Let’s talk about Claris® FileMaker® and transactions! Vincenzo Menanno discusses what transactions are, how they relate to FileMaker data operations (creating, updating, and deleting records), database normalization, and how to use transactional concepts to improve FileMaker performance, especially over a wide area network (WAN).
Continue reading “The Value and Benefits of Transactions with Claris FileMaker”bBox for FileMaker v0.98 with M1, GraphicsMagick & Sips
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”
Q Foundation – Increased Agility For Social Services
Beezwax helped the Q Foundation get ahead of a persistent pandemic and quickly pivot to decentralized operations to support a remote workforce.
Continue reading “Q Foundation – Increased Agility For Social Services”FileMaker Performance on Apple M1 | Astounding!
When the Apple silicon Macs with M1 chips came out, I read and watched many of the reviews. Most of them had great things to say about the promise of Apple’s new M1 chip…I was impressed. When I finally received my Apple M1 MacBook Pro, and started to use it…I was amazed.
Back in 2020, FileMaker Pro 19.2 wasn’t optimized yet for Apple silicon processors, but ran fine under Rosetta emulation. On my M1 MacBook Pro, it already felt much faster than running FileMaker “natively” on an Intel-based MacBook…I was astonished.
Today, I’m running the just-released Claris FileMaker® 19.3, with native support for Apple’s M1 chip, on a new MacBook Pro. It is, in a word: Astounding!
Continue reading “FileMaker Performance on Apple M1 | Astounding!”InspectorPro 7.2 for FileMaker – Faster on M1!
Everything about the M1 Apple silicon leaves you simply delighted and surprised. It’s like the first time you drive a super-charged Tesla and feel the rush of powerful acceleration OR I imagine it’s like when Han Solo first blasts the Falcon into light speed: it must be experienced to be believed.
Continue reading “InspectorPro 7.2 for FileMaker – Faster on M1!”OData for FileMaker – Examples, Tips and Nuances
This blog post is the second of a three-part series about the FileMaker OData API, introducing a demo file with more than 40 examples plus helpful tips, along with Q&A. Part one of the series highlighted some of the key features of the API which make it an exciting addition to the FileMaker platform. As a follow-up, this post will cover the basics and dig into the nuances of using OData with Claris FileMaker.
Continue reading “OData for FileMaker – Examples, Tips and Nuances”Integrating FileMaker’s Data API and Ruby with the fmrest-ruby gem
We often work on projects that intersect two technologies near and dear to us: FileMaker and Ruby. This allows us to build robust web applications in Ruby on Rails, integrated with data sources from FileMaker solutions. When Claris introduced the FileMaker Data API we were naturally curious to try it out. At the time there was no off-the-shelf Ruby library for us to simply gem install
, so we decided to roll up our sleeves and build one. Thus, fmrest-ruby was born.
This article will walk you through setting up and using fmrest-ruby in a Ruby on Rails project. Some level of familiarity with Ruby/Rails and FileMaker’s Data API is advised, although much of the content covered here is applicable to any Ruby project, Rails or not.
Continue reading “Integrating FileMaker’s Data API and Ruby with the fmrest-ruby gem”OData for FileMaker – New Player in an Old Game
This blog post is the first in a three-part series about the FileMaker OData API, highlighting key features that make it an exciting addition to the Claris FileMaker platform.
Continue reading “OData for FileMaker – New Player in an Old Game”OOP Fundamentals: The Decorator Pattern
The decorator pattern is one of my favorite patterns. It is simple, extensible and powerful. It feels like it follows the essence of object oriented programming beautifully. Sadly though, it is also easy to be misused or misunderstood. So, in this post I will show you the essence of the decorator pattern, illustrated with a few examples.
Continue reading “OOP Fundamentals: The Decorator Pattern”OOP Fundamentals: The Dependency Inversion Principle
The dependency inversion principle is one of the cornerstones of object-oriented programming. Without it, there is no object-oriented design. It’s that important.
