ISO FileMaker Magazine

Being able to develop locally, as if the data and the server was right there on your local machine provides a nice advantage. You know how the solution will work when hosted, you can develop and test PSOS scripts effectively, and you're generally protected from client crashes. Plus, you're fully mobile if need be - it's all on one machine.

This is where hosting your FileMaker solutions locally becomes a big advantage. This video showcases what I consider to be the Big 3 of local hosting. 1) You can install FileMaker Server right onto your local machine within the local OS. 2) You can run FileMaker Server within a virtual machine or 3) you can now use Docker locally to host your FileMaker data.

No matter what you choose, it's beneficial to emulate that server environment and host your data locally as you develop. This video will provide you with some of the details about making that happen and which one you might choose to go with.

Like any good craftsperson, you should know your tools and your methods for accomplishing things in the most efficient and best performing way. This is always most obvious when it comes to that every slowing FileMaker solution which started out innocently as a simple "helper" database. Then... it ended up being used for all kinds of things. Critical things even!

It was thrown together based on how you mentally "see" the data and not how the data should have been structured. This is one of those painful lessons where you have to go in and retrofit the data to a new structure or make plans to migrate to an updated solution.

In this video, I discuss the ever important topic of Narrow vs. Wide tables. It's a common problem in a large number of FileMaker solutions. I know because I've seen tables with field counts within the thousands. This just shouldn't be the case. FileMaker is an all-or-nothing data solution when it comes to records. If you have 1,000 fields, then FileMaker will give you all the data from all 1,000 fields. This is unlike SQL, where you only return the data you specifically ask for. With FileMaker, you have to plan your solution's data management much more carefully! Watch this video for a better understanding of how to make your tables more narrow.

Pretty much all over the world you'll find technology which can scan barcodes. Smartphones with cameras just waiting to scan either their very first, or even their 1000th barcode scan. With just over a decade since the first iPhone came out, it's pretty hard to not find a use case where a barcode can help you retire some antiquated manual process. Barcodes can be used almost anywhere to make faster and/or easier solutions.

Given that FileMaker Go supports all major barcode types, you simply need a method for creating your own barcodes within FileMaker. In 2017 I created an article about using a free JavaScript library called QRious and in this article I bring you an updated implementation plus a new library with the inclusion of how you can secure your own barcode content.

If you're ever in the need of making sure that the barcode you're scanning has originated from your FileMaker solution then you'll find the know-how you need within this video and the associated file. The additional JavaScript library I've discovered is also a great enhancement if you need vector based barcodes with support for unicode characters which are not supported by QRious. Need anything to do with QR barcodes? Check this video out!

Every trade has its own tips for making your work go faster or happen more easily. During this holiday season I thought it would be great to bring you 12 Tips of Developing in FileMaker Pro.

So, I opened FileMaker and stared at the blank screen of a new file thinking about the things that tend to help me out the most. I pulled down a CSV file from Data.gov and just let the tips flow out from there.

I hope, with this list of 12 tips, you'll pick up some productivity enhancements that will carry you forward into the new year! Happy Holidays!

FileMaker natively provides us with some really nice tools for user feedback. We can use the Show Custom Dialog or even create a dedicated dialog using a Card Window and Layout.

There are, however, times when you need something a little more subtle. Just a simple message on screen will often suffice. The next question is whether you need the user to interact with that message or not. The solution is simply to provide both options of course.

In this video and technique file, we explore a super simple method for providing user feedback via a simple message which is shown using a dedicated Button Bar. Scripting the message happens within two lines of code and doesn't have to add a whole lot of scripts to your solution. It's quick, easy and a great way to provide user feedback.

Who doesn't like the simplicity of using a single field to search across many. That's essentially what Quick Find is. In fact, by default FileMaker makes the silly assumption that every field you add to a layout is something you want the user to be able to search.

Essentially, you want to take control of the user experience in terms of search and make sure the user is not only searching what you want them to search, but also able to search in a fashion which is both familiar and comfortable.

This technique file and video will walk you through the details needed to take full control of the Quick Find experience. You can enforce desirable effects such as sorted record sets and keep the user within the search field ready for multiple repeated search attempts.

By taking advantage of a variety of FileMaker features, we can create both an easy-to-implement and universally powerful Quick Find feature. Watch the video and use the associated technique file in order to have a better understanding of how Quick Find truly works within FileMaker Pro.

Who doesn't want their software to perform as efficiently and as quickly as possible. Don't we always want things to go faster and work better?

Of course we do. The problem is, we don't always take the time to fully think out what is happening when we solve a problem. Sometimes, we just robot our way through the code we are creating because it's how we've always done it - and it's easy or faster.

Being an "efficiency nut", when it comes to code, is something I really enjoy. It represents the fact that you have a reduced amount of code to accomplish the same thing that previously had more. Less code means less to maintain. Less code can also mean more performant.

In this video, I walk through a recent example of showing how a particular solution could be simplified. It's an example that plays out in the software world many times over. Most importantly, it represents what is the compounding effects of not taking the time to think out the most efficient solution. If and easiest to maintain, fastest performing solution is what you're after, then you may find a tip or two within this video about Assessing Performance.

One of the great things about FileMaker Pro is it starts you off with a completely blank slate. One of the bad things about FileMaker Pro is it starts you off with a completely blank slate.

Yep, that's right, there are things in FileMaker's UI which non-intentionally urge you to do things which may not be as helpful in the future. Of course, some of this comes down to learning as much as you can about how things work. Which, is likely why you'll be watching this video.

In this episode, we take a look at FileMaker's themes and styles and how they relate to the Default styles which all layout objects start from. FileMaker defaults to the Default styles and that may not be the best way to start a new layout design. In this video, I answer the question about using the Defaults for your actual design and what you may be missing if you choose to use the Default style within your layouts. Want the most leverage possible? Well, you may need to stop using the Default styles - sort of.

On Wednesday May 20th, 2020 Claris International Inc. released a new version of FileMaker Pro. Version 19 includes just a handful of changes, but they are far reaching and will extend FileMaker's usefulness in many ways.

Of the changes, the biggest is an extensible architecture which allow for portable components called Add-ons to be distributed. The same underlying technology, which uses XML, is also being used to provide support for updating a database file using a command line tool.

FileMaker 19 also marks the start of a more rapid release schedule for future releases of FileMaker Pro. This video includes a hit list of the top new features and I discuss the functionality they implement and how they could be used.

We all love those "Top 10" videos because we know what we're getting into. It's just a list of 10 things right? But it's the best 10 things - right? Ok, well, "best" is possibly relative to what your particular daily workflow is like, but at least there's always something new to learn! Right!

And, that's exactly what this video is about. It's about learning those little time-saving tricks which make it much nicer to work within FileMaker's Layout Mode. Need some incentive to check it out? Here's the first 5 of the top 10 list of what's covered.

#10: Easier cursor selections
#09: Using the Object Inspector
#08: Shortcuts for Align & Resize
#07: Top Object Wins
#06: Know your Parts

Want to know what's covered in the remaining 5? Just watch the video and pick up some new skills!