ISO FileMaker Magazine

Why on earth would you need/want to know about jquery? Isn't that something to do with the web?

You bet it does! And here's why you need to know about it. One, html/css/javascript skills are always a plus in the ever evolving technology landscape and two, because you can do some darn cool stuff within your FileMaker layouts which FileMaker can't do by itself - and probably won't for many, many years.

This video shows you how to get jquery, a Javascript library, into a global variable for reference within html - which can then be rendered within a Web Viewer. All without referencing any external urls or html files. It's 100% coolness right within FileMaker - and no plugins are required. This is a great way to test the waters and let your imagination run wild!

UPDATE: SPECIAL NOTICE ABOUT THE TECHNIQUE FILE

In the video, I showcase a method of pulling text from the inside of a text block (stored on the layout) in order to get Jquery into a global variable.

The method for doing this accounts for FileMaker's internal merge function within layout text objects. There are special characters, such as ##, //, :: and in particular ||. The double-pipes are converted in to the User Name, as set in the Preferences of the FileMaker client.

I point out, in the video, but not the technique file, that a better way to do this is to "force a known" substitution. This is because double-pipes may not be substituted due to lack of a User Name in FileMaker's Preferences.

In the original implementation I show, if your User name in preferences is blank, then Jquery won't load properly.

I've fixed the technique file to use a known substitution character to account for the double-pipe merge and I'd like to thank Bruce Robertson for sending me an alternative method to adding Jquery into a web viewer. I personally prefer to use the text block method because it has a lower implementation footprint. However, you should know that you can clearly use a dedicated table to store scripts and other code which can be dynamically integrated into web viewers and any other FileMaker aspect such as scripts, layouts and calcs!

There are, oh so many ways, to provide for users to click buttons. You can use FileMaker's native buttons, store icons in containers and make those clickable, and there's always portals too!

In this next installment of the Zero to Awesome series, I showcase the method I'm going to use for user actions - called Portal Actions. This is, more or less, using a simple portal to display the possible actions a user can take.

Because a portal can dynamically render its data, you have more control over which actions are shown based on various conditions.

Working within the self-defined context of the My Invoicer file, I can show different actions based on where the user is and what that user can do.

Watch the video for some really advanced FileMaker development. Even if you don't use the techniques shown, it pays to know its possible!

You really can't afford to keep doing the same things over and over again. Yet, this may be exactly where you're stuck. What you really need is "Developer Thinking"!

It's a mindset regarding your approach to your immediate issue. Deciding to spend some extra time crafting a solution which will solve the problem, and at the same time, fit a variety of other situations.

Using the simple example of wrapping field values with inner HTML table tags, I reveal that spending that extra amount of time generates a much more powerful result!

I love interface design! It's one of those things where I loose track of all time and enter "The Zone". Unfortunately, FileMaker Pro is seriously lacking in UI and interface tools. The tools provided in FileMaker today have not been updated since the 90's (an possibly before).

One of the updates FileMaker did have, was support for the PNG format, which includes translucency. This is the saving grace for making your layouts look up-to-date and modern.

The trick is knowing how to enhance your user interface so it doesn't look like it's from 1994. In this video, I provide an overview of the tools and know-how that I use to create modern-looking interfaces - which includes gradients and appealing features.

The web is full of valuable information and images. The trick is knowing one of two methods to get at it. The first is learning how to use the API provided by the company or person who has the data you need, and the second is learning how to scrape that data - when the first option isn't possible.

In this video, I walk through the example of grabbing a chart image which is generated by the well know service BigCharts.com. This example applies to grabbing any image from the Internet.

While not all services offer an API (Application Programming Interface), it is typically possible to get most anything from a web page.

If it's rendered by a browser, then the text, image or file can be had.

Using PDFs is easy! Working with PDFs, as a developer, is another story. While the PDF format has been around for what seems like forever, it's still a bit of a mystery to manipulate.

Fortunately, there are code libraries and a free plug-in that makes this quite easy to accomplish. Yes, FileMaker 9 and higher does provide the ability to append to existing PDFs, but this process can be quite slow in a variety of cases.

If speed is your concern, and you need to combine multiple PDFs, static or dynamically generated, then this video and technique file will provide you with everything you need to combine PDFs from within FileMaker Pro.

No matter what development software you're using, (this includes FileMaker) there's almost always a more optimized way of getting things done. Over time, you learn "developer tactics" for doing things more easily and more efficiently.

In this video I cover four different topics related to developer tactics. This means doing things better or even doing things you might not have known FileMaker could do.

Using the attached file as a starting point, you can make the development process with FileMaker quite a bit more comfortable.

Working with dates within FileMaker can be a confusing topic if you've not dealt with them before. Knowing how to extract a range of dates complicates this matter further. I remember my first try with mastering dates (especially trying to make a calendar in FileMaker version 3) and it took a few days to get them down, I just couldn't get into the whole "it's all seconds" thing - but eventually I got it.

The great thing about this video is that you'll never need to be confused again. This video, and the accompanying files have almost everything* you might ever need with regards to date ranges.

Whether you're searching in Find mode or simply using a relationship to filter out only the information you need, this file and custom function will provide you with great benefits. No need to reinvent the wheel, it's right here for you to use!

• You'll always need to do some tweaking based on your individual needs and the date/time system according to your locale.

After a number of people emailed me, I decided to go into a bit more depth about using a History table. Keep in mind however, this article isn't just about providing the great feature of showing a user their own history of actions against records - it's about editing data through a utility table - in order to gain useful functionality.

Any time you wish to edit data within a FileMaker table, you need only realize that don't have to edit that data directly on a layout which is tied directly to that table. You can edit data from a field on ANY layout, provided you have a valid linking relationship to that information.

If you remember this one little tip, then working with a separation model will become a lot easier to mentally grasp when attempting it!

Wow! It's not 1999 anymore! Ok, so maybe you've just now realized this and you're deciding it's time to keep up on the news in a more efficient fashion.

Well, if you not taken a look at using an RSS reader then maybe you should start. Here's some incentive, start with making it easier to digest all the possible FileMaker news that's out there.

In this video I show you how I do it. I use the wonderful online reader from Google.com.

Attached to this article is an OPML file which you can import into any reader you might use.

Enjoy the news!