ISO FileMaker Magazine

When first using FileMaker's Filter Portal Records feature it's easy to get excited about how you can limit the set of records to exactly what the user needs to see. You start adding a single filter and the result feels like magic. A simple search filter using a global field will let you extra exactly the records you want. It's great!

However, when start adding more and more filters things start to get complicated really fast. You have to become super comfortable with creating complex calculations with a lot of Boolean logic. If you don't know how to use your AND and OR operators, then it can really seem daunting.

In this video we take a detailed look at how to break down a complex multi-filter approach and make it seem really easy to achieve some super advanced portal filtering. If you've ever been confused about making your portals show exactly what the user needs, especially when using multiple filtering vectors, then enjoy the understanding you'll receive from watching this video.

For anything that could possibly go wrong within FileMaker we have a list of Error Codes. They're easily referenced from within FileMaker's help documentation. While they won't give you the exact solution to any particular error that's happening, they do provide the starting point for where to look and troubleshoot.

In this video, we take a look at how to simply use and reference the provided FileMaker error codes. We also look at how you can intentionally cause an error in order to take control of certain feature of FileMaker.

If having a better understanding of working with errors within your software sounds like a good idea (and it is) then you'll have the info you need to get started.

Sometimes it's nice to revisit the basics and make sure you've covered all your bases when it comes to what you can do with certain features.

In this video, I take a good look at using the Hide Object When calculation and cover the various options I'm familiar with. This includes uses for the most basic True/False to an increasingly complex calculation which starts adding more and more operators. I also go over the use of containment objects and how they can simplify the use of the Hide Object When calculation.

Have you mastered the use of the Hide Object When calc? Are you integrating uses which account for the user's environment? If not, then give yourself a few minutes and brush up on using this powerful feature of FileMaker development.

In the world of software development, there are few tools you simply can't live without. A debugger is the first which comes to mind; because no one gets their code exactly perfect the first time. Plus, it's always a matter of figuring things out until they work as expected or desired.

There are also those "other" tools which you can't really live without. ESPECIALLY, if you're working with a solution file which was created by someone other than yourself! When you need to discover what the heck was done, how, (and possibly why) then you absolutely need a tool like FMPerception.

In this video I showcase the FMPerception tool from Proof+Geist and cover what I think are the essential things to know about using the tool. True, there is way more to the tool than can be covered within a single video, but I do my best to give you some solid insight into using it.

This is Part 2 of a series about using the DataTables JavaScript library in order to simply pull data you wish to display and doing so within a Web Viewer.

While standard FileMaker Portals present one of the easiest methods for showing related data, it's now a viable option to simply use a Web Viewer to present data to the user. With the bi-directional support of JavaScript within FileMaker 19 and higher we can take advantage of what JavaScript does best - being fast!

In this video we focus specifically on the initialization and interaction between a Web Viewer using DataTables and how you can add buttons and features which make using DataTables a joy within FileMaker.

Portals and list views represent one of the biggest reasons for using a database for managing data. You can view the data in a myriad of ways and FileMaker provides the tools to modify the views quite easily.

FileMaker's list view happens to be the most powerful when compared to portals. We don't really have the same feature set presented within a portal. Using a portal it's an all or nothing approach to sorting by default and you can't really search the portal contents. You can certainly hack in some method of controlling the sort and the old standby of simply adding new copies of the same portal, just sorted in different directions, has always been a go-to workaround.

Well, has the time come to simply abandon your portals? What?!?!! Abandon portals? Is that even possible in FileMaker?

Actually, it is, with what FileMaker now offers with bi-directional support within Web Viewers, it may be more viable than you've ever considered. In this two part video series I show you exactly how easy it is to simply retrieve some data, then present that data within a web viewer. Essentially, replicating a portal - except for the constant data connection.

In many ways, this has become a prime opportunity to choose either a portal or web viewer. The days of always using a portal may have come to an end. But, I'll let the video speak for itself and you can choose if you want to leave your portals behind in favor of what can now be done within a web viewer.

Being able to develop locally, as if the data and the server was right there on your local machine provides a nice advantage. You know how the solution will work when hosted, you can develop and test PSOS scripts effectively, and you're generally protected from client crashes. Plus, you're fully mobile if need be - it's all on one machine.

This is where hosting your FileMaker solutions locally becomes a big advantage. This video showcases what I consider to be the Big 3 of local hosting. 1) You can install FileMaker Server right onto your local machine within the local OS. 2) You can run FileMaker Server within a virtual machine or 3) you can now use Docker locally to host your FileMaker data.

No matter what you choose, it's beneficial to emulate that server environment and host your data locally as you develop. This video will provide you with some of the details about making that happen and which one you might choose to go with.

Like any good craftsperson, you should know your tools and your methods for accomplishing things in the most efficient and best performing way. This is always most obvious when it comes to that every slowing FileMaker solution which started out innocently as a simple "helper" database. Then... it ended up being used for all kinds of things. Critical things even!

It was thrown together based on how you mentally "see" the data and not how the data should have been structured. This is one of those painful lessons where you have to go in and retrofit the data to a new structure or make plans to migrate to an updated solution.

In this video, I discuss the ever important topic of Narrow vs. Wide tables. It's a common problem in a large number of FileMaker solutions. I know because I've seen tables with field counts within the thousands. This just shouldn't be the case. FileMaker is an all-or-nothing data solution when it comes to records. If you have 1,000 fields, then FileMaker will give you all the data from all 1,000 fields. This is unlike SQL, where you only return the data you specifically ask for. With FileMaker, you have to plan your solution's data management much more carefully! Watch this video for a better understanding of how to make your tables more narrow.

Pretty much all over the world you'll find technology which can scan barcodes. Smartphones with cameras just waiting to scan either their very first, or even their 1000th barcode scan. With just over a decade since the first iPhone came out, it's pretty hard to not find a use case where a barcode can help you retire some antiquated manual process. Barcodes can be used almost anywhere to make faster and/or easier solutions.

Given that FileMaker Go supports all major barcode types, you simply need a method for creating your own barcodes within FileMaker. In 2017 I created an article about using a free JavaScript library called QRious and in this article I bring you an updated implementation plus a new library with the inclusion of how you can secure your own barcode content.

If you're ever in the need of making sure that the barcode you're scanning has originated from your FileMaker solution then you'll find the know-how you need within this video and the associated file. The additional JavaScript library I've discovered is also a great enhancement if you need vector based barcodes with support for unicode characters which are not supported by QRious. Need anything to do with QR barcodes? Check this video out!

Every trade has its own tips for making your work go faster or happen more easily. During this holiday season I thought it would be great to bring you 12 Tips of Developing in FileMaker Pro.

So, I opened FileMaker and stared at the blank screen of a new file thinking about the things that tend to help me out the most. I pulled down a CSV file from Data.gov and just let the tips flow out from there.

I hope, with this list of 12 tips, you'll pick up some productivity enhancements that will carry you forward into the new year! Happy Holidays!