ISO FileMaker Magazine

Emulating features and design functionality found within iOS apps can be both frustrating and rewarding in FileMaker. Frustrating because you can't just replicate anything you see in iOS, yet rewarding when you pull something off and feel like FileMaker is that much closer to a native looking application. The biggest benefit with FileMaker being you likely created the solution with a speed which simply can't be had when building the same with the native iOS APIs.

Simply put, FileMaker saves a ton of time when creating an application which is heavily data focused. Managing data and programming the interaction with that data may take double or even triple the amount of time when not using an IDE like FileMaker.

This video is all about recreating a nice UI feature I found within sliders in an iOS app named Strava. Instead of using the standard plain and boring dots at the bottom of a slider panel, it uses creative looking icons. Of course, I set out to emulate this look and feel and accomplished it quite successfully. As I set out to accomplish the task, I also found other methods which make the whole process super simple to accomplish. Use the information in this video and the provided technique file to enhance your own use of slider panels.

[UPDATE] Forget about what I mention in the later part of the video about hacking the dots. I forgot about where you could control the size of them. It is hidden within the HUD panel for adding and removing new panels. The size setting is right there. I thought I had remembered seeing it and I searched all over in the Inspector and couldn't find it when shooting the video. :(

Most of FileMaker’s layout objects allow you to easily specify settings directly on those objects. For example, using Button Bars for the purpose of navigation means you can specify which of the multiple segments should be presented as active. Of course, your can also easily target which layout a button click should take the user to without creating a dedicated script.

The problem, however, is that FileMaker systems end up growing ever larger and the evolution process means you’re constantly making changes as you develop the system. Add a segment here, change a Perform Script there, etc.

When it comes to Button Bars, they provide a very simple way of managing multiple buttons. They allow you to use features like the Hide calc and can dynamically display their labels thanks to access to FileMaker’s calc engine.

If you end up with a growing FileMaker solution, and you’re constantly copy/pasting and having to double-click into the Button Setup HUD, then you quickly come across a pain which can easily be avoided.

This video is about decoupling references from Button Bars when using them for the purpose of navigation. If you like the features which Button Bars provide, then knowing their in’s and out’s is certainly critical know-how.