Category: FileMaker

[PR] Beezwax Announces InspectorPro 4 for FileMaker 12

by Jay Gonzales
Posted in All, Beezwax News, Data Analytics, FileMaker, InspectorPro, News, Tools & Add-ons

Beezwax Announces InspectorPro 4 for FileMaker 12

Leading Developer Tool Now Up To 10x Faster, Provides Deeper Analysis for FileMaker 12 Databases

MIAMI, Fla. – July 16, 2012 – Beezwax Datatools, Inc. today announced InspectorPro 4, a major new version of the leading developer tool for FileMaker 12 database analysis. Rewritten from the ground up to take advantage of FileMaker 12’s new architecture, InspectorPro 4 is up to 10 times faster than previous versions at processing FileMaker Database Design Reports. New features provide deeper analysis of database elements, a central dashboard, localized UI options, and powerful data visualizations – enabling FileMaker developers to discover more about their databases than ever before.

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Go, JavaScript Go!

by Brian Schick
Posted in All, FileMaker, JavaScript, Techniques, Tools & Add-ons

Introduction

You gotta love FileMaker Go. Go’s ability to effortlessly create data-driven mobile apps and extend existing desktop data applications to mobile users is transformative. But sooner or later, almost all of us run up against one of Go’s core limitations: its lack of native plugins.

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Getting a FileMaker label’s text in a conditional formula

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

I wanted to do some conditional formatting, such that when a global field had a certain value the label would change its appearance. For example, if my sort column was “address”, then I wanted the column header containing the text “Address” to highlight.

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Using Cocoa’s PDFDocument class from FileMaker

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, FileMaker, Python, Techniques

I’ve been looking for a way to interface with some Cocoa classes in the Mac OS X API from FileMaker for a while. My initial target was PDFDocument, part of the PDF Kit suite of classes. For more information on Cocoa’s PDF Kit see here: Introduction to PDF Kit Programming Guide

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Freebie: Grab CSS From FileMaker 12 Layout Objects

by donovanchan
Posted in All, Design, FileMaker, Techniques

There’s been plenty of discussion on FileMaker’s developer forums about the implications of using CSS to style layouts in FileMaker 12. In case you weren’t aware, FileMaker 12 introduced a new layout design surface whose styling is based on CSS. It’s a powerful new feature that hints at an exciting roadmap for the FileMaker product line. I’m not going to indulge in any details on this topic, however, because FileMaker has yet to officially expose the CSS styling to developers.

But say you were curious, for educational purposes, about what that styling looks like…

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Native Web 2.0 Controls in FileMaker 12 Layouts

by Brian Schick
Posted in All, Design, FileMaker, JavaScript, Techniques, Tools & Add-ons

One of the most exciting aspects of the newly-released FileMaker 12 product line upgrade is a major redesign to the product’s UI. A new Design Surface modernizes FileMaker Pro layouts and updates every built-in control, giving developers and designers powerful new tools for designing better interfaces.

But as great as Design Surface is, why just stay on the surface?

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FileMaker 12: Exciting New Possibilities

by donovanchan
Posted in All, FileMaker, News

FileMaker, Inc. introduced the next generation of their database platform today with the release of FileMaker 12. This is a major upgrade to every part of the FileMaker product line. There are new versions of FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Pro Advanced, FileMaker Server, FileMaker Server Advanced, and FileMaker Go – which is now free for iPhone and iPad.

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Recipe for testing JDBC connection to FileMaker Server

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

FileMaker Server Advanced allows external systems to connect to its hosted database files via ODBC and JDBC. The remote systems can then run SQL commands against the hosted databases. Often the hard part is getting all the infrastructure ready for this. That includes the correct extended permissions on the FileMaker database file, needed drivers, firewall settings, etc.

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99 bottles of beer

by donovanchan
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

Here’s a fun little challenge for your Friday afternoon. You can do it at home, in a bar, or hopefully even at work. Best of all, it’s technical and creative. Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to produce the lyrics to 99 Bottles of Beer in your favorite programming language. I chose to do the solution below in FileMaker. See 99-bottles-of-beer.net for the official challenge details. Continue reading “99 bottles of beer” →

Working with Repeating Fields

by Will Miro
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

Demo file:  RepeatingFieldFunctions.fp7

I began using FileMaker at the spry old age of FileMaker Pro 8, so I’ve never been through the trenches of using repeating fields to accomplish what can now be done with portals. However, repeating fields still have a variety of uses, and I’m happy to have them in my toolkit.

