Category: bBox

Better, Faster Random Text for FileMaker

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, FileMaker, FileMaker 2024, FileMaker 2025, FileMaker Server, Integration, JavaScript, Performance, Python, Testing

We often need large amounts of random text to simulate real-world data loads while building a FileMaker solution. I was looking to create a large chunks of unique data for testing — we’re talking at least millions of characters. Here, I’ll compare the performance of a few methods I tried.

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bBox 1.06 for FileMaker enhances support for macOS text windows and Python

by Simon Brown
Posted in AI, AI with FM, All, bBox, Claris Development, FileMaker, FileMaker 2024, FileMaker 2025, FileMaker Server, FM Products, Integration, Python, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to announce the release of bBox version 1.06 for Claris® FileMaker®, which adds support for macOS text windows and many update enhancements, including to bBox’s support for integrating Python code with your FileMaker apps.

bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries. Supporting both macOS & Ubuntu Linux, it has functions to help you work with Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, Bash/Zsh/sh, XPath, and DuckDB. Also included is a demo file that has over 220 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

If you’re interested in Python integration with FileMaker, also check out bzPython-FM, which uses bBox.

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Using OData, Syslog or DuckDB to handle FileMaker Schema Change Notifications (via Plug-in API)

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, Claris Development, FileMaker, FileMaker 2024, FileMaker Data API, FileMaker Server, FM Products, Integration, Performance, Techniques, Tools & Add-ons

FileMaker Server v21.1 (2024) introduced functionality for plug-ins to receive notifications of changes to database schema, layout, custom functions, or scripts. Notification messaging is passed in the form of JSON. Let’s show a few examples of these JSON payloads, and how a plug-in might use external tools (Syslog, DuckDB or OData) to handle things.

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bBox 1.05 for FileMaker Now Available

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, Claris Development, FileMaker, FileMaker 19, FileMaker 2023, FileMaker 2024, FM Products, Integration, Python, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to announce the release of bBox version 1.05, which adds support for schema change notifications, a new Ubuntu ARM binary, and DuckDB integration.

bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries. Supporting both macOS & Ubuntu Linux, it has functions to help you work with Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, Bash/Zsh/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Also included is a demo file that has over 220 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

If you’re interested in Python integration with FileMaker, also check out bzPython-FM, which uses bBox.

Continue reading “bBox 1.05 for FileMaker Now Available” →

bBox 1.04 for FileMaker Now Available

by Simon Brown
Posted in bBox, FileMaker, FileMaker 2023, FileMaker 2024, FileMaker Cloud, FileMaker Data API, FileMaker Server, FM Products, Integration, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Swift, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to announce the release bBox version 1.04, including improvements to text parsing, XPath and SQLite support, and utility functions for FileMaker Admin API, Data API and OData API.

bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries. Supporting both macOS & Ubuntu Linux, it has functions to help you work with Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, Bash/Zsh/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Also included is a demo file that has over 220 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

Continue reading “bBox 1.04 for FileMaker Now Available” →

Beezwax Sponsors and Presents at Claris Engage 2024, FileMaker Developer Conference on Apple’s Austin Campus

by Jay Gonzales
Posted in All, bBox, Beezwax News, Business, bzBond, Claris Connect, Claris Development, Community, Events, FileMaker, FileMaker 2023, InspectorPro, Performance, Software Design, Tableau FM, Tools & Add-ons

Claris Engage is the largest event for the Claris / FileMaker developer community. Hosted by Claris, an Apple company, Engage 2024 brings together hundreds of attendees to the Apple Campus in Austin, Texas for three days of collaboration, learning & training, networking and connecting with other peers and partners, with a theme of “Build The Future”.

Beezwax Highlights At Claris Engage 2024

As an award-winning Claris Platinum Partner, and Sponsor for Claris Engage 2024, Beezwax is proud to announce that:

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bzPython-FM performs Python for your FileMaker apps

by Beezwax Team
Posted in All, bBox, Claris Development, Data Analytics, FileMaker, FileMaker 19, FileMaker 2023, FileMaker Server, FM Products, Integration, Python, Tools & Add-ons

bzPython-FM easily performs Python code within FileMaker, using the bBox plugin.

There are literally thousands of Python packages out there, for AI and Machine Learning, data analysis, data science and IT automation — now at your fingertips from within FileMaker.

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Leveraging pandas with Python to Analyze FileMaker Data Sets

by Nat Robinson
Posted in bBox, Claris Development, Data Analytics, FileMaker, FileMaker 19, FileMaker 2023, FileMaker Server, Integration, Python, Tableau FM, Techniques, Tools & Add-ons

The pandas library for Python has become a go-to tool for many data scientists and analysts. In this blog post, we’ll examine one strategy for leveraging the highly powerful tools within pandas to enhance data analysis capabilities using the Claris FileMaker platform. We’ll do this by calling the bBox plugin and its built-in Python functions.

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bBox v0.99 Integrates Claris FileMaker with JavaScript, Python 3 and Supports M1 Apple Silicon

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, Claris Development, FileMaker, FileMaker 19, FileMaker Server, Integration, JavaScript, Node.js, Python, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to release bBox version 0.99 for Claris® FileMaker® on macOS and Linux with new NodeJS and Python 3 integration, and M1 Apple silicon support for GraphicsMagick image processing and JQ JSON parsing functions.

