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Our Library of Videos
Because of how the FileMaker development environment was structured, there's a lot of in and out of dialog boxes - especially when working on a smaller screen. You often head into an area like scripts or Define Database and then out of an area as you craft your masterpiece.
In previous versions of FileMaker this used to be a forced situation - and still is in various areas. At least in current versions you can have Manage Scripts (always our beloved ScriptMaker to us old schoolers) and Manage Layouts open while still interacting with various other windows.
The real key to mastering your time when working with FileMaker is moving around the application and making things happen quickly. Think of it like a professional ballet dancer who can weave and shift across the stage with a degree of elegance that makes it look effortless - and probably feels so as well.
While knowing certain shortcuts will certainly save you time, there are a few other steps you can take to achieve that level of proficiency which makes you feel like a true master.
It doesn't really matter where your skill level is at with FileMaker Pro, there's always more to learn. Even after close to 20 years myself, and feeling like an expert, I learned something new in this video - and it feels good to learn.
What I learned happens to deal with the accessibility of help and how easily you can find help within the specific areas of FileMaker Pro.
This video starts off a new series about taking full advantage of the FileMaker development environment. There's one thing in common which some software users do when working with new software. It's to start with taking a look at all the menu options available.
While this is a great place to start, if you don't have any background, you don't know what the implications are of those various menu options. How can you use what's available? What are some of the unique options which may apply? How does that menu item factor into what you want to accomplish? What are the other parts of the software you need to know and where's a good place to start?
These are the types of questions I seek to answer within this series. I'd like to leverage my many years of working with this great database application and help you discover things you may not have known existed. Or, at the very least, validate what you may already know.
Oh, to keep things clean and tidy. That's the feeling many of us seek much of the time. Things can be found and seen when they are clean and neat - it also "feels" better.
These same feelings apply to times when bringing up new windows within the context of your own solution. Simply throwing windows all over the place in your FileMaker solution may invoke that same feeling when you're handed a business card and it feels like single ply toilet paper - wimpy.
It's all about perception. Fortunately, you get to control how windows appear within your FileMaker solution. With a bit of creative scripting, you can actually make this happen in a semiautomatic fashion. Throw in a little bit of Layout Properties and a few handy custom functions, and you've got a window management system which is both easy to implement and use.
Do you use something else which works better? We'd love to hear about it. Leave a comment.
It's simply amazing, yet not unexpected, at how much the tablet world is finally taking off. I fondly remember purchasing my second Apple Newton and thinking, "Wow, this is so cool, it's like the movies and it's happening now."
While it's taken us a little under a decade to get there, it's certainly happening now - and the cool thing is, FileMaker can have a pretty strong role in the whole equation.
As much as FileMaker firmly planted itself in the world of desktop databases, it stands the chance to do the same in the world of mobile devices. It's just "way too easy" to make something useful and deploy it instantly with FileMaker Go.
Despite some of the redraw issues currently faced by FileMaker Go, it looks like there will be a ton of opportunities to create many of those solutions which businesses will be clamoring for.
To that end, it makes sense that you be familiar with what you can and can't do - and how you can take advantage of what FileMaker Go offers. So it is, with this video, that I present a nice collection of hints, tips and techniques about how to design for this rapidly expanding platform!
Hey, just "Google" that...
Yeah, that's right, Google is the Kleenex of single field searching. It's not just on Google's own home page. It's the little search box in Safari, Chrome, IE, Firefox and whatever other piece of software provides some search feature.
True, there will always be other ways to search for things and FileMaker has always provided its familiar query-by-form method of searching for data.
The cool thing about FileMaker's relatively new feature of QuickFind is that - well - it's there!
Yet, I hear from many a developer who has not adopted this wonderful feature. Whether you're showing the status area or not, you can certainly take advantage of QuickFind.
Better than that, you can really capitalize on QuickFind by combining the Constrain and Extend functionality of found sets. So, if you've found yourself simply bypassing the QuickFind feature of FileMaker then be prepared to get excited!
