The beauty of the FileMaker Platform is that in a few hours you can create an ‘app’ …
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Alphabetic Search Buttons using Button Bars in FileMaker 14
August 10, 2015 
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FileMaker Pro 14’s new button bar brings a new twist to an old technique for creating alphabetic searches of your data. Instead of creating 26 individual buttons it is possible to create a single button bar object and then easily reformat it using text style changes or FileMaker CSS style changes. The button bar can also be repurposed to horizontal or vertical layouts. Finally I demonstrate how to use the same script from different contexts to perform different searches — a list search and a portal filter.
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Click, Display, Capture – Google Map Longitude & Latitude into FileMaker Pro
July 17, 2015 3 Comments
Using a Javascript overlay on Google Maps and FileMaker’s URL scheme to channel those coordinates into FileMaker records. Click on a map, add longitude and latitude to FileMaker Pro.
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Locked into a FileMaker Go Screen? You Won’t Believe How One User Got Out!
June 8, 2015 Comments Off on Locked into a FileMaker Go Screen? You Won’t Believe How One User Got Out!
FileMaker Go has a great new features called ‘Reconnect to Server’, which helps keep your database connection open if your iPad/iPhone falls asleep or your WiFi connection gets dodgy. This great new feature can become a problem if your solution sends the user to a layout from which there is no return. Obviously the first step as […]
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Flipping in FileMaker
June 2, 2015 6 Comments
Rotating Images or PDFs in Containers with Applescript (Mac) In my previous blog post I talked about automating scanner documents into FileMaker container fields using AppleScript. This was based on a customer request. Logging in to that system recently, I noticed that it was fairly common for staff members to scan documents in upside down. […]
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Automating Webcam Photo Capture within FileMaker (Windows)
May 25, 2015 Comments Off on Automating Webcam Photo Capture within FileMaker (Windows)
OK folks, here is a hack for you. The Challenge: Capturing images from a web cam into FileMaker on Windows. I was able to achieve this previously on a Mac using AppleScript, but there is no similar easy inter-application scripting language on Windows. FileMaker Go on mobile has the ability to grab photos right from […]
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Window Management in FileMaker Pro – Preventing Extra Windows from Opening
May 19, 2015 Comments Off on Window Management in FileMaker Pro – Preventing Extra Windows from Opening
My first version of the system was rejected by the customers because it kept opening extra windows, confusing the users. So I set about writing a fairly modular script that I could reuse to test if a window was already open and if so, simply select it, rather than opening another new window. This seemed to make the users much happier. I share it with you and my future self here.
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Create Folders from FileMaker Pro Using AppleScript on a Macintosh
May 14, 2015 11 Comments
Someone on one of the Facebook FileMaker Group pages recently asked for a simple method, using AppleScript of creating a folder on the Desktop. FileMaker Pro can generate a variety of file formats, including Text, PDF and Excel, and it is possible to script the names of these files. It is also possible to script […]
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FileMaker 14 – Resources
May 12, 2015 2 Comments
Well it is finally shipping. After glimpses under NDA and slips (it showed up on Amazon early), FileMaker 14 platform is now shipping. New versions of FileMaker Go, FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Pro Advanced and FileMaker Server are available for trial and download. I didn’t have time this round to do a full writeup on what […]
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The End is Near – a Minor Datacalypse is Coming
April 23, 2015 Comments Off on The End is Near – a Minor Datacalypse is Coming
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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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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