Article Tags
Click or tap one of the article tags to filter down to a smaller selection.
- Accounts
- Add-ons
- AI
- Alerts
- Analysis
- APIs
- Apple Maps
- Auto-Enter
- Barcodes
- Base64
- BaseElements Plugin
- bBox
- Breadcrumbs
- Button Bars
- Caching
- Calculations
- Calendars
- Card Windows
- Charting
- Checkboxes
- Code Editing
- Code testing
- Coding
- Color Picker
- Colors
- Conditional Formatting
- Containers
- Context Management
- Cropping
- Crypto
- CSV
- cURL
- Custom Functions
- Custom Menus
- Data API
- Data Capture
- Data processing
- Data structure
- Data Viewer
- Date Ranges
- Dates
- Debugging
- Deployment
- Developer Tools
- Dialog Boxes
- Docker
- Drag-n-Drop
- Drop-down List
- Dropbox
- Duplicates
- Duplicating records
- Encryption
- Error handling
- Events
- Excel
- ExecuteSQL
- Exporting
- External Authentication
- External Files
- Field Formatting
- Field Storage
- Fields
- File IO
- File Management
- File Sharing
- FileMaker Go
- FileMaker Server
- FileMaker Settings
- Filtering
- Find & Replace
- Find Mode
- Found Sets
- Functions
- Fundamentals
- Global Fields
- Global Variables
- Google Maps
- Google Services
- Graphics
- Grid
- Grouping
- Hierarchies
- Highlighting
- Icons
- Images
- Importing
- Indicators
- Inspector palette
- iOS
- Java/Groovy
- JavaScript
- Join Tables
- JSON
- Key fields
- Layout Design
- Layout Mode
- Layout Parts
- List function
- Logging
- Looping
- Mapping
- Marking Records
- Media Storage
- Menus
- Merge fields
- Messaging
- Microsoft Surface
- Mobile design
- MonkeyBread plug-in
- Multi-key fields
- Multi-option fields
- Naming Conventions
- Navigation
- New Release
- Node-RED
- Notifications
- Oauth
- Object management
- OCR
- OnGestureTap
- OnLayoutKeystroke
- OnObjectKeystroke
- Parsing HTML
- Perform Script on Server
- Performance
- Permissions
- Photo manipulation
- Pickers
- Pivot tables
- Pop-ups
- Popovers
- Portals
- Preferences
- Printing
- Privilege sets
- Product review
- Productivity
- Progress Bars
- PSOS
- Python
- Quick Find
- Record Locking
- Regex
- Relationship Graph
- Reporting
- REST
- Sankey
- Schema
- Script Parameters
- Script Triggers
- Scripting
- ScriptMaster
- SDK
- Searching
- Security
- Separation Model
- Set Variable
- Settings
- Shortcuts
- Sliders
- Snapshot Links
- Sorting
- Spelling
- Spreadsheets
- Startup
- Summary Fields
- SVG
- Syntax
- Syntax Highlighting
- Tab Controls
- Table View
- Tagging
- Terminology
- Text Parsing
- Themes
- Time fields
- Time Savings
- Tips
- Tools
- Transactions
- Tricks
- Twilio
- UI
- Updating
- User Interface
- Validations
- Value Lists
- vCalendar
- Virtual list
- Web Forms
- Web Scraping
- Web Services
- Web Viewers
- Windows
- XML
Our Library of Videos
When incorporating graphic design into your FileMaker solution, you might either be the sole designer or collaborate with someone to enhance the user experience. Regardless of your role, it's always beneficial to understand how to effectively use colors within your solution.
You can, obviously, make straightforward choices, such as simple selections of colors from the built-in color picker. But, there are additional tips and techniques that can significantly enhance your ability to use colors strategically, helping you achieve your ultimate design goals.
Whatever your objectives may be, understanding the best practices for selecting, applying, and implementing colors in your FileMaker solution is essential.
