The Support Group Blog

Software development has come a long way in the last few decades. In the early days, computers were programmed using machine code or an assembler, which required dozens of instructions to perform even the most straightforward task, such as displaying text on the screen.

As computers became more human-friendly, those low-level programming languages were replaced with more human-readable ones such as C, and later even higher level, meaning more abstract, languages such as BASIC. These are known as high-level programming languages because more steps are required to translate the code into machine-readable instructions.

With all the recent ransomware events in the news, it's clear that we need to protect our servers and apps from eyes and ears that aren't our own. To that end, let's review some of the ways bad actors find ways to access our FileMaker data. We'll also highlight the FileMaker cyber security features that Claris provides to help us defend ourselves against attacks.

Before we get started, let's explain what ransomware is. A ransomware attack occurs when a hacker hijacks a data source and then requires payment before they'll release it. In the age of cryptocurrency, this type of cyber threat is easily facilitated because of the exchange's inherent anonymity and virtual impregnability. Unfortunately, the Colonial Pipeline outcome is an exception, not the rule. Therefore, it's improbable that there will be little to no financial consequence in a ransomware attack.

To that end, we, as keepers of personal and sensitive data, need to do our best to protect it. There are some very sophisticated techniques out there to secure our databases. Claris recognizes this and offers several defense features for non-technical and highly technical users alike.

Is your business taking full advantage of the digital transformation revolution?

Did you know that 70% of companies have a digital transformation strategy in place? Or that over the past few years, 40% of business spending went to adopting technology?

Over half of startups have embraced a digital strategy. However, many small and medium business owners have not yet implemented their plans in full.

This article explains what digital transformation is and how it can benefit your company.

Read on to learn why the "fourth industrial revolution" is helping businesses to improve efficiency and cut costs. We also identify the types of technology that will build the foundation for the next decade.

You'll discover how to move away from unproductive practices and build your own custom apps without writing code.

Executive Summary

Security is an essential aspect of community development. We can reasonably expect disturbances to occur, but we also want to ensure that actions are taken to investigate and remediate those activities. And that all starts with useful and reliable incident management software that is used to track, monitor, and report events. Easy-to-use, accessible, and customizable are just some of the qualities of a suitable incident management system.

Read this case study to learn how a custom incident management system can improve operational efficiency, even when regulations and requirements frequently change.

Sometimes the most challenging part of any task is getting started. Claris recognizes this, and as a result, offers FileMaker users and citizen developers the ability to build custom apps in an agile manner. They released the FileMaker Quick Start Experience in preview mode several months ago. The tool is intended to be intuitive, but it's also very much a work-in-progress. So, we'll review some FileMaker Quick Start basics to help us all make the most of it.

Before we get started, we have to mention that the FileMaker Quick Start experience is only available to Mac OS users running the latest version of the program. The preview has a dual purpose. Firstly, the tool is designed for users to learn FileMaker quickly and deploy an app in a matter of days as opposed to months. And secondly, Claris wants to gather feedback about the experience so that they can enhance and improve usability. We assume they want to make it as functional as possible before broadening the user base.

The future of low-code development is coming clearly into view, and it's going to be browser-based. Most of today's best examples of productivity-enhancing platforms don't require installing desktop programs or uploading apps to local servers but instead just opening a browser window and pointing to an address. Building, testing, and deploying applications all happen in the cloud without us having to install anything on our computers, phones, or tablets. Claris FileMaker is taking baby steps into the next generation of its low-code development platform with its new Quick Start Experience. The Quick Start Experience, which is available for users running the most recent version of the software on macOS, opens the door, just a little, to a fresh way of using a product we've been using for years. The tool allows new users and citizen developers to learn how to use FileMaker quickly.

Executive Summary

Custom software helps companies of all types and sizes improve their operations and productivity by removing redundancies and streamlining workflows. You can even use technology to track important details about your assets and leverage it to enhance the way you interact with customers and the way they interact with your business. Ultimately, process improvements lead to successful outcomes in customer satisfaction, which positively impacts the bottom line.

There are a variety of web services out there to help teams do their work efficiently and effectively. FileMaker and Airtable are just a few go-to solutions for business folks struggling with organizing their time, projects, and people.

Airtable is generally perceived as easy to use. It's an excellent tool to turn to when you're not quite sure what you need, but you know a simple spreadsheet isn't up to the challenge. However, you might want to consider building an application with the FileMaker platform if your requirements include complex data patterns, multi-step workflows, and/or detailed, layered user interfaces. 

Thanks to modern technologies, different users, teams, divisions, etc., in an organization don't necessarily have to use the same tools. And, there are ways to integrate systems so that they share information reliably and securely.

In this article, we'll review how we can establish connections between FileMaker and Airtable.

We thought it would be helpful to walk you through Honeycode, Amazon's no-code app development platform. This tour is by no means comprehensive, but it will give you an idea of some of the tool's capabilities and functionalities.

Claris introduced a new feature in version 18 of the FileMaker Platform called Save a Copy as XML. You can find this command within the Tools menu if you have the "use advanced tools" option enabled in the FileMaker desktop application's Preferences section. With this menu command, Claris gives us a window into each of our custom apps' inner workings, as well as a way to more easily document even the most complex ones.

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a web development tool used to store and transport data. Like HTML, which is a markup language for data presentation, XML requires opening and closing tags. XML is useful for FileMaker development because it facilitates the exchange of data between two systems. However, we can also use it to parse or read our data. In this article, we'll explore how we can protect the integrity of our FileMaker applications as we scale and evolve them.