Author: Andrew Witschonke

User’s Sandbox: Performance, data integrity, and UX for FileMaker

by Andrew Witschonke
Posted in All, Claris Development, Community, Events, FileMaker, FileMaker 19, FileMaker 2023, FileMaker 2024, FileMaker Go, FileMaker Server, Performance, Software Design, Techniques

The “User’s Sandbox” (aka “Local File”) technique builds a sandbox for data editing by users, protecting data integrity and transactionality, without sacrificing usability. After refining this approach to prioritize user experience and security, at Beezwax we’ve used it for years, adapting it to build more performant, more accurate, better looking, and more functional Claris FileMaker applications.

Andrew “Red” Witschonke, Director of Engineering at Beezwax, first presented on the User’s Sandbox technique at Claris Engage 2024 — the premier event for the FileMaker development community, held at Apple’s Austin Campus and hosted by Claris, an Apple company.

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Importing, Made Easy by FileMaker 18

by Andrew Witschonke
Posted in FileMaker, FileMaker 18

Out With the Old…

Anyone who has used FileMaker will be familiar with the powerful import abilities the platform has. Being able to quickly and easily ingest comma- or tab-delimited data and Excel files makes merging multiple data sources into a single cohesive application pretty convenient. However, the import UI that has existed for the platform over the last decade (maybe longer) is cumbersome and often downright frustrating. This is especially the case when trying to import many columns and match them to fields with different names than the source.

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Lost in Layout Space: Getting to Know FileMaker 17’s Layout Mode

by Andrew Witschonke
Posted in All, Design, FileMaker, FileMaker 17, Techniques

Way back when FileMaker 14 was released, as developers we were treated to the new-and-improved script workspace, adding all kinds of features from line breaks to auto-complete/type-ahead coding. To any of us who spend most of our day working in FileMaker, the response was sheer joy.

For all of its speed, flexibility, and ease-of-use, sometimes our favorite platform is missing some of those “standard”, quality-of-life features you would expect. For a long time, Layout mode has been lacking a few key features you would normally expect to see in a modern design application. With FileMaker 17, we get much closer to bridging that gap, receiving a whole bunch of handy, time-saving features along the way. Let’s dive in and take a look.
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