When I’m working with a repeating field, there are several questions I might ask of it, depending on the task at hand.

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Good Sir William’s Heirs

by Will Miro
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

Demo file:  Sir_Williams_Heirs_fp7

That old Bard, good Sir William, is nearing the end of his life. Having already provided well for his five children, he now seeks to divide his literary empire among his eleven grandchildren:

FamilyTree 1

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FileMaker Read-only Fields: Lighter, Smarter, Friendlier.

by Brian Schick
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

Here’s an interesting interface challenge we recently faced: A client needed to place text fields on a layout and fluidly choose which fields would be editable or read-only—the same field might exist in both editable and read-only state on the same layout.

Now, here’s the challenging bit: Each read-only field must have all the same capabilities of its editable cousins—users must be able to scroll, select, and copy text, and the field control must display all rich text formatting entered.

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DevCon 2011 Recap – Design Goes Farther

by Brian Schick
Posted in All, Design, FileMaker, News

One of the most valuable aspects of 2011’s FileMaker Developers Conference in San Diego was a far-reaching discussion about the role of design in the FileMaker world. Design wasn’t the official theme of this year’s conference; but it was certainly among the most popular topics. A large number of sessions focused exclusively on design issues:

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Inspired by Address Book – Part I: Hiding portal scroll bars

by Beezwax Team
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

On vacation, waking up to a dreary Pennsylvania morning…

I found myself staring at the OS X Address Book and wondering, “how did they do this?” I couldn’t help compare this little application to the many FileMaker-based contact management solutions I have seen, and concluding, a bit sadly, Apple’s is nicer.

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The FileMaker Ninja’s Toolbelt: TextMate Bundle

by donovanchan
Posted in All, FileMaker, Tools & Add-ons

Welcome to the first installment of The FileMaker Ninja’s Toolbelt, an occasional series on various tools and techniques for taking your development in FileMaker to the next level.

Beyond the Calculation Dialog

The calculation dialog in FileMaker Pro is great for many things. It provides easy access to all of your fields, operators and functions. The Data Viewer in FileMaker Pro Advanced even shows you the calculation results.

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11 Tips for #FileMakerDevCon ’11

by donovanchan
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

As you may know FileMaker DevCon 2011 is just around the corner. In honor of 2011…and FileMaker Pro 11, here’s our list of Top 11 Tips for DevCon ’11:

1. Bring a sweater

Those hotels are known for cranking up the A/C. Take a comfortable layer that you can slip on and off easily to ward off the shivers as you’re sitting all morning.

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Managing Files with AppleScript

by donovanchan
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

If you’re like most power FileMaker users, you’ve discovered that it’s a great tool for managing collections of things or for gathering disparate data sources for reporting. So you’ve probably wanted at some point to do one or more of these actions:

  • Get a list of files on your computer
  • Import a batch of files
  • Move files on your computer
  • Read the text of a file that doesn’t import correctly (e.g., HTML)

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Does your FileMaker Go offline? (Previewing the new GoZync framework)

by donovanchan
Posted in All, FileMaker, Tools & Add-ons

Some of us on the Beezwax team had the pleasure of watching John Sindelar and Todd Geist present their new GoZync framework at June’s DIGFM developer meetup. If you know anything about either of these fellows, you know that they are both very sharp and visionary developers. Now they’ve thrown their collective brain power at the problem of “How do mobile users work with their databases offline?”

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Unleashing Mac OS X’s Color Picker in FileMaker

by donovanchan
Posted in All, FileMaker, Techniques

Color is one of the most important tools available to you when designing user interfaces. Using a little color can turn a drab wall of text into something attractive and readable.

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Beezwax Team Completes Speed-Developer Challenge at DIGFM

by Beezwax Team
Posted in All, Beezwax News, FileMaker

Can you build an Assets Management database in FileMaker Pro in 80 minutes?

Thursday night Beezwax completed that challenge!

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