ISO FileMaker Magazine: FileMaker Video Tutorials, Templates, Help & More

by Matt Petrowsky

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Here's the deal about creating things in FileMaker Pro. There's no one way to do it. It's really that simple.

If you ask 5 different developers (all experienced) to create the same solution, you'll likely end up with 5 different approaches. Granted, there will be similar aspects across the solutions, but the way things are accomplished will differ.

This is where you get to choose which methods you use when putting things together. When it comes to logic testing, you'll find there are a variety of ways to do things as well. In this video, I talk about the various methods for testing conditionals within ScriptMaker's If step. Hopefully, it will give you some additional insight into yet another way for creating your solutions.

by Matt Petrowsky

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We were in my office messing around and I said "Hey, lets talk about the Devcon sessions". That's how it all started. We (Stephen Dolenski and myself -Matt Petrowsky) sat down and simply talked about the topics to be covered at the 2008 Devcon for FileMaker.

Knowing nothing about their actual content (we're guessing on most), and more about who was offering it, we talk about pretty much every session. If you've got an hour and fifteen to kill, then pop your ear canals open for a bit and take a listen. It's an MP3, so you'll have to download (sorry no iTunes yet), but it may be worth it.

You may even find a few FileMaker tips in there. This was just for fun and not really planned, but tell us if you like it - or hate it!

by Matt Petrowsky

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• QuicKeys (Mac or PC)
• iKey for Mac

Programming, or using logic for that matter (for some people - not you), can be an exercise in creating more problems than solving them - at least until you debug those problems. And there it is, debugging, that essential skill which increases your productivity while programming.

Ok, so maybe you don't think you're programming when you're writing a script. I beg to disagree. You're using conditional logic and you've got access to a debugger - a programmers tool.

So how do you go about using the debugger most efficiently. Well, you need to learn what Step In, Step Over and Step Out mean in the world of debugging. Fortunately, this can be learned in the short 27 minutes this video takes to watch!

by Matt Petrowsky

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• Function Scripting Video

Learning to code a better FileMaker solution is something that happens over time. As you improve, there are all kinds of things you find that make the development process more streamlined.

Some of your application logic becomes repetitive in many locations. Think about using the Show Custom Dialog script step (I use this example in the video). How many places have you used it in your solution(s)?

Having to update this code can become quite the hassle down the road. This is where you come to the point of resolving to "code once", and by doing so, you only have one location to update the code.

While this approach can be taken to the extreme, it's a great thing to know. Using wrappers around native FileMaker script steps and functions can help you out in the long run - I promise!

by Matt Petrowsky

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• zippScript Plug-in

You'll never guess what you can do with a little creative thinking and the Custom Formatting option. Oh, wait, I just told you in the title of this article - Super Quick Data Entry.

One of my MOST favorite features of FileMaker is the fact that records are created by default when entering data into a related field and no valid relationship exists. This provides a number of opportunities to do cool things, such as entering data - provided it's not a lot of related data.

When you add script triggering to a field's custom formatting option, and you rely on what FileMaker tries to be smart about, you get a powerful method for entering data in a super quick way. The best part about this whole technique is that it becomes universal to your whole solution. You can use any related field with auto-creation of related records and your one single script can handle it all.

Watch this free video to see how easily it can be done!

by Matt Petrowsky

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• FMDiff Website

Continuing with my Zero to Awesome series, in this video I provide you with some insight into a great way to track the changes of your ongoing development. There will be many times, while developing a solution, where questions arise about what you may have done in the past and why. Add to this, any questions that any other developer may have - eventually, you may move on from the project.

Having a quick, easy-to-follow method for tracking incremental changes is a great way to document what you've done as you develop a solution.

by Matt Petrowsky

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Duplicate, duplicate, duplicate. Yes, it's true, we live in a world of copy and paste (darn those iPhone developers). When you don't need to type it a second time there's no reason to do so. Especially, when each time you type it again you increase the chances of error.

In this video, I walk through some of the templating steps you can take as part of your predevelopment stage. Even as an experienced developer, I often find myself creating a layout or table from raw FileMaker elements. When I find myself doing it, I make myself stop and create (or add to) a previous template and copy from it. It's truly the quickest way to your desired result.

Make your own suggestions about possible template fields, layouts, tables, elements in the comment area!

by Matt Petrowsky

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When FileMaker 7 was released, there was a new thought in town. That thought was "Ahhh, great, now we can separate the interface from the data." While this angle of attack was perfectly doable, it wasn't as ideal as some first thought.

It wasn't until FileMaker 8 came out with its support of variables that a lot of the "cruft" in a FileMaker solution was starting to be cut out. For the adventurous few, who used the separation model, sometimes shortened to SM, the advantages of reduced corruption potential and much easier updates were a big boon to using this approach.

Even I, was hesitant to use this approach because I knew of many "techniques" which were accomplished within just a single file. There is a very "filemaker way" of doing things when you've done them that way in the past. Letting go of this mindset, is something that requires a leap of faith when you've not used a separation model before. That's where this video will help resolve (hopefully) a lot of your [fears||doubts||concerns||questions] (pick a word) about this approach. This video will provide you with information about how to make things work.

As always, feedback is welcomed!

by Matt Petrowsky

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The title of this series may be a bit misleading. In these videos, I don't really start at Zero. In fact, I make a number of assumptions about what you may already know. You know what a field is, don't you? How about a Layout? Of course you do! What you need to know how to go about building a solution, not how you open ScriptMaker and place steps within a script. So here's the approach. Build a fully usable solution and give the viewer every single tip and trick you can think of as you build it.

Even an experienced developer never knows it all. There's always something more to know. It's how you tackle the problem, not how you use an If() statement. It's an amazing thing really. You think you're good, maybe even great, and then you find out what you know is only a portion of what's possible.

This is the first video of a proposed series of videos that walk through the whole process of building a FileMaker solution from zero to awesome. No stone, or layout, is unturned.

by Matt Petrowsky

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In 2007 we saw a lot of changes with FileMaker. With the release of FileMaker 9 we gained the very powerful conditional formatting feature and the ability to resize windows with graphics in tow. With each release, FileMaker becomes more and more powerful.

In this video you'll find a quick (well, I tried to make it quick) rundown of many of the major articles covered throughout the year.

There were a number of very powerful techniques which showed up and should be core "know-how" for many of your database solutions.

With the release of this video I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and much luck with their FileMaker development.