Taking advantage of JavaScript within FileMaker is a crucial skill that can significantly enhance your solutions. Relying solely on native FileMaker capabilities can be limiting, as certain tasks are more effectively handled with JavaScript.
Using a Web Viewer to execute JavaScript comes with nuances. For instance, when a JavaScript process takes longer than a few milliseconds, providing a visually appealing progress indicator can greatly improve the user experience. This is where the concept of a dedicated Web Viewer comes into play. I refer to this implementation as Web Workers. While it’s possible to use multiple Web Workers, in most cases, a single primary Web Worker is sufficient.
In this video, we’ll explore how to implement and utilize a Web Worker effectively. We'll cover concepts such as cascading defaults, creating SVG spinners, managing colors, and other techniques to fully leverage the capabilities of Web Viewers in FileMaker.
Who doesn't love making their software look great? We all want our solutions to be visually appealing, highly usable, and efficiently streamlined. Along with these desires comes the need to understand the environment so you can easily modify your layout and achieve those objectives.
This video covers working in Layout Mode and taking advantage of various tools and keyboard modifiers, which make it very easy to both create and manipulate your layouts. If you've been looking for ways to make your time in Layout Mode more efficient, then watch this video for some great time-saving tips.
As technology advances and becomes as critical to our digital lives as water is to our physical well-being, we must be keenly aware of whether that "water" is tainted with harmful elements that could harm us.
This sentiment applies not only to your health but also to your technological security concerns. For most technical systems, we may be inclined to assume that "big tech" — meaning the creators of the software or technology — will automatically make things safe for us. However, there may be risks that neither the provider nor the user recognizes until they surface.
Recently, the FileMaker landscape has been impacted by several critical security findings, making it essential for you to understand your level of exposure.
In many cases, threats may be mitigated by measures within your control. However, in some instances, upgrading is the only viable solution. Many FileMaker systems still rely on versions much older than FileMaker 19, following the old adage, "If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it." This time, however, it is very, very broken. Older versions of FileMaker Server, if publicly accessible, can be hacked in ways that conceal any traces of intrusion. In this case, using outdated versions is a risk you can't afford unless you're prepared to accept that your system is essentially open to anyone willing to find it.
In the world of programming, there are various concepts you need to understand in order to create software which is both functional and resilient. Maintaining that code may be another challenge, but if you don't learn about exception handling and determining if your processes truly succeed or fail based on expectations, you risk inviting more errors and failures than you might anticipate.
In this video, we'll cover several critical aspects of a FileMaker database solution. Yes, FileMaker Pro is intended to be an "easy-to-use" or "low-code" platform. While it certainly presents itself as low code, that's only the beginning. Solving the problem is just the start; learning about exception handling, transactional data interactions, and the all-important try/catch pattern is essential. However, FileMaker doesn't offer the common try/catch option.
So, what's the alternative if we don't have try/catch? Well, we make use of the Loop script step because it allows for multiple Exit Loop If[] conditions. This, in essence, is where we can creatively use and even "abuse" our old friend, the Loop script step.
If you've never used the Loop step to handle multiple errors while solving a complex process, this video should clarify a lot about how to approach it. Along the way, we'll also cover some valuable insights related to the recent transaction steps introduced in newer versions of FileMaker Pro.
Be sure to use the link below if you're interested in purchasing! There may be unexpired discount codes available.
Being more productive when developing in FileMaker is something that will always pay off. You’ll create solutions faster and feel better about how quickly you can solve problems.
Due to the unique environment in which we write code, there are concepts other developers have access to that we don’t. We’re not using a standard text editor with modules and plug-ins to extend its functionality. In FileMaker, we rely on a few third-party plug-ins and tools to enhance the development experience.
