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Our Library of Videos
What's a database without the ability to make notes? In fact, I'm sure your last call to your cell phone provider, about your pending credit, was captured down for eternity somewhere in a note field.
But really, do you honestly need to create a new note field in every critical table in your database?
This video presents two different techniques for capturing notes. One is a quick-and-dirty method called Auto Notes and the other is a more powerful and highly extendable method called Context Notes.
Whatever your take is on notes, this video will give you some goods that will make things better!
There hasn't been a year, in the past six years or so, when some developer (actually many developers) weren't lamenting the fact that FileMaker doesn't support field entry/exit scripts. In fact, I was one of those very developers - and having used software like Servoy makes it really hard to come back to FileMaker and know you're working with so little when it comes to an event based environment.
When FileMaker introduced auto-enter calcs which would evaluate beyond initial data entry, the solution for exit field triggers became possible. Of course, you have to use one of the many script triggering plug-ins, but hey, they're there and they're stable (not to mention free).
With the introduction of yet another 8.5 feature, it's now possible to trigger scripts based on field entry. It's a hidden feature which you likely don't realize is there. Once you see how it works, there may be many more techniques upon which you can base new solutions. Watch this video for a great understanding of how to leverage entry based script triggers and add one more "technique know-how" to your overall FileMaker knowledge.
PHP is arguably one of the most popular languages for serving custom web pages. The database you choose is entirely up to you when using PHP. Fortunately, FileMaker is now included in a long list of SQL systems which can host the data for your custom web pages.
The tricks with learning anything new is knowing what to look for and where. This video provides some of those answers. If you've always wanted to know how things work and where to look for them, then you may find the answers in this video.
Using a Windows XP based FileMaker Server Advanced server, I provide insight into configuring and managing a connection to your FileMaker data using PHP. There's a lot to cover, and overall it would take a whole series of videos to fully teach PHP, then using PHP with FileMaker. However, you can get started quickly with FileMaker Server Advanced and this is where I start this video - learning about Server Advanced and how to connect and configure PHP to work with it.
FileMaker 9 introduced the new feature of anchoring graphics to any or all of the four edges of a window. So, we now have layouts which will expand when a layout is resized. Challenges with this new feature go beyond simply learning how to make your layouts most efficient with regards to resizing.
When working with tabs and using graphics to indicate the selected tab, there may come a time when you wish the graphics underneath the tab would slide to match the label of the tab. You'll want the graphic to stay centered on the text of the label. Fortunately, with a bit of creative trickery, you can make this happen.
This video walks you through the elements you need to create a really nice graphic overlay for tabs which are set to expand with the resizing of the layout.
Every so often in the FileMaker world, strokes of pure genious occur. Sometimes, these happen to affect a lot of what you've done in the past and how you'll do things in the future. While this one custom function may not replace everything you've done or will do, it sure does offer great insight into how you could do things from now on!
I was presented with this solution by Fabrice Nordman and he was quite excited when telling me about this "new" custom function - which replaced a lot of the other custom functions for manipulating lists.
If you're newer to FileMaker development, then it may take some time, but you'll eventually find out that many of your interface related solutions deal with presented data derived from multiple key values. One of the methods for showing a range of records in a portal is to use a multi-key value on one side of the relationship. This alows the portal to show a variable selection or range of data. This custom function allows you to perform this exact type of functionality PLUS a whole lot more.
Understand this custom function and there isn't much you won't be able to do with lists of return separated values!
While at the 2007 annual Developer's Conference, I met up with Brian Loomis from Virtual Relations and Ross Mackintosh. We had a short discussion about the benefits of using a Data/Interface separation model. In the past, I've not heavily promoted this model of FileMaker use - however, after this discussion I may just start using it myself.
If you don't already know, Data/Interface separation is using at least two files for your solution. One file is for data storage and the other for the interface. The separation is quite common in the rest of the computing/database world. FileMaker is actually quite unique, in that, both the database and interface are all within one file.
There are many issues with importing/exporting when considering the upgrade process tied to a single FileMaker file. The advantages and disadvantages to the multiple separation models possible should be considered whenever you're converting or starting a new FileMaker solution. Brian helps you understand the possibilities available.
This video provides a nice look into the inside of a plug-in which can interact with web viewers like no other plug-in before it.
If you've ever needed to interact with html based forms within a web viewer, then this plug-in has EXACTLY what you need. Taking full advantage of the Javascript capabilities found within the embedded web engine, you can now push data from FileMaker into a web form and pull it right back out.
This plug-in makes it possible to interact with any form presented within a web viewer. Think about UPS, FedEx, your credit card processing site or your own web site. The plug-in can issue any kind of javascript you can throw at it. You can even make FileMaker look and act in a completely un-FileMaker like way!
You can always make things easier for yourself when you're working in FileMaker Pro. Whether it's using a list of Dedicated Values for Data Viewer or creating your own layout to be used as a developer button palette, the process of developing easier is something you should pay attention to. After all, you're time is valuable and speeding things up for yourself make sense.
In this video I show you a few of the Developer tips I use to determine when certain parts of scripts should or should not run. Using the information in this video, you should be able to make your development time more enjoyable.
Post your own developer specific tips in the comments section of this article!
There may come a time when clicking on a button requires your script to know which tab has been selected by the user. The discussed technique is now a couple years old, but it's a critical technique to know.
This video provides a new twist on how this technique is implemented. It allows you to trigger scripts based on tab selections and do this based on further conditions.
If you've ever wanted to trigger a script when a user selects a given tab from a tab panel, then this video will show you everything you need to know.
Pushing and pulling data into FileMaker doesn't sound very exciting. In fact, it's one of those things you infrequently do (unless that's what your solution is all about). It can either be an experience in minor frustration or something as easy as clicking a button. Making the process an easy thing to accomplish is simply a matter of knowing the right steps.
Once you know what might impact your process, you can easily add importing and exporting to any solution quickly. In this video, I'll show you how to use a dedicated utility window and talk about why you might want to use it. I'll show you how to export subsets of data and create a flexible import/export path.
You'll also see some valuable tips about creating your own developer environment to watch the process versus what users see when using your database.