About bBox Plug-in For FileMaker

bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend Claris FileMaker solutions to easily use macOS and Linux code libraries and functions from Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, C/C++, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Also included is a demo file with more than 210 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

bBox is available on macOS and Linux, and runs with either FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server. Here’s what FileMaker Magazine had to say about bBox version 0.99:

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bBox for FileMaker v0.98 with M1, GraphicsMagick & Sips

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, Claris Development, FileMaker, FileMaker 18, FileMaker 19, FileMaker Server, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to release bBox version 0.98, with with new image file functions and M1/Apple Silicon support.

bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries and macOS-based functions from Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, C/C++, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Also included is a demo file that has over 220 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

Some of the changes in version 0.98 are:

  • M1/Apple Silicon binary
  • Ubuntu compatible version (in addition to CentOS)
  • updated to libxml2 version 2.9.12
  • added bBox_GraphicsMagick function & script step
  • added bBox_Sips function & script step
  • modifications to several functions & script steps to add parameters
  • fixed template text used in several functions & script steps to better describe parameters
  • limit POSIX commands to 3 cores
  • new mode to combine stderr with stdout

Continue reading “bBox for FileMaker v0.98 with M1, GraphicsMagick & Sips” →

bBox for FileMaker v0.96 with JSON processing, Python 3 and more

by Simon Brown
Posted in bBox, FileMaker, FileMaker 18, FileMaker 19, Python, Ruby, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to release bBox version 0.96, with JSON processing via jq, Python 3 compile/run,  and improvements supporting Zsh, cURL and Ruby.

bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries and macOS-based functions from Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, C/C++, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Also included is a demo file that has over 210 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

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bBox for FileMaker v0.95 Now Available

by Simon Brown
Posted in bBox, FileMaker, FileMaker 18, FileMaker Server, Integration, JavaScript, Python, Tools & Add-ons, Unix

We are pleased to release bBox version 0.95. bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries and macOS-based functions from Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Also included is a demo file that has over 210 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

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bBox for FileMaker v0.93 Now Available

by Simon Brown
Posted in bBox, FileMaker, Integration, JavaScript, Python, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to release bBox version 0.93, including new FileMaker script steps and web viewer functions. bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries and macOS-based functions from Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Also included is a demo file that has over 210 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

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bBox for FileMaker v0.90 Now Available

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, FileMaker, FileMaker Server, Integration, JavaScript, Python, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to release bBox version 0.90. bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries and macOS-based functions from Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Included is a demo file that has over 200 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

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Overcoming TLS Frustrations with Python and macOS Sierra

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, Python

The short version of this is that you probably want to upgrade to High Sierra (macOS 10.13) if you need to do much of anything with the built-in macOS version of Python and any network tasks.
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JavaScript for FileMaker with bBox

by Jay Gonzales
Posted in bBox, FileMaker, Integration, JavaScript, JSON, Python, Tools & Add-ons

In 2017, we released several new versions of bBox plugin. In the spirit of yearly retrospective, let’s highlight perhaps the most exciting new bBox feature: JavaScript for FileMaker. The new JavaScript for FileMaker functions in bBox are great for heavy duty JSON processing tasks, repurposing JavaScript code for use in FileMaker, or other computation intensive processing. Here’s a recap…

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FileMaker Server 16 Gotcha: Get ( SystemDrive ) and Friends

by Darren Burgess
Posted in All, bBox, FileMaker, FileMaker 16, FileMaker Server, Tools & Add-ons

FileMaker 16 has been out for several months, however we wanted to call attention to a change that can effect your application’s use of server side scripting. Recently, we upgraded a client project to FileMaker Server 16, and found that critical functionality had mysteriously broken. After a bit of sleuthing and gnashing of teeth, we found that changes to the output of Get(SystemDrive), when executed server-side (PSOS or via a scheduled script), was the culprit.

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bBox 0.88 for FileMaker Now Available

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, JavaScript, Python, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to release bBox version 0.88. bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries and macOS-based functions from Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Included is a demo file that has over 180 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

Continue reading “bBox 0.88 for FileMaker Now Available” →

bBox for FileMaker v0.86 Now Available

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, FileMaker, Integration, JavaScript, Tools & Add-ons

We are pleased to release bBox version 0.86. bBox is a free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to easily use code libraries and macOS-based functions from Python, JavaScript, PHP, Ruby, AppleScript, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite. Included is a demo file that has over 180 examples of how you can put bBox functions to work for you.

Continue reading “bBox for FileMaker v0.86 Now Available” →

Version 0.84 of bBox for FileMaker Now Available

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, FileMaker, FileMaker 15, FileMaker Server, Integration, Python, Tools & Add-ons

Optimized for FileMaker 15, the new version of bBox includes 160 examples

We are pleased to release another update to bBox, v0.84 of our free utility plug-in to extend FileMaker solutions to other programs, code libraries, and OS X functions including Python, Ruby, AppleScript, Perl, Bash/sh, XPath, and SQLite.

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