ISO FileMaker Magazine

FileMaker does data, and it does it well - and easily. What FileMaker doesn't do "as" well is data visualization. This isn't because it couldn't. It's because they just haven't been able to focus on it as much. Sure, you can format portals, use repeating fields and use conditional formatting for all kinds of display magic, but you won't realize the same results as you could with a tool or language built specifically for data visualization.

In my humble opinion, they shouldn't work too hard on this either. This is because we have access to technology which provides far more than FileMaker ever can. FileMaker took ages before it had an integrated charting feature. Before that, you had to use a plugin and eventually you could use a remote API through a web viewer.

FileMaker has made a lot of progress with regards to the usability of its charting tool too. It's a great tool for basic data display.

However, when you need to go beyond the constraints of FileMaker's charting tool, the place you'll end up is within the web viewer. Granted, you'll need to shrug off any fear of learning HTML/CSS/JavaScript, but the benefits are well worth the journey.

In this video, I showcase how easy it is to integrate the very powerful JavaScript library D3. It's a power-user's tool which takes full advantage of everything that HTML/CSS/SVG has to offer. Within a world where data visualization is becoming a common form of data communication, this one video provides the first step of many towards taking advantage of some very powerful tools!

Just like fashion, there are certain technologies which often cycle around and find new life in our modern tech world. A great example are animated gifs. And speaking of making the rounds, don't forget about the 20 plus year old tech of HTML Image Maps.

Since FileMaker Pro has integrated Web Viewers and with the addition of FileMaker's fmp:// url, we've long been able to integrate images with irregularly shaped areas offering any number of polygonal objects which are user clickable.

If you deal with any kind of map, seating chart, irregular shaped real-world object which requires specific defined areas, then look no further than HTML Image Maps. No Flash required here.

The biggest issue with using this straight forward tech is the time it takes to generate the defined object regions. That is, unless you know how to use the right software which makes the process a breeze. The rest is integrating into your FileMaker layout.

Using OmniGraffle to generate clickable HTML image maps, you can quickly and seamlessly integrate this old, but reliable, technology within your own FileMaker solutions. Need to make that company blueprint of all the corporate meeting rooms a clickable map? Look no further than this video. It has pretty much everything you need!

For the email purist, the only valid email is a plain text email. For the rest of the world there's HTML email. Currently, FileMaker only supports native sending of plain-text emails.

The available Send Mail script step is certainly a capable solution for sending your plain-text emails - and solves the problem most of the time. You can use your own SMTP servers or send email via a free hosted email account such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail.

If, however, your goal is to join the rest of the marketing world and make your email correspondence appear as clean and professional as the Apple's of the world, then you'll need to know how to make it happen within your solution.

This video provides the code and the know-how in order to integrate HTML Email sending within your FileMaker solution. True, you'll inevitably need a plug-in to make it happen, but with the new Perform Script on Server step, you can have the server send the email for you. No need to mess with client side configurations. Just create the script, put the plug-in on server and send your HTML straight from FileMaker!

So you've integrated support for managing notes, and you'd really like your users to be able to view the full length of each note. The problem is FileMaker's portal object.

With portals, you get a fixed field width and height and it's the same for all related records shown within the portal. Sometimes it will chop the text off and other times it will show a lot of extra white space. Never fear, it's the wonderful web viewer to the rescue.

The trusty web viewer not only provides the dynamic resizing of objects based on how it renders content, but comes included with the powerful support of Javascript.

"But I don't want to learn Javascript." you say. Never fear, it's just one function and the rest is up to how you integrate within FileMaker.

This video will provide you with the technique file and content necessary to manage notes in a very effective manner. Learn the concepts used, and you'll expand your knowledge of FileMaker to a level where you can leverage that knowledge across many other aspects of your development!

One of the most fulfilling feelings in development is knowing you have full control over your digital destiny. Depending on who you are, this can be determined in a number of ways. So, let's focus on you, the database developer.

For a database developer, the ability to do whatever you want with data in terms of moving, extracting, merging or modifying is critical.

Without the proper knowledge of what tools can help out in certain situations, you can end up spending FAR MORE TIME doing something crazy, like copy/paste, for hours and hours.

Well, let's stop being crazy and start being sane. This all starts with knowing what's out there!

In this video, I take a look at the uber powerful jSoup Java library. Now, before you start saying, "Oh Matt, I don't want to learn Java, I want to use FileMaker." Let me respond to your unstated response by telling you that you don't need to know Java - although I would love it if you'd learn a little.

Because, honestly, a little can get you QUITE A LOT! Which is the case in this particular technique and solution.

Take a peek at the video and if you're not entirely convinced that your subscription is well worth it then let me know in the comments!