help? for a novice

[Keith M. Davie]

If I might be allowed a slight ramble.

For the people who come to these forums on FMP, the web and cdml, most are fairly new / brand new to the publishing of FileMaker. Many have just developed their first FileMaker solution and are looking to custom publish. There are many learning curves ahead.

One that often goes unaddressed is the learning curve of what it means to be a FileMaker developer, for that is what we are (or become) when we undertake these tasks. There are many parts of the struggle, learning html if you don't know it, or learning how to use an html editing application. Then there is learning the cdml, or for some the Lasso ldml; for either it is necessary to learn how these tags interact with FileMaker and with format files. And for the truly ambitious is the language JavaScript.

And how good are our skills with the development of the calculations and relationships of the db files? And what do we really do about those scripts and their related problems? Are those problems real? Is there a workaround or not?

Well part of learning what it means to be a developer is to get answers where you can, be they for db development or browser development or both. Read as much as you can find. Expect no easy solution, though a few will be easy. Be prepared to put in a lot of time. But above all be willing to experiment. Yes, you are probably under pressure to produce a result for someone by their idea of when. And that adds a level of pressure. But hey, if it was that easy, they'd be doing this. So kick back a little. Develop a good healthy attitude. And experiment, above all experiment.

Also, you might consider that instead of reinventing the wheel you get a good shop manual on the wheel and merely experiment with a redesign to your needs. Sometimes it is more economical to take this approach than to spend days looking for just one answer. And there are questions which, if you are a newbie, you haven't even considered yet. Consider cost effectiveness, it's part of being a developer as well.

Deep into a workaround one day, I took a break and was driving up a hill to a friend's house when I hallucinated the flow of electricity in a ScriptMaker script. It was beautiful and very insightful. It showed me why something works and why it must work that way. The flow of electricity is what makes it all happen. Very visceral. I am not saying that you have to go that far. But if you are not dreaming your developments in your sleep, you ain't there yet as a developer. Happy dreams.

SIMPLIFY ...

Keith