ISO FileMaker Magazine

Any FileMaker solution is a growing collection of stuff to be maintained. By the nature of development, some things will be replaced leaving some aspects to be abandoned and others to be lifted up by revitalizing them. Regardless of what goes and what stays, it's best to have a plan for how things will be added and how easy it will be for your future self, or anyone else, to be able to identify those things.

In this video, I walk through the Home Project database I'm working on and I talk about adding styles to it and how it will impact my use of the theme down the road. This video provides great insight into how themes work underneath the surface and showcase a variety of good habits to have when adding styles to your FileMaker theme.

Being in need of a new database system myself, I decided to simply document the process of adding new features to a FileMaker system as it evolves. This is a great way to learn about the ins-n-outs of what goes on when developing a new system. There's a number of things which may or may not make sense when you take a look into how someone else created something. So, why not make videos as the solution progresses.

In this first video, I showcase how I originally started the file and where I should start to plan for a larger solution. There's a bit more needed than simply just throwing some fields into a table. There are also a number of settings and defaults which are created by FileMaker.

This video talks about those default elements, how to deal with them and how to start planning for an easy-to-maintain database solution.

Over the years I've created a number of videos about restoring user state. Returning windows to their last viewed location, restoring tabs and slider panels to those last viewed, etc. I've also created videos about super quick startup and managing users within a Users table.

What I haven't shown is how I combine all of those processes into a powerful user environment restoration routine. Along with highly maintainable (and transportable) code. I've used this approach on most all of the solutions I create and have found it to be the most flexible and best way to manage the user environment. It all came about when FileMaker 16 released with the then new JSON functions. If you haven't yet used JSON in your solutions, then this single video will give you reason enough to start using them.

If you'd like to provide each and every user of your solution with their own personal settings and make sure your FileMaker solutions acts and reacts like professional software, then you'll certainly want to take advantage of this video and the provided technique file!

When you really want to master creating all kinds of powerful solutions within FileMaker, then you'll have to be familiar with as many functions as possible. In fact, it doesn't hurt to know and have used every single one at least once or twice. The sooner you become familiar, the more things you'll be able to accomplish.

Reflecting on my own journey with learning all of FileMaker's functions, I remembered working with a dog-eared paper manual with sticky notes popping out all over the place. There were many trips back and forth to the same functions as I became familiar with how they could be combined in creative ways.

At the same time, I was digging through other developer's code in order to better understand how I could use those functions in various other ways.

In this video I show you the best way to go about learning FileMaker's functions in our current paper manual-less world where documentation is digital and you can play with the functions to your heart's content - in real time. If you know you need to learn more of FileMaker's functions, then try the methods and tips you'll find in this week's video.