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Our Library of Videos
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 Such is the case with anything that may become outdated.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!
Covering every single aspect of any given subsystem in a database solution can take quite a bit of time. There's typically some juicy tidbit of information you may have left out - and I wanted to make sure you get every little bit you can.
This was the case with the Notifications system. I wanted to make sure I covered every little detail, because it's such a useful aspect for any database.
Without being notified of events, which may be happening with data, all you really have is a data warehouse.
In this video, you'll learn about the how and why utility layouts are used, why it's so important to break things down into smaller interacting parts, and when you might want to offload a script to the server versus FileMaker client.
A few other things I cover are using a Queue table for your outbound email and why using a table is more effective then just sending email directly within scripts.
Rather than creating one or two scripts to solve one specific problem, it's typically better to solve the whole problem by creating a system which can be leveraged in more than one place and by more than one database system.
Such is the case with the Notifications system, which is now integrated into the KarateApp sample database.
The Notifications system is one in which a general approach is taken to sending out notifications to any target device via a particular method. What this means is that a SmartPhone would be a target device and SMS would be the method of notification.
Of course, the most common method of sending a notification might be email with the target being an email client. Ultimately, what we're talking about is getting the right information to the right people and doing it within a system which accommodates all the various possible methods.
Wish your FileMaker database could notify someone via email, sms, twitter, facebook post or some other method? Well, give this video a watch and you'll see that making this type of system is certainly possible.
The separation model requires creative thinking when it comes to keeping the data file clean of any extraneous fields. Fortunately, one of the best aspects of the Relationship Graph is that it doesn't care where the file resides or where the data comes from as long as it can access the fields for relationships.
Given the previous statement, we can certainly create extra UI tables in order to facilitate our fondest data dreams and wishes. Adding new tables to the UI file is par for the course when you consider the number of existing utility tables already being used by the KarateApp solution.
In this video, I talk about my use of a Mirror table for the People table and how it's going to play a role in an upcoming video about automated notifications. Mirror tables are very useful in a variety of situations. Knowing how to use one is certainly a beneficial FileMaker skill.
How could anyone ever expect to build a house without a hammer? How about throwing an air compressor and nail gun into the mix? Yeah, that's right, you can get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time when you have more powerful tools.
Every occupation has their tools. Typically, created by people within that profession who needed a faster, better way of doing things. A FileMaker database can quickly become a management nightmare. Adding new fields and relationships for new features is a super common task.
The problem is, how do you know you're not already duplicating effort that may already be present? In this video, I walk through some tools I use and others I've tried. While I may not use them all in daily development work, all of them become super helpful when you need what they provide!
Like many things in life, you can certainly know "what" something does and "how" to use it - but, you may not know "how it does what it does" and often more importantly, "why it works that way". As an example, if you knew everything about everything, then you'd likely know how to fix your car or a broken toilet.
So, why do you need a mechanic or a plumber? Because they do know "why it works that way". They know what's going on behind the scenes, not just how to take a seat and make something work (yeah, ok a bit of gross humor - but you get my point).
What I'm talking about here are little details in the way that something works. Those which help you understand FileMaker to the level where you can use that knowledge in other areas of the application. Such is the case with this integration of a Google Calendar via the FMgCal plugin.
This video has some great insights into the "how" and "why" you can use things like checksums, watching for modifications and duplicates. These little pieces of knowledge allow you to create more efficient systems and build better databases.
Creating a robust scheduling calendar within FileMaker can either be a big pain or an experience of joy. If you're into "the process" of figuring things out, such as "the how" then by all means, have at it.
However, if you're simply needing the functionality, and know you've got bigger, better problems to solve, then why not take full advantage of solutions which already exist.
If you really need all your data within FileMaker, then solutions such as SeedCode's Pro Calendar will get you started faster than you can add 42 repetitions - actually not that fast, but pretty darn fast.
If you tend to enjoy the free things in life, then using Google calendar is a GREAT solution. The problem is, however, that a Google calendar knows nothing about your data and will only manage the event itself - not who's attending (at least from your database) the event or which equipment needs to be at the event or any other related bit of information in your database.
At least it doesn't know until you start using a plugin such as FMgCal. This is the route I took when integrating a calendar into the KarateApp solution. True, I was going to make this solution 100% FileMaker, but seriously the amount of work a good calendar requires is MASSIVE!
I was so gratefully happy and ready to start using this plugin, that I just had to share how I've integrated it into this solution.
If getting a calendar into your FileMaker solution, with all the bells and whistles of a Google calendar, is a feature you've always desired, then the short investment of time to watch this video will solve that pain in quick fashion.
Security is one of those funny words. One dictionary definition is "the state of feeling safe, stable, and free from fear or anxiety".
While it may be hard to be completely "free from fear or anxiety" (when it comes to your data), you can certainly lock things down so it's SUPER hard for any "bad guy" to get anything of value.
Questions like "Is FileMaker secure" are pretty general, and given that FileMaker is just a tool, you're the responsible party for making sure things keep you free from that "fear or anxiety".
Since your FileMaker solution will inevitably need to reach out beyond itself, using external services, there are many situations where you need to secure things as much as possible.
In this video, I walk through accounts, passwords and security. Not FileMaker's accounts and passwords mind you - the accounts and passwords of your users and external services. I cover topics related to storing passwords within the database itself and how to go about securing access to external services used by your solution.
If you've not taken the time to learn the difference between a digest hash and encrypted data, and how you might use one versus the other, then watching this video will certainly help you out!