ISO FileMaker Magazine

Because FileMaker is so flexible with how a file can be developed, it's not always easy to know where - or how - to start the process. On top of this, you have the numerous features which can be added. Which features fit your situation is all about knowing what can be done.

This video article walks through the process of starting a Companies, Contacts & Details database - but doing this in the most efficient method possible. The benefit to what is taught in this video is learning how to optimize your data storage. Acquiring the "optimized data mentality" and applying this to your set of skills is something that comes with practice and time - but getting a jump start on the process is always a great way to go! Watch this free video to learn how.

It's a FileMaker developer's dream to trigger a script based on any user action. This includes menus, moving in and out of fields, selecting popup menus and lists, or trigger based on the results of a calculation and more.

Well, FileMaker isn't quite there with providing an event model for controlling user interaction. However, it is possible to cause most of these types of events to happen. Using a free and stable plugin, you can trigger a script based on a popup menu selection or the results of a calculation. This makes it possible for our Scheduling Application to load the details of an event when selecting from month view. Even better, I've added a new feature called QuickAdd. This presents all of the available appointment time slots so an appointment can be quickly added. This is great for a Dr.'s office or similar profession where appointments are based on time blocks.

Learn more today by watching the video! Not a subscriber? Watch the preview to learn what we're talking about.

FileMaker, like most software applications, requires a certain level of knowledge to master. When it comes to creating the month view of a scheduling application, how can you get away from creating 42 unique relationships? One for each of the possible days in any given month of a year. Can it even be done? Of course it can!

Creating the month view in our scheduling application is simply a matter of using a variable portal. The variable portal technique is used to force a portal to show information in the format you desire. Beyond that, it will vary based on where you are at in the interface or based any other piece of criteria. Watch this video as we fix some of the loose ends and implement the last of our three critical views!

Our Scheduling Application series has offered something for everyone. It's hard not to learn a few things, if not MANY things, when you're building a complex application like a schedule manager. This video moves the series into discussing user-based preferences and mirrored lookups. Mirrored lookups aid in the process of data duplication and help us present the data the way we want.

From custom date formatting, on a user by user basis, to determining what should happen to deleted calendars, it's the little refinements that make a FileMaker solution a powerful application of technology. Watch this week's video to learn a variety of powerful feature techniques!

Working in FileMaker can be fun and easy, but some times it's about working around its own limitations. The phrase "portal within a portal" is a common phrase developers run into. It's a situation when you want to show subparts of subparts. In the case of a calendar, it's multiple time based events within multiple days within a week.

The inability to show a portal within a portal leads to some creative presentations of information. In this video you'll find valuable information about using a dedicated "View Table" to present data specifically the way you wish it to be shown. We walk through the modification of the day view to present both open and closed time slots. It's another great way to learn and understand the process of working in FileMaker Pro!

There's always some information that turns out to be the one thing you needed to know that would have saved tons of frustration and time. In this segment of the continuing series, we look at how to manage the creation and deletion of events in the context of using a global caching method of data presentation.

I expose some of the great aspects of FileMaker's creation of related records and I walk through the thought process required to determine the when, how and who can delete calendar item events. I also address the looming issue of events that span more than one day. Our Scheduling Application is turning out to be quite the power solution. Whether you're keeping up with the series or just getting started, you'll be up to speed in no time because, as a paid subscriber, you have access to all the videos on this site!

One of the most powerful features added to FileMaker Pro 7 is the ability to pass parameters to a script. This one feature alone has, and will save developers hundreds of hours of time in script duplication and interface to script management.

In this continuing series about developing a Scheduling Application, I take a look at adding in some nice features to manipulating the date and time values associated to events. I also restructure the calendar navigator for better performance and the addition of a nice bonus feature. The presentation of daily events can be controlled on a calendar by calendar basis and I've added in the ability to save changes to a selected event. All in all, this is one more great lesson in learning FileMaker Pro and how to develop a professional database application!

There's always something a computer can do faster, better or at that inconvenient late-night hour when you should be sleeping instead of watching those late, late night shows. What we're talking about is automated processing. Every modern operating system comes with some type of system for making things happen at a predefined time, according to some type of schedule.

Well, now you have the information to hook into that system and cause FileMaker Pro to do certain things as well - using automated script triggering If FileMaker Pro is the system that holds your invoices for your online orders then why not automate the printing process and have them ready for you each morning - hot off the printer. What about sending email each time an order is entered. These are just a few of the processes you can automate. You just need to know how it happens!

Sometimes, FileMaker Pro just can't display your data the way you want. Then again, that's only if you don't know about the work arounds. Knowing how to structure data and knowing how to display data are two different topics.

This video introduces information about avoiding display issues when using a portal to filter out the events of a given day, especially when combined with filtering out events based on a given calendar as well.

You'll also learn how to use "global caching" in order to optimize your interface for the best display possible of individual calendar events. Even if you haven't been following the Scheduling Application series, there's a ton of great information to learn from this video! Subscribe today and you can watch the whole series.

Designing the interface of your solution is what determines how the solution will be developed. It controls how the Graph will look and function and it determines the capabilities of your application. In this video, I take a look at properly filtering a portal after having established existing connections in the Graph. We also apply some necessary organization to the various area of our solution. With the final look and feel established, I start to add a few more interface features and to lay the ground work for working on the next major area of the Scheduling Application.