FileMaker Meetups Ann Arbor + Milwaukee – InspectorPro 8: Investigate, Accelerate, Collaborate

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Posted in All, Claris Development, Community, Events, FileMaker, FileMaker 19, FileMaker 2023, FileMaker 2024, FileMaker Server, InspectorPro, Integration, Performance, Security, Techniques, Tools & Add-ons

Beezwax’s Vincenzo (Vince) Menanno is presenting to audiences of FileMaker developers at meetups and conferences, on the topic of “InspectorPro 8 for FileMaker: Investigate, Accelerate, Collaborate”.

At the March 2024 shared meetups for Ann Arbor FileMaker + Milwaukee Area FileMaker Devs, Vince shares the latest research, development best practices, and product offerings. Vince has a number of surprises up his sleeves that he can’t wait to show. If you’re a FileMaker Developer attending, we hope to see you there!

Photo headshot of Vince Menanno, smiling with text InspectorPro 8 for FileMaker - Investigate, Accelerate, Collaborate

InspectorPro for FileMaker – Investigate, Accelerate, Collaborate

Event: Ann Arbor FileMaker / Milwaukee Area FileMaker Devs (online)
Speaker: Vincenzo (Vince) Menanno, Chief Innovation Officer, Beezwax
Date: Tuesday, March 19th, 2024
Time: 4:00pm, PDT [7:00pm Eastern]

Summary: For years, developers have leaned on the Database Design Report (DDR) to collect, analyze, and report metadata from FileMaker solutions. Now, InspectorPro 8 brings a new approach to this process via “Save a Copy as XML”. InspectorPro has the ability to accelerate analysis, with seamless API integration for automated processing at specified intervals, allowing teams to maintain focus on their tasks. Staying in the zone is the focus, while the tool discreetly runs in the background, minimizing disruption, and includes attribution, notes, and Slack integration for FileMaker development team collaboration.

InspectorPro 8 logo with Investiigate Accelerate Collaborate

Presentation: InspectorPro for FileMaker – Investigate, Accelerate, Collaborate

InspectorPro’s mission is to stand as the most comprehensive tool available for debugging and troubleshooting your FileMaker solutions.

Farewell DDR — hello Save a Copy as XML!

For years, developers have leaned on the Database Design Report (DDR) to collect, analyze, and report metadata from FileMaker solutions. InspectorPro has always been built using the latest version of FileMaker itself, and takes advantage of new features in our favorite custom app development platform.

InspectorPro 8 marks a significant shift as it now utilizes the Save a Copy as XML format for a multitude of compelling reasons:

A) We now have a new script step “Save a Copy as XML”, which means that we can automate the generation of the XML.
B) It is server-friendly, allowing automatic generation and using it in a script schedule.
C) The structure includes top-level catalog information.
D) It introduces new areas not present in the DDR.
E) This lays the foundation for future capabilities and innovations.

Investigate = Developer Insight

Why use a tool like InspectorPro for FileMaker development? To gain insight from answers to questions like:

  • How can I clean up an inherited FileMaker solution, or my older databases
  • What are best practices for inspecting references and dependencies?
  • How can I look for problems across…
    …scripts?
    …calcs?
    …layouts?
    …security?
    …schema?
    …and more!

Whether you have a solution you’ve been building for years, or are just getting started, there are plenty of important details that analyzing your FileMaker solution can provide insight into.

HOW much faster?!

Performance is a key highlight of InspectorPro 8. An initial analysis baseline is impressively 3x to 5x faster than InspectorPro 7. But where the new architecture truly excels is during incremental analysis, boasting speeds ranging from 10x to an astounding 100x faster.

Discover the seamless and automated ways to trigger the analysis process, whether scheduled or scripted, enabling you and your team to focus on development without missing a beat.

Collaboration, more and more…

Development projects involve more than just the solo “citizen developer”. These days you may have multiple developers building different parts, modules or versions of a solution, and other stakeholders who want visibility into work being done.

How do you improve collaboration between more contributors whose hands are touching code, as well as those observing from not too far off? Let’s look at InspectorPro as a solution running on FileMaker Server, and feature like attribution, notes, and Slack integration to improve team collaboration.

Key Takeaways:

  • Stay in the development zone with minimal interruption.
  • Identify and locate problems quickly and easily.
  • Track changes, including when and by whom they were made.
  • Integrate InspectorPro into your files or solutions effortlessly.
  • Gain detailed version history with attribution for any item.
  • Keep your team informed through Slack integration on analysis runs.

Explore the history of InspectorPro and understand the groundbreaking foundation it sets. Delve into the engineering journey that led to this point and, more crucially, learn how this tool can elevate your day-to-day workflow as a FileMaker Developer.

I am thrilled to unveil the exciting features of this new product and demonstrate how it can empower you and your team to build exceptional solutions. Join me in exploring how InspectorPro can become an indispensable tool for your team’s development workflow.

– Vince Menanno

About The Presenter: Vincenzo (Vince) Menanno

With 30 years of full-time experience as a master consultant, as well as a dedicated developer of FileMaker-related products, Vince Menanno has been a featured speaker at many industry events including Claris Engage, FileMaker DevCon, FM Conférence, CQDF, dotFMP, EngageU and dozens of FileMaker Developer meetups.

As a community leader, Vince prioritizes innovation and knowledge-sharing through research, mentoring and presentations. He’s received the Claris Excellence Award for Lifetime Achievement, and helped Beezwax earn a Claris Excellence Award for Advocacy.

In addition to his work as Chief Innovation Officer at Beezwax, Vince is the author of InspectorPro, a leading FileMaker development tool that provides in-depth FileMaker solution analysis.

Born to an Italian family and having grown up in Montreal, Vince now splits time between the Oakland hills and Florida shores, along with his wife, son and daughter. His ongoing passions include innovation, architecture, data visualization, sharp knives and vehicles in space.

Presentations at FileMaker Conferences & Meetups

Here’s a schedule of events and dates for Vince Menanno sharing “InspectorPro 8 for FileMaker: Investigate, Accelerate, Collaborate” — and a Big Thanks to Meetup organizers for your help in hosting Vince’s presentations.

EVENTS

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