When I first introduced the concept of using a tagging model, via the classification of data, I only discussed one of a few possible options.
The first option I covered, related to any given element in your database (in this case a person), was the ability to associate multiple classifications, otherwise known as tags, to a person.
What ends up ultimately happening is the desire to have a singular classification for an element. For example, a person can be a student and a parent, but how many times is a student both a 1st and 2nd grader? While the first video discussed multiple tags per element, this video now discusses the singular classification.
Wow, ok, this sounds pretty simple. Multiple vs. singular, that's easy. The trick however is the nuance in how you set up the relationship and the methods you provide for interaction within the user interface.
Essentially, we're providing radio-button-like functionality using a popup menu which is tied into our tagging system. While you may not use this exact and specific implementation, there's always a great amount of information and knowledge you can gain from what is covered.
As with all things, it's knowing what can and can't be done which makes you a better FileMaker developer!
If videos one and two of this three part series were the "pretty & shiny" parts, then this last part of the series is Vvrooom vroom of the engine - the stuff that backs up the pretty stuff. There are three elegant techniques added into the revised file.
The first of the three is a straight-forward implementation of user preferences. While it's simple to put into any FileMaker solution, it's not often the first thought to provide each login account with unique preferences to how they use your FileMaker solution. This one tip will hopefully present the simple elegance in which you can add into many areas of your solution.
The second technique is a simplified version of my article titled "Attractive Sorting Indicators". I showcase what the old way was in the starter solution and how you might improve upon this using the newer features in the current release of FileMaker. It's another easy add-on with limited overall cost.
The final technique in this three part series is one I called "Easy List Filtering". It capitalizes on FileMaker's new Quick Find feature and provides an easy way for users to filter any list view based on the record they currently have selected. The implementation is pretty simple and can easily be extended quickly to any fields desired.
In this part two of our short three part series, we take a look at the topic of what it means when "Everything on screen is seen". It may sound obvious, but you may not recognize the impact it has on the users of your solutions.
The next tip I cover is one of my all-time favorites - tab panels. In database after database, I constantly see the default tab panels which seem to look just fine. However, for those few times when you really want to trick things out, you simply need to know what can and can't be done with these powerful UI tools.
The third tip in this second video directs you towards creating visible distinctions in your layouts. The goal is to create distinctions which are subtle in nature and not to obvious - unless they need to be - which is the exception, not the rule.
For the more aesthetic aspects to your design, this video will guide you in the right direction!
I guess simply use of the wording "Cleanup" implies that something needs to be - well - cleaned up. Such is the case with anything that may become outdated.
Styles and trends change and so should your FileMaker database. Sure, you can get away with running on a FileMaker 5 file and keep it operational as long as you never update the operating system or anything else required to run the antiquated system.
The trade off to not updating are all the gains and features you get in newer versions of FileMaker.
So, while working on one of my most recent themes, I decided to document the types of changes I'd make to one of the default starter files provided by FileMaker itself.
Hence this short three part series and these first three tips of removing labels, implied operations and making the important part stand out.
If those suggestions alone don't make any sense then try giving the video a once over.
Creating any type of solution within FileMaker means you're working with structuring data and planning a user interface. They just go hand-n-hand.
However, when dealing with the later, you're often focused on the user interaction portion and not just the pretty look and feel.
It turns out that FileMaker doesn't provide an obvious separation between the UI, the UX and Data Structure. It's all in the same file (or in multiple files).
So, what's a developer to do when they come across a situation like a kiosk solution? Something where you may have playful kiddies just mashing on buttons and tire kickers who start a process but may not finish. Should the data collection process be broken out from the data storage?
Maybe... and that's exactly what this video is all about. It's about pre-capturing your data into a structure which is detached from the ultimate data repository.
Any bit of data is valuable, but not all data is desired. For example, how many times is the kiosk used by people between the hours of x and y versus how many new customers are added in that same time frame. If these are the types of questions you might have in your own solutions, then watch this video to increase your FileMaker know-how on pre-capturing data!