ISO FileMaker Magazine

The Virtual List technique, as it's come to be known, has been possible since the introduction of global variables with FileMaker 8. It wasn't widely known or used until Bruce Robertson started promoting its use in ways which were previously not envisioned. It can be used for more flexible printed output or showing information from multiple tables within one single portal or list view.

Essentially, you populate the contents of a $$global variable in some fashion and then parse that data into some viewable form - "on the fly" as they say.

The most common method of using this technique is to simply extract each line within the global variable using the GetValue() and Get ( RecordNumber ) functions. What makes it so powerful is the fact that the global variable can hold any data from any number of sources. This means you can mix-n-match to your heart's content.

How you get the data into the global variable can be managed in a variety of ways. Record loops, ExecuteSQL() function or even the overlooked Copy All Records script step.

In this video I showcase a technique which allows for individual portal rows to be expanded and hidden as necessary. This allows for a wide range of display possibilities. Each row can vary how it is presented using conditional formatting and the whole solution is just a great way to control how users interact with data.

One of the nicest feelings in the world is getting something for free. Especially when it really helps you out and it's valuable.

At the small cost of giving up a little bit of data, to one of the world's biggest data collectors, you can see how users use your FileMaker solution and what they do.

In fact, what you collect, and how, is totally up to you. You can control pretty much anything in terms of what you transfer to Google Analytics.

Many developers who have implemented Google's Analytics only go a short distance to what they could potentially collect. They often point to some remote site with embedded analytics code provided as the default by Google.

However, the usage of the default code is SO LIMITING. You can get as creative as you want when pushing data to Google Analytics. The big trick is to know what can be sent, how it's sent and what to do when Google has the data.

The reporting aspect, on Google's side, is where most of the power lies. What you need to do is determine what you want to push and when. Fortunately, this video has all the nitty gritty details for making things super easy for you!

There was a day, when either computers were simply too slow or people just weren't used to the idea of seeing themselves on the computer screen. Probably the later. The screen was for showing data, not for personal flattery.

However, the web and social media exploded and having some sort of user image, or avatar, is quite the norm these days.

Using a mobile device like an iPhone or iPad and taking advantage of FileMaker Go allows for all kinds of opportunity when it comes to capturing user images. The embedded cameras are great and take pictures which are just fine.

So fine, in fact that it may be too much information for simple use to display on the screen. There are also considerations related to the Retina display and how much more of an image you need than the actual size - it's double actually.

In this video, I provide the perfect mix of tools and information in order to really take advantage of mobile device cameras and the ability to present a picture perfect image - of whatever the user wants to use as their avatar within your FileMaker solution. Need some fancy graphics wrapped around? No problem. Just watch this video and use the code to integrate into your own FileMaker solution quite easily!

Having personally developed with both languages and frameworks which implement strong sets of standards, I quickly found that having some form of standards imposed, allowed me to focus more on the solution once the conventions were learned. I wasn't doing the same type of thing in two different ways due to the current "known" way.

Notice, I didn't say the "right" way. There's often more than one way to accomplish something. It's like driving a car however. No matter which one I hop into, they all have many of the same parts in the same place. Steering wheel, brakes, accelerator, etc.

Sure, nuances like the radio and air conditioning may be different, but they don't move the steering wheel around on you.

This makes it easy to adapt when moving from one car to the next. It provides a basis from which I can start to learn what I may not know about.

In 2010, I started documenting some of my own personal standards for FileMaker specific development - and invited others to join in. In this video, I discuss some of those standards and the why and how they work.

Over the few years since starting the web site, the number of people using them has increased. This has allowed the standards to grow based on the feedback and input from others. This video provides a variety of topics related to standards which may help you evolve your own or take advantage of, and leverage, those which have already been started.