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Our Library of Videos
FileMaker's Script Triggers can be seen as either a big help or a big hindrance. It really depends on what your experience is with them and how you've created your solutions.
If you've never really worked with Script Triggers, then you're missing a big key to the automation puzzle. If you've used them, but found they get in the way more than help, then you need this video. If you've found that sweet spot of using them and not being discouraged by their idiosyncrasies, then take advantage of the help file shown in this video.
The video and associated file cover how Script Triggers integrate into FileMaker and how to take advantage of them. Prior to FileMaker version 10, the only option for user executed scripts was through your standard button definition. With the addition of Script Triggers, interaction was extended to the general environment within FileMaker.
Moving to a layout, loading a record, hitting a key on the keyboard and many other possibilities entered the picture. Make sure you know how Script Triggers work and you'll be well on your way to making the most of any FileMaker solution you create.
Imagine driving your car without a speedometer. You still know there are laws where a ticket will cost you if you drive over a certain speed. You need information. You need to know how fast you're going. Now flip that around for FileMaker and what you need to know is how slow your scripts are running.
When it comes to creating your FileMaker solution, in particular your scripts, in many cases, you don't know how fast they're running. You just know it "takes some time", and the general approach may be "Well, it takes the time it takes" and leave it at that.
Or, you can take just a small amount of extra effort and benchmark what you've done, then try to find a faster method.
Many times, there are so many inefficiencies, that it's the developer who has caused the slowdown. Maybe the layout is the slow point, maybe it's the number of steps, maybe it's a particular combination of functions being used. You'll never know until you benchmark and compare.
That's what this video is all about. How you can benchmark your scripts and evaluate what direction to take. Right off the bat, I can tell you that using Perform Script on Server will be a huge time-saver for many of your scripts. Beyond that, there may be all kinds of optimizations you can make. What you really need is a simple way to do some benchmarking.
So, watch this video and try out the technique file - you'll be glad you did!
User navigation is one of the most fundamentally obvious features of any software solution. How easy this navigation is, is often a mix of the platform/device being used, the process flow, and what the developer knows about providing navigation based features within FileMaker.
As well, one of the most exhilarating things about developing a clean feature within your database is knowing it's a low-impact, high value feature. Something which makes life easier for users and adds that little bit of extra "coolness" to your solution.
That feeling of exhilaration was exactly what I felt when I implemented this technique for the first time. I know the users of the system will receive a lot of value, given they spend a lot of time jumping around within the same list view - especially just after performing a search.
While scrolling through a few records in list view is tolerable, it can quickly become a hassle when you have a lot of records to move through.
Fortunately, FileMaker provides some really nice features in List view when sorted by a sub-summary. Not only can you obviously use summary fields to show all kinds of aggregate information, but, FileMaker will keep the list sorted when taking actions like omitting records.
This technique of jumping through sub-summary list views is an excellent example of working with the data on screen. If you've not had the realization that if FileMaker can show the data, then you can access it, then this video is for you!
Helping users navigate your FileMaker solution is one of the primary objectives of any developer. When it comes to menu systems, you'll find everything from simple buttons on a layout to the complex use of portals and other FileMaker objects such as the newer Popover object. In this video and technique file, you'll find a clean implementation of Global variables which support an unlimited number of dynamic menus. These menus can be changed based on their count and functionality at anytime within any location inside the solution.
Using other FileMaker 13 specific features, such as the ability to hide objects, you can have a very flexible navigation system. It can obey your security and privilege access rules and change dynamically based on wherever the user is within your solution.
If your solution is limited on space and you desire the use of a horizontal menu system, then this Dynamic Menu System provides for a high degree of power.
Outside of plain text, you can't get much more standard than HTML and PDF. They're pretty much agreed up by all major operating systems and the users who use them. FileMaker certainly supports embedding PDFs within container fields and HTML is quite easily integrated into Web Viewers. Using HTML within FileMaker is one of the most flexible ways to present information.
About the only thing you could wish for, (Yes, I'm sure you could wish for a lot of things) is any easy way to convert your HTML into a PDF. Here's the cool thing, it's already been done!
Using the open source tool wkhtmltopdf, you can populate your web viewer with whatever information you wish. Need a pivot table? Need more display control for your printed Invoices than FileMaker's native Layout mode? Need to integrate information from multiple sources out on the web? Need to just attach a simple PDF to an outbound email?
