Tag: AppleScript

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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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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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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Area Disclosure in FileMaker Using Sub-Summary Parts

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

The attached file demonstrates a technique for opening/closing areas of a record, allowing a user to hide the information they don’t want to see.

FileMaker File:  DisclosureAreas2.fp7

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Charting from the Active Field

by Will M. Baker
Posted in All, Design, FileMaker, Techniques

Neither I nor my client can anticipate every chart that the solution’s users might want to see. A user’s desire to view a high-level visual representation of their data can be spontaneous and idiosyncratic. This technique allows for the user to create an ad hoc chart, albeit within narrow parameters (i.e. the chart is simple, presents only counts of values, and is pre-formatted).

FileMaker File: ChartActiveField.fp7

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bBox FileMaker plug-in: Easily add AppleScript, Shell, Grep, and more to your FileMaker projects

by Simon Brown
Posted in All, bBox, Design, Techniques, Tools & Add-ons

Today we are making bBox, our toolbox of external functions for FileMaker, freely available to all FileMaker developers. Use it to extend the reach of your FileMaker solutions to resources outside of FileMaker by launching and communicating with other programs, utilizing the powerful commands built-in to Mac OS X, and easily creating, processing, and managing files.

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