Killer ValuesWalk Custom Function

Discovering ways to make software faster and more efficient brings a great amount of joy to developers. The reason behind this is simple: with enough experience, you come to realize that straightforward and simple code is much easier to maintain than complex and hard-to-maintain code. Self-contained code with fewer dependencies is both easier to understand and refactor.

In this video, I share one of my all-time favorite functions in Claris/FileMaker development, the Custom Function named CustomList. Although this function has served me well, it has now been surpassed in terms of speed and optimization by a newer method - the ValuesWalk function. This video demonstrates how you can utilize FileMaker's calculation engine to calculate the results you need and then seamlessly display those results within your user interface using the ValuesWalk function.

Moreover, the ValuesWalk custom function extends far beyond the simple use case presented. It can be employed to process any type of data, from generating ad-hoc delimited text files to processing simple lists. The ValuesWalk function is absolutely a valuable tool that every developer should be familiar with. With built-in performance testing, you can determine the optimal chunk size for processing the data you are working with. This knowledge is essential for advanced Claris/FileMaker development and is a must-know piece of information for developers aiming to optimize their solutions.

Click the title or link to this article to view the video.

View the full article