ISO FileMaker Magazine

Every craftsman should know how to use his or her set of tools effectively. When you know all the various uses and features of a given tool you then become more efficient at your trade.

In FileMaker Pro Advanced, now available to pretty much everyone in version 17, there's one tool which helps you both understand what's happening and figure out what's not happening. The Script Debugger is an absolutely essential tool.

Creating a well functioning script is a lot like Michelangelo creating David. It didn't just appear because he held the tools in his hands. It was because of the constant refinement with the tools until the beauty within was finally present. Writing a script is no different. You won't get it right the first time and you with almost always be able to refine and make it better.

So, it goes without saying that knowing how to use the Script Debugger is one of the number one things you should know how to do when coding in FileMaker Pro.

Spending a lot of time, within any environment, slowly provides the nuances of that trade. Many of which you simply can't know when first getting started.

It's not just one tip or trick which makes you great. It's the 'bag of tricks' which make you good - and fast.

In this video, I go over a few of my Developer Debugging Tricks. These have been really helpful when developing for either Mobile or Server Side scripts.

While developing, you always need to know various things about the environment and the state of things for the files you're working with.

FileMaker provides this information within it's long list of Get() functions. The trick is gaining access to that information when you're working on your solution within the context of how the user will be using the software. If making things easier on yourself while debugging sounds interesting then check this video out!

So, how exactly, do you debug your FileMaker solution while coding? I'd love to hear about it - seriously! It's always great to pick up a few new tips and tricks along the way. Speaking of tips, I shot this most recent video about the process of debugging.

Personally, I've used the Data Viewer for watch variables and environmental information, but I always ended up with some sort of FileMaker crash and had to revise how I approach things. FileMaker stores your watch variables within its preferences file and they get deleted if FileMaker crashes. Just in case you didn’t know.

When developing for mobile came onto the scene it became a bit more challenging to debug. You can't just open the Debugger within FileMaker Go and walk through the various steps of any given script.

Adaptation was required and has resulted in my latest methods of debugging. Over time I’ve learned about new tools and methods but the core of debugging often comes down to the tried and true method of using a Show Custom Dialog and just looking at what the output is. Hopefully, this video will have some more tips you can use to make the process less painful!