How to Setup FileMaker Server for Remote Access

March 13, 2013 by Douglas Alder 3 Comments


Setting up remote access to FileMaker Pro databases is a fairly common task for FileMaker Developers. It is also one of the more common support questions asked by my clients after I have left the building, so I have created a walk through on how to set this up that is hopefully simple enough for […]

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FileMaker Pro 12
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Screen Capture from FileMaker Pro on the Macintosh

January 23, 2013 by Douglas Alder 5 Comments


Macintosh OS X has a built-in command line utility for taking screen captures. This utility can be called via AppleScript. FileMaker Pro can send out this command from a script. Why would you want to take screen captures using FileMaker Pro? I can think of two good reasons: building documentation within FileMaker Pro and for […]

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FileMaker Pro 12

2012 in review

December 30, 2012 by Douglas Alder 0 Comments


The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for hbase.net’s blog. Here’s an excerpt: This blog had 50,000 views in 2012. Click here to see the complete report.

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FileMaker Pro 12

Building a Barcode System in FileMaker Pro

December 18, 2012 by Douglas Alder 5 Comments


I had a discussion recently from someone wanting to know how to setup FileMaker Pro with a barcode scanning system. I have setup a FileMaker Pro system called PassTracker that employs barcodes to keep track of membership activity at gyms. I was able to provide him with an overview of how to do this and […]

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Barcodes and FileMaker, FileMaker 11, FileMaker Go 12, FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Pro Techniques

Getting Foreign Exchange Rates into FileMaker

November 19, 2012 by Douglas Alder 7 Comments


There may be easier ways to do this, but I have set up a few currency translations scripts in the past and found that the calculated URL I was employing kept breaking. The exchange websites would change their URL scheme and my scripts would fail. My suspicion is that these adverting-based websites don’t want automated […]

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FileMaker 11, FileMaker Pro Techniques

Creating Timelines for the web in FileMaker using TimelineJS

October 1, 2012 by Douglas Alder 2 Comments


I have looked for a good way to create easily shareable Timelines for a while. The obvious solution is to make a timeline viewable on the Web. Even better would be something that allows me to generate and view Timelines in my favorite database program, FileMaker Pro. I think I have found a good solution […]

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FileMaker Pro 12
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Guided Access—Kiosk Mode for FileMaker Go on the iPhone or iPad

September 24, 2012 by Douglas Alder 11 Comments


A software-only solution to turning your FileMaker Go databases into true Kiosks. Photo: iPad POS Flip Mount by NClosures Why am I always the last to hear about these things? Apparently this feature, called Guided Access, has been on iPads for a while, and is now available on iPhones with iOS 6. I stumbled on […]

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How to Automate Webcam Photo Capture Within Filemaker Pro (Mac)

September 10, 2012 by Douglas Alder 2 Comments


I went looking for a way to capture photos from a webcam into a FileMaker container field on a Macintosh. The plugin options were not as good as I thought they might be, but there was a happy ending to my search. I came up with a free way to snap photos right into FileMaker […]

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UTF, WTF! Writing HTML and JSON from FileMaker

September 5, 2012 by Douglas Alder 5 Comments


Recently, I was working on a Timeline creation database. A FileMaker Pro database is used to store the events that will be displayed on the timeline. When the data has been entered, the database is designed to export two files, one an HTML file for the main page display and the second a JSON file […]

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FileMaker 11, FileMaker Go, FileMaker Go 12, FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Pro Techniques
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How to use Field Comments as Tooltips.

August 31, 2012 by Douglas Alder 0 Comments


Good tips for tooltips. I had seen this before but couldn’t remember how to do it. Thank you Google. Thank you Philly FileMaker. FieldComment ( Get ( FileName ) ; GetFieldName ( Self ) )

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How to Automate ‘Paste and Match Style’ in FileMaker

August 28, 2012 by Douglas Alder 6 Comments


Copying text from another application, such as a Web browser or Word document, and then pasting that text into a field in a FileMaker database field, can be annoying when the text pasted arrives with an undesirable style, color, font, or font size. In many programs, such as Numbers, Pages etc, there is the capability to […]

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FileMaker 11, FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Pro Techniques
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Scanner Pro solves the problem of how to fax from your iPhone

August 21, 2012 by Douglas Alder 0 Comments


Need a way to fax from your iPhone or iPad? I love this app called Scanner Pro from Readdle. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you should seriously look at getting this app. The app allows you to take a series of photos and turn them into a single PDF to save to DropBox, […]

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Software Review
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Made changes to a FileMaker Layout and want to back out of it?

August 14, 2012 by Douglas Alder 1 Comment


Ever modified a layout and then wished you hadn’t? This is a common occurance for FileMaker developers, or at least me. If you are like most developers (or me), you long ago turned on the option for Saving Layout changes automatically. Up until FileMaker 12, there was only one Undo move available. With FileMaker 12 […]

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FileMaker 11, FileMaker Pro Techniques
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How to find lost image files in your Mac Mail folder

August 8, 2012 by Douglas Alder 0 Comments


I recently saw mention of an app for the Mac that helps you find your photos lost in your email attachments. It is called Lost Photos and sells for $2.99 in the App Store. Although the price is a bargain and not to take the thunder of out of this app, which does some other […]

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FileMaker Pro Techniques
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Improving FileMaker Server Security by Filtering which Databases are Displayed to Users

July 30, 2012 by Douglas Alder 0 Comments


To maximize security, even within an organization, sometimes it is a good idea to filter which databases are displayed to users logging in. There is a simple setting in the FileMaker Server Admin Console to set this up. Turning on File Display Filter Log into FileMaker Server Admin Console. Select ‘Database Server’ in the left […]

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FileMaker Pro Server 12, FileMaker Security Techniques
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Replacing a Time Machine Backup Hard Drive

July 21, 2012 by Douglas Alder 2 Comments


There are a number of good articles on setting up Time Machine backup hard drives. This blog entry is a little different. A client recently encounter a problem with their Time Machine backup. This article is if you already have a Time Machine hard drive that is giving you troubles. Get a new hard drive […]

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FileMaker Pro Techniques
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Database Development with FileMaker Pro Advanced on a tablet

July 14, 2012 by Douglas Alder 0 Comments


Is database development with FileMaker Pro Advanced possible on a tablet computer yet? Not really, but soon, maybe. FileMaker Go is a wonderful tool for deploying FileMaker databases on iOS devices (iPad, iPods and iPhones) but it leaves something to be desired for the FileMaker developer. There is no way to flip open the hood […]

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FileMaker Go, FileMaker Go 12, FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Pro Advanced 12
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Getting Help about FileMaker – FAST!

July 10, 2012 by Douglas Alder 1 Comment


I recently saw a useful tip from the folks at Skeleton Key on speeding up access to the FileMaker Help System. View the video version of their tip here. This tip is primarily for Mac Users. I tested this in FileMaker Pro for Windows using Parallels and it doesn’t look like this is really an […]

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FileMaker Pro Techniques
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Blast from the Past: FileMaker Pro 6 Review

July 8, 2012 by Douglas Alder 4 Comments


Another Blast from the Past — This article ran in The Computer Paper in August 2002 edition. Six fairly major upgrades in ten years. Not bad. FileMaker Pro 6 Review FileMaker 6 Review FileMaker 6, the latest version of the popular database product is both a welcome improvement and a disappointment. Many long standing user […]

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Blast from the Past, Software Review
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