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Our Library of Videos
Knowing how to structure hierarchy, within data, should be one of your core pieces of know-how regarding data structure. Once you understand it, you can always leverage the knowledge for a variety of tasks. This structure applies to checking for sequential numerical entries (knowing when sequence is broken), generating a visual tree of levels and sub levels or storing a list of hierarchical value lists - most efficiently.
Building on a file presented in 2004, it goes to show that this basic structure for how data is stored does not change, nor is it likely to ever change. It's simply how you store data for hierarchy based information.
If, in your database, you need to present value list selections that hinge on each other then this is the video and technique file that you need!
Duplicate, duplicate, duplicate. Yes, it's true, we live in a world of copy and paste (darn those iPhone developers). When you don't need to type it a second time there's no reason to do so. Especially, when each time you type it again you increase the chances of error.
In this video, I walk through some of the templating steps you can take as part of your predevelopment stage. Even as an experienced developer, I often find myself creating a layout or table from raw FileMaker elements. When I find myself doing it, I make myself stop and create (or add to) a previous template and copy from it. It's truly the quickest way to your desired result.
Make your own suggestions about possible template fields, layouts, tables, elements in the comment area!
Using specific naming conventions is all about 'making sense'. Not only about what you're developing right now, but also what you're going to need to understand in the future - about your own solutions!
"Keeping things simple" has always been a popular phrase, however, when it comes to creating, and more importantly maintaining, a complex database system, you need to understand what you've done.
There are many cryptic ways to define and document your solution. In my opinion, and that of a few other well respected developers, the KISS model of naming and conventions used within a FileMaker solution go a long way towards making it easier to maintain and enhance.
This video contains the conventions I'll be using as I showcase my work on the My Invoicer solution.
Based on feedback and questions about using [what I'm calling] the Optimized Separation Model, where the Interface file is located on the client machine of a distributed solution, I've decided to provide an extended look at the implementation of the described system.
Using a method of stripped and default passwords, I explain how to deploy a local interface separation model of solution development. The advantages of this approach have been covered in a previous video, and I must admit that while using the solution over the WAN (wide area network), things have become much speedier for my own solution.
In the past, as I've pointed out, I was not fond of the separation model. While working on the specifics of this solution, I'm finding that the advantages seem to pile up. The few disadvantages of not being able to use a specific technique here and there are diminishing.
Enjoy the video!
When FileMaker 7 was released, there was a new thought in town. That thought was "Ahhh, great, now we can separate the interface from the data." While this angle of attack was perfectly doable, it wasn't as ideal as some first thought.
It wasn't until FileMaker 8 came out with its support of variables that a lot of the "cruft" in a FileMaker solution was starting to be cut out. For the adventurous few, who used the separation model, sometimes shortened to SM, the advantages of reduced corruption potential and much easier updates were a big boon to using this approach.
Even I, was hesitant to use this approach because I knew of many "techniques" which were accomplished within just a single file. There is a very "filemaker way" of doing things when you've done them that way in the past. Letting go of this mindset, is something that requires a leap of faith when you've not used a separation model before. That's where this video will help resolve (hopefully) a lot of your [fears||doubts||concerns||questions] (pick a word) about this approach. This video will provide you with information about how to make things work.
As always, feedback is welcomed!
In continuing with what should be a popular series, I talk about how I go about creating some of the graphics used in the FileMaker Invoicer template. Taking network transfer time into consideration and learning how to get the most optimized graphics is always a valuable skill.
Even if you're not a Photoshop pro, there are many applications which allow you to create flexible graphics for your FileMaker layouts.
If you're the type who's color challenged, then have no fear, there are both commercial and free tools that make this part of the process very easy. While I'll likely cover other aspects of graphics throughout the series, this is a great place to start if you've not worked with the graphics end of the process.
The title of this series may be a bit misleading. In these videos, I don't really start at Zero. In fact, I make a number of assumptions about what you may already know. You know what a field is, don't you? How about a Layout? Of course you do! What you need to know how to go about building a solution, not how you open ScriptMaker and place steps within a script. So here's the approach. Build a fully usable solution and give the viewer every single tip and trick you can think of as you build it.
Even an experienced developer never knows it all. There's always something more to know. It's how you tackle the problem, not how you use an If() statement. It's an amazing thing really. You think you're good, maybe even great, and then you find out what you know is only a portion of what's possible.
This is the first video of a proposed series of videos that walk through the whole process of building a FileMaker solution from zero to awesome. No stone, or layout, is unturned.
Whenever a new version of FileMaker is released, we always see a flood of great techniques. Going back to FileMaker 8 and combining a new feature from FileMaker 9, gives us the opportunity to create the best looking and fastest sorting portals possible.
The sorting portals portion of the video is free for anyone to watch in the Preview edition. If you're a paid subscriber then I have a very powerful addition to this technique that can be used in other areas of your FileMaker solution as well. It's my Universal Sort Arrow.
The implementation, while a bit complex underneath, is very flexible and allows you to use one single field for all of your directional sort indicators on any field being sorted.
The technique file showcases just use on sorted portals, but can be extended to accommodate list views as well. Just imagine, one single calculated field for all of your sort indicators. No more graphics (unless you want them) and no more extra time spent on implementation. Once you have this technique integrated it's a matter of seconds to support a new sort arrow for any of your sorted columns!
In 2007 we saw a lot of changes with FileMaker. With the release of FileMaker 9 we gained the very powerful conditional formatting feature and the ability to resize windows with graphics in tow. With each release, FileMaker becomes more and more powerful.
In this video you'll find a quick (well, I tried to make it quick) rundown of many of the major articles covered throughout the year.
There were a number of very powerful techniques which showed up and should be core "know-how" for many of your database solutions.
With the release of this video I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and much luck with their FileMaker development.
While it may seem like a little overkill, it really is possible to save all of the active tabs in FileMaker for each record for each layout for each user. Wow, that's a lot of 'each'es'.
In this video you'll learn how to capitalize on the technique recently shown which reveals how to trigger a script based on record changes. By using the default option of an If() statement, you can save all of the current Layout Data - including all of the active tabs.
The only thing not covered in this video is how to take this technique one step further and storing the viewed state for each layout for each record for each user for each session. How's that for one more 'each'. Enjoy the video and making your tabs stick on a layout by layout and record by record basis!