Article Tags

Hide tags

Click or tap one of the article tags to filter down to a smaller selection.

Our Library of Videos

845 videos found.
Zero to Awesome - Portal Filtering 04/06/2009 - 6:30pm

Portal filtering is simply one of the many tools to be used when you wish to provide an easy path of data access to someone looking for that data. Typically named Clairvoyance or Type Ahead, it's the familiar feature of staring to type and having a larger list of results narrow down based on the addition of new characters. As you type, you find what you're looking for.

While the feature has been possible in earlier versions of FileMaker, via the use of Script Triggering plug-ins, it's now an even more appealing feature with FileMaker 10's built-in Script Triggers.

In this video, I walk through the very detailed specifics of what makes portal filtering work and how you can create/use a reusable script when supporting this feature in multiple places within your FileMaker database.

Using Markdown in FileMaker 03/26/2009 - 4:39pm

Coding in FileMaker can become like a drug. If you think it can be done, you may be tempted to create it. However, there are a few times when you simply shouldn't. When technology exists, which you can leverage, it's often much faster (and better tested) to go outside of FileMaker.

In this video I showcase exactly how easy it is to implement a Text-to-HTML conversion tool using a very popular method named Markdown. If you, or your users, have ANY need to generate HTML - and do so easily - then this video and file will have what you need.

Using Markdown, you can quickly create valid HTML from much more human-readable text. If you know nothing about Markdown and how it might benefit you, then make sure to watch this video and learn from the technique file!

Double-Clicking: A Learning Experience 03/17/2009 - 7:53pm

Even the most simple of objectives can often be optimized. It's the fun of making code smaller, more readable, more efficient that drives the developer spirit. Even if you don't consider yourself a developer, the lessons in this video will help guide your decisions when implementing features into your database.

This video showcases the breakdown of one simple feature, double-clicking. It does this using an optimized custom function. The result is a more flexible solution with more efficient code - which could actually be optimized even more than presented!

If you simply need double-clicking features in your FileMaker database then steal the custom function in the attached file. If you want to learn a valuable lesson in FileMaker development, then watch the video!

Script Triggers: Using A Script Dispatcher 03/11/2009 - 1:03pm

There are certain techniques in FileMaker which may not be immediately usable in your day-to-day work. However, simply knowing about the possibilities expands your mental toolbox - making you a better developer. You're always more equipped when you know both the weaknesses and advantages to the software you're using.

In this FileMaker video, I showcase a technique I'm calling Script Dispatchers. This is a concept where you can centralize code for easier solution management and better documentation. It could also be called a Layout Dispatcher, as the main functionality depends on a dedicated area within your layout.

Watch this video to see how you can access a wide range of script triggers and how you might employ this technique is some of your own solutions.

Script Triggers - Spelling Fixer 03/02/2009 - 5:18pm

Script Triggers now allow for all kinds of solution logic based on simple user actions. If the user changes tabs, switches layouts or enters into a field, you can now trigger a script.

Beyond these simple situations, you can also watch for any time a user hits any key on the keyboard - aside from fkeys and specialty keys on custom keyboards. This invokes a mind-opening realization, but some times it's hard to come up with ways to use these new features.

Well, how about a simple spelling fixer. Not a spelling checker. An actual script that will fix (or change) a word as the user types! For any area where industry specific words are used, think medical and legal fields, you can ensure that these words are spelled correctly. This can now be done with FileMaker 10 and the technique file associated to this video!

Basic Data Looping 02/20/2009 - 1:49pm

Knowing how to loop through records in FileMaker helps with some of your data processing tasks. Knowing how to loop through a portal will help with the occasional odd technique. Knowing how to use a data loop is critical if you want your FileMaker solution to be as efficient as possible.

In this video, I showcase a simple data loop which performs syntax highlighting on some code in a text field. Even if you don't need syntax highlighting for code, then knowing how to use a data loop is what you need to know.

If you've not used many data loops in your solutions then this video will get you started right away!

Highlighting Portal Rows 02/12/2009 - 5:08pm

Revealing the current state of your interface is of great benefit to users of your solutions. Features such as highlighting selected portal rows provide an instant indication of what is selected or where the user is.

When it comes to supporting unique rows within multiple portals on the same layout, you need to find a way to track each portal independently and know which record is selected within each portal.

Fortunately, through the power of named layout objects, some conditional formatting and a special utility script, you can accomplish this goal.

Watch this video for a great understanding of how to Highlight Portal Rows within your FileMaker solutions!

Interface Overhaul 02/02/2009 - 7:20pm

Updating your FileMaker interface can seem like an overwhelming task if you have hundreds of layouts. However, if you simply start with one layout, it provides the motivation to move on to the others.

The key here, is that the process may help you discover areas where you can optimize or repurpose your interface. Following a few simple rules may help you end up with a much more usable interface.

In this video, I walk through a 2 hour interface expedition where I used a publicly available demo file that comes with the ScriptMaster plug-in, and show you how I converted it to an updated look.

Deleting Records - Should you allow it? 01/22/2009 - 4:50pm

Argggggg!" you exclaim, as you realize you accidentally deleted a record because you were working on live data,

Ok, so, maybe it's never happened to you personally, but it may happen to any user account which can delete records in your database. So what's the best answer. Well, the best answer is to have a full audit trail/log in each solution you create. However, this isn't always the easiest to implement.

Instead, take 10 minutes (or less) and have a great solution for any account which should be allowed to [supposedly] delete records. The goal is not necessarily to eliminate the data from the database, it may be to simply make it so it doesn't apply. Because keeping a historical record is something that always comes in handy!

Zero to Awesome - Using Data Objects 01/14/2009 - 7:40pm

FileMaker solutions can get pretty messy - fast! In fact, if you don't take the time to document your solution, you quickly end up with a Frankenstein. Besides documentation, there's one thing you can do to make your solution easier to understand (from a developer's perspective) - limit the number of table occurrences within the relationship graph.

You may already have many more table occurrences than you actually need to accomplish what you're getting done now. The tactic is to use Data Objects. A data object is simply the process of dedicating a TOG (table occurrence group) to rendering the data object.

For much of the rest of your solution, in which a lot of application logic lies within scripts, you can simply reference this data object instead of creating additional table occurrences for the sake of functionality. This will keep your solution cleaner, more efficient and sometimes faster!

Pages