In this video, I’ve invited Robert Naud and Josh Halpern to demonstrate Typinator from Ergonis Software. It’s a powerful tool that can handle all sorts of tasks involving the OS clipboard and FileMaker. Since FileMaker uses a dedicated clipboard format, which is primarily XML, you need to translate that XML into the normal text you work with. Typinator makes this possible. You can automatically inject script steps, layout objects, custom functions, and almost anything transferable via the clipboard. By combining AppleScript and/or JavaScript with a few command line tools, you can work in FileMaker with auto-expansions that make your job much easier!
PDFs have become the digital equivalent of what was once printed on paper and will likely remain in use for a long time. They offer an easy way to present structured information, and FileMaker simplifies PDF generation by allowing you to save your layout's design as a PDF.
However, there are times when simply exporting FileMaker data to a PDF isn't enough — you may need to populate an existing PDF with data. The challenge can be getting your FileMaker data into a copy of the PDF. While there are external tools and plugins that help with this, there have been few native client-side solutions until recent years. To make this possible, we can leverage FileMaker's Web Viewer and its integration with a JavaScript library.
In this video, I'll show you how to populate a form-fillable PDF with data from your FileMaker solution using a Web Viewer, a JavaScript library, custom code, and any existing PDF form. Once you understand the basics of how a PDF reports its fields and types, inserting data into a PDF becomes straightforward. Mastering this integration will give you the ability to work with your own PDFs, and in some cases, you may find that creating a fillable PDF template is more efficient than exporting a PDF directly from a FileMaker layout.
If you're developing in FileMaker and haven't invested time in learning and using JSON, you're at a significant disadvantage. JSON is not difficult to learn, and it's used in so many areas of modern development that it's crucial to get familiar with it if you haven't already.
In this video, I begin with the basics of JSON and its implementation within FileMaker. Once you start using it, you'll find it's valuable for much more than just passing parameters. While passing parameters is one of the most common use cases — allowing you to pass multiple values easily — JSON also supports a wide range of applications, from creating UI features to saving the state of tabs, layouts, user preferences, and even capturing metadata about your stored data.
Additionally, many advanced FileMaker features, like web viewers, rely on JavaScript and JSON for functionality. As you explore data exchange between applications, you'll see JSON frequently in modern APIs as well.
Make sure to take full advantage of this multi-part video series, where I'll cover the various ways you can leverage JSON within FileMaker. This knowledge will significantly expand what you can do with the platform.
InspectorPro 8 offered by Beezwax, and created by Vincenzo Menanno and Brendan Pierce takes advantage of the newer Save a Copy As XML feature of FileMaker. This new version of the "Enhanced DDR" provides great insights into team development and the growth and changes of a FileMaker solution.
In this video Vince walks me through the process of installing InspectorPro 8. The features it provides will be quite valuable to any developer who wants to have a solid understanding of your FileMaker solutions.
DISCOUNT!! Make sure to take advantage of a special offer until the end of 2024 by using the code 'filemakermagazine' (without quotes) if you're heading towards a purchase.
Over the years, I've met a wide range of developers. Just like the variety of clothing styles you'll see at any popular concert, there are potentially just as many different programming styles. The usefulness, however, of development standards is equivalent to the simplicity of a stoplight. If we can all agree on one thing, then that one thing can benefit everyone who uses it.
When you consider this statement in light of FileMaker's available Global Variables, it's hard to agree on the decision of whether to use them or not. Maybe you like using a global variable temporarily across scripts — even though some might consider that approach problematic. Maybe you avoid using Global Variables because a trusted source once told you never to use them. Or perhaps you're one of those tidy developers who just can't stand the sight of them within the Data Viewer.
Whatever your stance, there are definitely times when using a Global Variable is beneficial. The scope of a variable is a concept familiar to pretty much every programming language. A globally scoped variable is valuable only as long as you can trust it. In this video, I present a method for using FileMaker's Global Variables that provides an extremely high degree of confidence in their use. We create a system where the variable is modified in one place only, making for a solution which is much easier to modify and maintain.