ISO FileMaker Magazine

There's always something a computer can do faster, better or at that inconvenient late-night hour when you should be sleeping instead of watching those late, late night shows. What we're talking about is automated processing. Every modern operating system comes with some type of system for making things happen at a predefined time, according to some type of schedule.

Well, now you have the information to hook into that system and cause FileMaker Pro to do certain things as well - using automated script triggering If FileMaker Pro is the system that holds your invoices for your online orders then why not automate the printing process and have them ready for you each morning - hot off the printer. What about sending email each time an order is entered. These are just a few of the processes you can automate. You just need to know how it happens!

Designing the interface of your solution is what determines how the solution will be developed. It controls how the Graph will look and function and it determines the capabilities of your application. In this video, I take a look at properly filtering a portal after having established existing connections in the Graph. We also apply some necessary organization to the various area of our solution. With the final look and feel established, I start to add a few more interface features and to lay the ground work for working on the next major area of the Scheduling Application.

Every FileMaker Pro solution uses a number of individual techniques to provide the user interface with the functionality it needs. In the video and files of this segment, we look into adding the functionality of a navigation calendar. This feature is highly dynamic and allows anyone to implement a calendar into any solution both quickly and easily.

The Scheduling solution is growing into a dynamic application that will fit many needs - and most of the major features have now been implemented. If you're still unsure about the Relationship Graph and how the whole of a FileMaker solution works, then this video will provide more insight into the types of decisions made as you create a FileMaker solution.

If you aren't tracking something, which is somehow related to time, then you're in the minority. One of the most common applications built within FileMaker Pro is a scheduling application. Even if a database starts out lacking a scheduling component, it often ends up needing one sooner or later.

This first part, of a multipart series, will walk through the process and creation of a scheduling application. Whether a schedule is something you want to build yourself or something you should integrate into your existing solution, this video will provide the groundwork for a powerful solution to manage time-based activities.