ISO FileMaker Magazine

Capturing external data directly into FileMaker has always been a bit of challenge due to the variety of technologies required to set everything up. In the past, XML and PHP were commonly used, taking advantage of direct integrations available in FileMaker Server. Even earlier, during the "wild west" days of FileMaker, some systems remarkably relied on AppleScript to facilitate data exchange. Claris, then operating as FileMaker, Inc., provided libraries and methods to enable these connections.

Over time, the rise of JavaScript introduced Node.js, which FileMaker Server eventually adopted for certain functionalities. This led to the introduction of the FileMaker Data API, which allowed developers to use RESTful methods to interact with FileMaker databases, enabling data to be sent and retrieved efficiently. But this came with more required know-how and often times an additional server setup.

FileMaker Server lacked both a simple and straightforward way to exchange data using a simple shared key - such as an account password. Additionally, using the Data API required using the ever-present contextual data map known as the Relationship Graph. The Data API relies on Layouts for data retrieval and manipulation.

The introduction of OData support significantly changed the game. If you’re looking to exchange data with your FileMaker database via services like Google Forms, AWS Lambda scripts or others, this is the technology to learn. When combined with the potential for serverless architecture, new possibilities emerge. This article’s accompanying video and JavaScript code will show you how to use a simple Google Form to capture data directly into your hosted FileMaker database.

It's always interesting to measure the metrics of how long something takes. Adding automation to a process not only saves time, but makes it less mentally taxing. This increases the sense of accomplishment and can make the process itself more gratifying.

I remember being at an amusement park and showing my kids how to measure the amount of time they might be in line by counting the amount of time it took between each time a roller coaster pulled in and how many people it accommodated. By then counting how many people were in line before them, they would know approximately how long they would be waiting.

This same type of thought process can be applied to any routine task within FileMaker. With the knowledge of the tools available, you can likely automate that task such that you reduce the total time it takes. That's the bulk of what we're doing when we're making software - simply reducing the amount of time it takes to do things.

In this video, I walk through the process of automating text capture from either a PDF or image files. FileMaker has built-in features on the Macintosh and it can certainly be accomplished within Windows as well. If there's anytime you're working with a PDF, PNG or JPG, then let's learn about the tools we have for automating the capture of data.