I have written before about the need to stay current with FileMaker Pro, operating systems and hardware. I recently received an email from a reader who asked: Between me and a colleague we built a large database with all the bells and whistles back in the days of FM 5.5 and yes, we fell behind or […]
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The End is Near – a Minor Datacalypse is Coming
April 23, 2015 
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Speedy Document Scanning Directly into FileMaker Pro 13
April 14, 2015 7 Comments
A Macintosh computer, FileMaker Pro 13, a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i, Automator, Applescript, a Folder Action and FileMaker’s URL Scheme make a paperless solution for legal waivers a reality.
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Populating a Portal from a Value List
March 11, 2015 Comments Off on Populating a Portal from a Value List
Occasionally when developing in FileMaker I come across the need to be able to quickly generate a standard set of items from a Value List. In this example, using one of FileMaker’s built-in templates for Projects, I imagined a scenario where a project had a standard set of steps that needed to be generated whenever […]
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FileMaker Go running on an iPod Touch
December 1, 2014 Comments Off on FileMaker Go running on an iPod Touch
I was going to call this article “Cheap Clients”, but it’s not what you think, really… this is an article about using inexpensive iPods Touch devices and the free iOS version of FileMaker Go as ‘cheap network clients’ to access FileMaker databases on the move.
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Building an Accounts Receivables and Invoicing System in FileMaker Pro
November 24, 2014 Comments Off on Building an Accounts Receivables and Invoicing System in FileMaker Pro
Long ago, a wise old accountant named Bud, once pointed out to a much younger version of me, that most businesses have very similar accounting needs with respect to Accounts Payable, General Ledger and Payroll systems. Where they differ the most is in the Sales and Accounts Receivable (also Inventory Systems, but that is a […]
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Tools for New FileMaker Developers – How to make a million bucks…
November 10, 2014 Comments Off on Tools for New FileMaker Developers – How to make a million bucks…
FileMaker has a bit of a push on right now to get new developers into working with the FileMaker Pro platform. They recently launched a webpage on their main website to encourage new developers considering the platform. At the recent FileMaker DevCon they talked it up and encouraged developers to help enlisting others to the […]
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Applescript Notification from FileMaker
October 31, 2014 Comments Off on Applescript Notification from FileMaker
FileMaker developers (and other app developers) are always looking for better ways to communicate information to their users. System level notifications have proven to be an effective way of sending short ‘dissolving’ messages to users. These Notification messages show up in the top right corner of the users screen, make a little chime, hang around for […]
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Exporting vCards from FileMaker Pro 13
October 22, 2014 Comments Off on Exporting vCards from FileMaker Pro 13
I wanted a simple method of adding vCard export capability from my FileMaker databases to get Contact information into my Contacts application. This is my first attempt at Modular FileMaker (as defined at modularfilemaker.org) although I do generally try to make my code as portable as possible. Update 2014-10-23: I forgot to credit Donald Clark […]
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Harnessing FileMaker Pro 12/13’s Document Management Features WITHOUT FileMaker Server
October 15, 2014 Comments Off on Harnessing FileMaker Pro 12/13’s Document Management Features WITHOUT FileMaker Server
Many small businesses take advantage of FileMaker Pro’s ability to host up to 5 clients from a copy of FileMaker Pro, rather than invest in the more pricey FileMaker Server. Recently, I encountered just such a client who wanted to add some document management features to their solution and I wasn’t sure they would be […]
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Why Upgrade to FileMaker Pro 13/14?
August 11, 2014 3 Comments
Time marches on with software. Keeping up with the latest version of any software can be a delicate balance between hardware, operating system and the actual software. Upgrade too soon and your users can end up experiencing glitches, printer drivers haven’t been updated for the new operating system, old hardware won’t run the new operating […]
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Modular FileMaker – A New Mailchimp Module
July 29, 2014 Comments Off on Modular FileMaker – A New Mailchimp Module
If you are not familiar with the web site called Modular FileMaker, you owe it to yourself to check out some of the great code residing there. A Mailchimp module was recently added from FMSimplicity. It is, as advertised, modular and offers the potential of a less complicated installation procedure. I haven’t actually tried installing it yet, but it looks promising. If […]
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Caller ID looks up FileMaker Client Record with VOIP Telephone
July 14, 2014 5 Comments
A few weeks back, we had a meeting of the BC FileMaker Developer Association. Joshua Paul of Neo Code Software, was talking about the benefits of the Voice Over Internet phone system his company had installed. His phone costs were way down, the voice quality was reliable and crystal clear (because the system uses better more […]
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How to Maintain a Connection to FileMaker Server on a Dynamic IP Address with DynDNS Updater
July 7, 2014 Comments Off on How to Maintain a Connection to FileMaker Server on a Dynamic IP Address with DynDNS Updater
Overview Once you have your FileMaker Server setup and accessible remotely, I recommend setting up Dyn.com Remote Access service. Their tagline is “Access your device or files using a unique hostname, instead of a confusing (and ever-changing) IP address.” The reason you may need a service like this is because in many cases your Internet provider doesn’t […]
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FileMaker Pro Server – Setting up a Dropbox Backup Copy of Your Databases
June 30, 2014 5 Comments
Setting up FileMaker Pro Server on a new Mac Mini, running OS X Mavericks, I wanted to add a Scheduled Backup of the Server databases to go to a Dropbox folder. The idea was to add another level of backup that was offsite in the event of fire or theft of the server hardware. Problems […]
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Mapping from FileMaker Pro with OpenStreetMap and Leaflet Markercluster.js
June 24, 2014 7 Comments
Recently, when searching for updates to markercluster.js on Google, I found an interesting Javascript library called Leaflet Markercluster, that uses OpenStreetMap instead of Google Maps. OpenStreetMap is an open source, Wikipedia-like project for maps. Apple is using some of the data from OpenStreetMap in the Maps app on iOS and Macintosh. The maps and data are not as robust as […]
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