ISO FileMaker Magazine

Interested in understanding more about the system you're working on? Either because your the next developer in a long list before you, or because you created it yourself in 1990's? Well, it really doesn't matter which stage you're at with your FileMaker database. What does matter, is how much you know about its structure.

While the world of FileMaker isn't as huge as the world of Oracle, every great developer needs a great set of tools. In the world of FileMaker analysis, there are a handful of valuable tools for understanding the system you're working on. Inspector is one of those tools. It's a product with a long history around making sense of FileMaker systems. In this comprehensive (meaning a bit long, yet informative) video, I talk with creator Vince Menanno about what Inspector is and how it can help any FileMaker developer in understanding what's going on with their database. Sit back, relax and learn more about your own database systems!

This video covers one of my most favorite topics, organization. Without it, we'd all be lost. When done right, it makes even the most complex information easy to understand.

FileMaker's Relationship Graph presents some very interesting challenges for organizing information. The graph isn't a simple entity relationship diagram. It's a complete snapshot of your whole solution. Data structure, application environment, data presentation, business logic - you know, the whole enchilada! So, what you really need are some ideas to help make sense of your own solution. Recently, I spent a great deal of time within the relationship graph of one of my own solutions. Watch this video to harness some great tips that will make things much easier down the road!

Ever since FileMaker 7 was released, we've all felt both confusion and those wonderful "a-ha" moments. It's a great feeling when it occurs to you that an easier way has made itself apparent.

The Relationship Graph has proven itself to feature both the "huh?" and "ahhh-haaaaa" moment. Watching this video, I hope you experience many more a-ha moments which will help with the design of your data presentation. In this video I cover the predominant design models used for presenting your solution's data. I'd love to hear feedback from anyone who has some great insights into other ways of using the Relationship Graph!

Data manipulation is the hallmark of any database system. There will be many times when data must be added to a FileMaker system which comes from an external source - a web page form is a good example. One of the most common methods for acquiring data is through a web form. Typically the web form is emailed to a specific email account.

While FileMaker can be used to capture information directly from the web (using FileMaker Server Advanced), this isn't always an option. Plus, there may be both legacy systems and newer methods, such as PHP and web forms, where information needs to be captured and parsed into your database fields. This example file and video will walk through the use of a very powerful tool which I am providing to subscribers of the magazine. The Universal Data Parser, and this video, will teach you a great deal about data manipulation!

Emailing a PDF file from FileMaker may sound simple, but there's a bit more to think about than simply choosing the check box that allows you to attach an email to the new Save As PDF option in FileMaker Pro 8. If you want to automate more of the process, then knowing which script steps to use is very helpful.

This video covers the details you need to be aware of when attempting to perform this common task!

Every great FileMaker developer should have a good grasp of a number of fundamentals. This is what makes development smoother and take less time. This video presents a technique that is bound to become a core piece of FileMaker know-how.

With the information in this video and file, you'll not only know how to create a cool-looking content navigation interface, but you'll have the foundation for creating all kinds of powerful techniques - such as tracking more detail about when a record is accessed, departed from and all kinds of additional detailed information. If you've ever wanted a record event, meaning you can trigger a script when a different record is accessed or a new record is created, then this is the information you need!

Following the Ultimate Tabs video, this new release covers a variety of topics related to more creative uses and optimizations of FileMaker 8's new tab panels feature.

In this video you'll learn about creative uses for sub-panels and how to create an effective and useful navigation method for cycling through tabs in a given tab panel. Want to know how to use icons to indicate the state of selected sub-panels? Watch this video for a full understanding!

Information Interchange - isn't that what's it's all about? You use iCal and I'll use Outlook (actually, I use iCal myself), but it's still about using the calendar software you're comfortable with, unless corporate tells you what you have to use.

Either way, FileMaker is a great solution for distributed information. It provides a high level of collaboration, however, when it comes to using a database for calendar based information, you might want to support pushing information into a user's personal calendar. Fortunately, this can easily be done.

This technique file and instructional video will walk you through all aspects of exporting the contents of your event records into the compatible vCalendar format!

In certain cases where users need to manually place items in a certain order, there are few ways to accomplish this in FileMaker. Since drag and drop for reordering list items is not available, we have to use the closest thing possible. Making a two-click solution allows users to place a first selection relative to a second selection. Using some simple math and a complex script we can accomplish this user-centric task.

Watch this video to learn how you can implement portal row reordering into your own solutions!

After working on a FileMaker database for any given amount of time, you often find yourself setting up the same working environment over and over again. This is typically a process of creating special "viewer" windows where you watch what happens with your data as you develop.

The problem with this inconvenient task is it takes time to setup and position these windows - each time you start a new day of development. While FileMaker itself does not remember the windows you had open when you last closed a file, it is possible to accomplish this with a special developer script. If having a more enjoyable development experience is something you want with FileMaker Pro then watch this video and you'll start enjoying FileMaker even more!