You've got the solution now. This video and the provided technique file will get you up and running within a very short period of time. With FileMaker 13 and its Perform Script on Server, this solution is bound to be one of your most powerful tools available!
Working with subsets of data is an extremely common activity within a database. Automating the selection of subsets is also a common objective. In this video tutorial, the various ways to select, identify and mark a range of records is what's covered. If you've found yourself wondering what the best method for marking a range of records is, then look no further. The technique file provided and the associated video will both educate and inspire you when working on your own solutions within FileMaker Pro.
Using the common task of marking a record, the technique file provides a variety of ways to extract the identifying key values for each of the records within a sub-group. Once the key values have been acquired, you have the option of what to use them for. This can be as simple as marking the subset or adding or removing the values from a larger subset.
With the primary objective of not changing the state of the user interface, learning how to deal with similar automated processes will help you become a better FileMaker Pro developer.
Unlike other programming languages, where the database is often separate from the language used to code solution logic, FileMaker includes everything, all wrapped up into one potentially giant mess of spaghetti.
In order to avoid the often inevitable pitfalls of being overly complex, you must code your FileMaker solution with efficiency and simplification in mind. FileMaker has many places where logic can exist in. It can be on an object, in a parameter, within a script, within conditional formatting, in an auto-enter setting, and obviously within the graph and data structure.
Your primary goal of keeping things simple means you need to be aware of how a FileMaker solution can grow and your field count is one of those areas. If you can reduce the number of fields, then your solution will be easier to understand. Choosing from three items is always faster and easier than choosing from fifty. With good segmentation, clean organization and a focus on limiting the number of "things to manage", you can create a very powerful FileMaker solution which doesn't suffer from object overwhelm. That's what this video is all about.
One of the fastest ways to load records into a found set is to simply perform a Find. What becomes a bit difficult, beyond your most basic single field search, is filtering the results of what the user has specified by the requirements of the solution.
What needs to happen is a plain and simple hijacking of FileMaker's Find mode.
This can easily be done with the features provided by FileMaker Pro. You just need to know where and how to hook things up. Most intermediate to advanced users know about FileMaker's Custom Menu Sets, and that's a great place to start, but, what if there was an easier way to limit search results based on a very simple implementation which you may not have considered before?
That's what this video is all about. The features which provide you with the greatest amount of control over what happens within FileMaker's Find mode. Ever wanted to hijack FileMaker's Quick Find? You can do that too. You control what a search returns when you know how to hijack Find mode!
Bad joke: How do you know when your database has a problem?
Answer: Simple, you make a query about it - and have it notify you.
Ok, all jokes aside, you're taking the time to create a wonderful work of technological art by creating a database which will solve all kinds of real world problems.
The problem, however, is you may not know when things go right, or wrong, within your database. Probably, because you haven't taken the time to code in some type of notification system. Fortunately, this is quite easy.
There are all kinds of possible notifications you can use, starting with your most common, which is email. However, email isn't always the most immediate or effective. What about SMS? Or, how about a native (and immediate) smartphone notification system?
Using notifications, you can not only enhance the usefulness of administrative communications for your database, but use the same features for your users as well.
This video and sample file will provide you with the steps and knowledge necessary to make an effective database notification system. If you've never integrated your database with a third party system, and using some of FileMaker 13's new features is on your bucket list, then make sure and give this video a quick review!
FileMaker does data, and it does it well - and easily. What FileMaker doesn't do "as" well is data visualization. This isn't because it couldn't. It's because they just haven't been able to focus on it as much. Sure, you can format portals, use repeating fields and use conditional formatting for all kinds of display magic, but you won't realize the same results as you could with a tool or language built specifically for data visualization.
In my humble opinion, they shouldn't work too hard on this either. This is because we have access to technology which provides far more than FileMaker ever can. FileMaker took ages before it had an integrated charting feature. Before that, you had to use a plugin and eventually you could use a remote API through a web viewer.
FileMaker has made a lot of progress with regards to the usability of its charting tool too. It's a great tool for basic data display.
However, when you need to go beyond the constraints of FileMaker's charting tool, the place you'll end up is within the web viewer. Granted, you'll need to shrug off any fear of learning HTML/CSS/JavaScript, but the benefits are well worth the journey.
In this video, I showcase how easy it is to integrate the very powerful JavaScript library D3. It's a power-user's tool which takes full advantage of everything that HTML/CSS/SVG has to offer. Within a world where data visualization is becoming a common form of data communication, this one video provides the first step of many towards taking advantage of some very powerful tools!