ISO FileMaker Magazine

Every once in a while, you come across a technique so useful, it's simply too hard not to include it within every one of your solutions. This may be one of those techniques. Ultimate Styled Text Merging applies to any situation where you wish to provide the user with the maximum level of text styling control - of any field data.

This applies to information viewed on-screen, when printing on labels, envelopes or within a form letter - or even if you want to pass the styled text through an HTML email. This video and technique file will provide you with all the information needed to offer both the easiest and most flexible method a user can use when determining how field data should be presented.

Using plug-ins within FileMaker has always been a tricky proposition - especially if you ask enough developers. The biggest downfall is the price of licensing, when you consider the number of copies of FileMaker you need to license for.

The upshot is undoubtedly the increase in functionality; which allows you to solve the problem. In my personal use of plug-ins, I opt for the path of which plug-in(s) offer the most functionality. My favorites have been zippScript, for script triggering, and the shell plug-in for everything else.

With the release of this video, I'm pleased to introduce the one plug-in I'll almost always have installed. SmartPill PHP Edition from SCODIGO is likely the one solution to most all of your FileMaker wishes. Grab a copy today and start solving the problems you never thought possible in FileMaker!

It seems so simple, when all you want is to show the data in a particular fashion. Such as showing a sub-summary amount when your data is sorted in a list view. All you really want to know is how many blue items there are versus all the other colors. To accomplish this with a portal, you need multiple relationships with multiple table occurrences. To accomplish this in a list view, all you need is a GetSummary() function right?

Well, there's a bit more to it than that, and fortunately, you'll have this video to help guide you through the process. If making things look great in your database is something you enjoy, then I'm happy to provide you with one more technique to make that happen!

While working on a personal project to create a poster of the various FileMaker functions, I stumbled upon a great new trick for use with FileMaker 8.5. While this particular little trick did require 8.5, the whole solution presented in this video does not.

If you've ever had the need to automate the publishing of data from within your FileMaker database, then watching this video will move you one step closer to accomplishing your goals. With the information covered here, you can start to realize your publishing goals, within a short period of time!

This video tutorial provides a great solution for any calendar or scheduling application. I found this technique while reading Mikhail Edoshin's excellent blog about his FileMaker solutions. This technique is about leveraging the auto-enter fields more than you may have in the past.

So, while standing on the shoulders of giants, (Mikhail and Alexander) I was able to implement an enhanced version for creating an excellent date-based start/duration/end type of technique. If you have the need for any given field to exert control over any others, when changed, then watching this video will teach you what you need to know!

Shortly after FileMaker, Inc. released the new FileMaker 8.5, I "rushed out" and purchased, (if you consider buying a copy online "rushing") my copy of the new version. The next thing I did was use one of my template files to start going through the new features. While the list isn't a big one, the few features they add each time, especially those geared towards developers, makes the environment that much easier to create solutions.

Without having spent too much development time with each feature, I wanted to bring my findings to the web so you'll feel more informed. There were a few features which weren't immediately clear, such as extracting HTML from a Web Viewer, and others with immediate benefits and possible pitfalls! Take about 50 minutes (yes, I know that's a long time) and watch this video to see my first impressions of FileMaker 8.5.

It's time again for a nice little round up of all those time saving exercises which make it that much easier to develop solutions using FileMaker Pro. In this video you'll find not just 10 tips, but a few extra sprinkled around the video.

If you think you know every trick there is for making things easier or faster, then it may be possible you missed one. Watch this video to either learn some new tips, or make sure the ones you know, are the ones we cover!

Behind every good web server, you typically find some form of database. While FileMaker does offer Instant Web Publishing, this isn't always the best method to share information on the web. If you don't have FileMaker Server Advanced, then you're limited to a few connections; plus, you end up with a lot of overhead for some potentially simple HTML code.

The best solution, when the need is quickly uploading some HTML text files, is FTP. For both Macintosh and Windows you'll find that FTP is already ready to use. The solution is tapping into the tools you have available. Of course, if your needs are for some serious FTP sending, then you'll likely want to look into!

Simply adding ScripMaker script steps to any given script is a pretty easy task. In fact, you'll likely end up using the same script steps over and over and over again. The difficult part of learning how to script is knowing the tricks of the trade and the most efficient way of putting things together.

In this video, I present a number of concepts which will help anyone become a better script writer. If you don't know the tricks for using multiple parameters, using script results or creating a multifunction script, then watching this video will definitely move you in the right direction.

One of the more commonly misunderstood aspects of building a FileMaker solution is permissions. The issue of "How can I prevent this user from performing this action and letting other users do so?" all comes down to building a permissions system into your own solution. FileMaker knows how to manage what users can and can't do as it relates to FileMaker - the software.

So, it stands to reason that FileMaker - the software - knows nothing about YOUR database. In order for you to control what users can and can't do in your database you have to manage your own permissions. This video provides the critical high-level overview which will help you create a robust permissions system!