yes start over, if no, show more possible solutions until we run out of possible solutions to try. if at any time we need to go back, know where we came from thus clicking "Back" will always bring us back to the previous screen. if the user clicks "Start Over" then clear out all we know about the problem and start "from the top" Wht My Databse Looks Like Now: Global Table G_ProblemTypeID G_NextProblemTypeID G_PrevProblemTypeID ProblemTypeTable (Major and Minor Problem Types) (Major Problem Types are the top-level problems (like iPhone/iPad Issue, email Issue, etc.) while "Minor Problem types" are the more granular issues) _PK_ProblemTypeID (AutoEnter Serial Prohibit Modification) ProblemTypeDesc ProblemText LocalActions (These are the prompts for the agent on the receiving side of the call or chat) _PK_LocalActionID __FK_RemoteActionID (one local action can be called upon by many different remote Actions) LocalAction RemoteActions (These are the steps the user (the person initiating the interaction takes) _PK_RemoteActionID RemotteActionName ActionText What's gone wrong: I seem to have forgotten how to do the whole "one problem can have many sub-problems" relationship without creating totally new table else I'd be making tables for days depending on how deep I wanted to go with problems, steps to solve them, etc. Basically my objective is to make everything I know into a "Conversational" troubleshooter then give it to my friends who also do "family tech support" thus guiding them to the right solution regardless of how broad the person needing help's initial definition of the problem is (so long as the description isn't "it's broken" or "it's not working right") and guiding the person needing help on how to perform the actions needed to accomplish it while keeping both sides of the call "on track" resolving one problem at a time and ensuring that no step or process is left behind. The prompts are not meant to be a "read this exactly as it's written" type of affair but more so "this is how I would word it, feel free to make it your own" thus the person giving help doesn't sound like one of those IVR automated troubleshooters like you'd typically run into when calling your ISP. At some point I'd like to even include pictures on each step thus the person doing the troubleshooting can see what the person requesting help's screen should look like. Again maybe my brain is fried, maybe I need to go back to "FileMaker Essentials class", maybe my dreams are just too ambitious, but I'm trying to help my friends out here considering it's the holiday season and goodness only knows what questions the family might have about their "shiny new toys"... Anyhow, I'm hoping that someone has a few ideas to help get me back on the right track in building this thing.

Then I'll need to restart on my collection (training DVDs, physical boxed copies of software, etc.) after I complete the v.12 collection (If I ever do)... I'm not necessarily in the mood to start that all over again 😞 (at least at this time... I've already got enough going on in my personal life and with other health issues... so, I'll definitely look into it) but I'll definitely try some of the newer versions in

Yes, I am still on v12. There really are a few reasons as follows: 1) I don't do change all that well (if it ain't broke, why fix it?); plus internally some of my medical apps still run on Windows Server 2003/2008 and SQL 2005 but those are all isolated in virtual machines that are backed up regularly. If I'm in a Windows environment, server 2003/2003 R2, or 2008 (no 2008 R2 and beyond however); client side, I prefer Windows XP, Vista I'll tolerate, and 7 is the newest I'll go. If I'm in a mac environment, anything goes. Same for office... I was for the last 13 years running office 2003 (as it was the last version with the classic menu bars and none of this ribbon shenanigans), finally I moved to office 2007 last year due to changes in OneNote, and finally to office 2010 due to updates in OneNote, Word, and Outlook. In short, I don't move "when I'm told", I move when and if I need it. The same goes for my FileMaker deploys. Since XP is the minimum Windows client OS I'll support; if it doesn't run on XP, I'm not going anywhere near it. 2) As I plan to make technology demonstrations available to the general public, FileMaker 12 Advanced was one of the last versions to support creating stand-alone runtime applications for those who don't have FileMaker but still need to interact with the database. 3) I've spent the last 3 or so years collecting all manner of things relating to FileMaker 12 (training DVDs, physical boxed copies of software (I'm currently missing 12 Advanced as a physical boxed product and 12 Server Advanced as a physical boxed product), Digital licenses for the 12.x series products, time spent learning it, etc.) you name it... if it's v12 related, I'll probably buy it. In short, I've got to justify my investment somehow... put a mission critical app that is is needed to keep me alive and functioning properly that needs a database on it... why not?! plus target the lowest common point of all my technology... the OS. Going back to point #1 on that list, FileMaker 12 still runs fine on my Windows 11 laptop so why change it? Yes, I still have some modernity in my life (e.g. Apple iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad Pro 12.9" communication tablet, Windows 11 pro on my laptop (I only run VMware Workstation 16, office 2010, FireFox, FileMaker, and Evidence Sync (the software that interfaces with my body-worn camera) on windows 11... all else, put me back to a simpler time please), the sims 3, unreal tournament 2004, gmail, reddit, Axon Body 2 body-worn camera, etc.) so I'm not a total old curmudgeon... but I can say "Back in my day...". I know, I'm showing my age every time I reminisce about "the good 'ol days" but there you go! Yes, I'm still on 12, and that's the reasons why exactly I'm still on 12. Hope it somewhat maker sense.