Continue reading “OOP Fundamentals: The Dependency Inversion Principle”bBox for FileMaker v0.96 with JSON processing, Python 3 and more
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.
Continue reading “bBox for FileMaker v0.96 with JSON processing, Python 3 and more”
Integrating your dev workflow with WSL
Windows Subsystem for Linux, or WSL for short, is a quite impressive piece of technology, and one of the best moves Microsoft could have made to attract developers. Particularly web developers.
Continue reading “Integrating your dev workflow with WSL”Something out of Nothing: Null Object Pattern
What is nothing? nil
? null
? undefined
? A vast void of emptiness that fills your soul with dread? Oh sorry, that’s just my stomach.
We often think of nothing as… well, nothing. It’s when something doesn’t exist and therefore cannot be interacted with. So in our code, we try account for having nothing. No User
? No problem.
Using REST and cURL with FileMaker’s Data API
FileMaker 19 introduced a couple of important new features related to using the FileMaker Data API. Here, we’ll cover an overview of the new authorization endpoint, Validate Session
, API versioning updates, as well as a new script step, Execute FileMaker Data API
.
At the end of this article, you’ll find the demo file for learning more and trying out various REST and cURL functionality with FileMaker’s Data API. Enjoy!
Continue reading “Using REST and cURL with FileMaker’s Data API”Math in a FileMaker field, for Inputter’s sake
Editor’s Note: An often-ignored reality of data management is that entering data, correctly and cleanly, into all of these database apps we build can be a royal pain in the…
Assumptions can be dangerous, like assuming that your office manager-doubling-as-bookkeeper wants to manually calculate tax on every Invoice row. Or even has the time to.
Not many job titles (anymore) are simply “Data Entry Manager,” and yet entering data is a task that continually must be managed, by one or by many, in the role of “Inputter”. Just entering data can be tedious enough — so, let’s not make it harder. In fact, let’s strive to make it easier. With that in mind, Beezwax Senior Developer Christos Savva provides an example of performing math in a FileMaker field, using a custom function. This is designed to improve data entry user experience, for the sake of Inputters everywhere.
Continue reading “Math in a FileMaker field, for Inputter’s sake”
Ruby’s Safe Navigation Operator &. and is it a Code Smell?
What is &.
?
Ruby devs are probably all too familiar with seeing this error:
NoMethodError (undefined method `foo' for nil:NilClass)
Most of the time, it’s probably due to a typo, but every now and then we end up having to do something like:
defined?(bar) && bar.foo # returns nil if bar is nil
If you’re on Rails, or are using ActiveSupport, you can use present?
or try()
:
Dark and Light Modes: 3 Simple Paths to FileMaker UX
FileMaker 19 introduced support for Dark Mode. Not only does the application’s chrome support Dark Mode (like many applications), but developers now have the ability to detect the OS Dark Mode setting.
Let’s look at three easy techniques to give FileMaker Pro users a choice between Dark Mode and Light Mode, plus an option to automatically adapt modes based on OS settings.
Continue reading “Dark and Light Modes: 3 Simple Paths to FileMaker UX”Composition over Inheritance, with JavaScript examples
If you are into object-oriented programming, you most likely have heard about composition over inheritance. The concept itself is simple: Whenever possible, prefer to compose objects rather than introducing inheritance.
Continue reading “Composition over Inheritance, with JavaScript examples”Setting FileMaker’s startup file from CLI
We had a client that was upgrading their system to FileMaker 18. They had already pushed new FileMaker Pro clients out to their user’s desktops. But now that the upgraded system was ready, how could they give users a quick and easy way to launch right into the new database system?
Continue reading “Setting FileMaker’s startup file from CLI”Dynamic Forms with JavaScript and FileMaker Web Viewers
Using the FileMaker platform we can harness the power and wow-factor of modern web interfaces. This post shows how we can build dynamic data-entry forms for use in our apps.
Continue reading “Dynamic Forms with JavaScript and FileMaker Web Viewers”