If you had a specific situation where you needed to perform loops within a calculation, you were resigned to recursions. But now FileMaker 18 allows for While calculation functions so you can avoid those cumbersome recursive functions. No custom function necessary, no having a function call itself, no worrying about being sucked into a wormhole – maybe that last one is just me.
FileMaker's import process has not changed in a long time and so it's ripe for an update. FileMaker, Inc. has shown it a lot of love in FileMaker 18!
FileMaker’s importing capabilities are pretty extensive but they're not always intuitive. The new import dialog interface features a mix of graphics and text so it should be very easy for both new and seasoned developers to choose the most appropriate actions. Let's explore the new import features and functions.
Repeating fields have a long and somewhat controversial history in FileMaker. If you want to start a heated discussion with another FileMaker developer, start one about repeating fields! Some developers love them, some hate them and then there are some like me, who appreciate them as another tool in the belt to be used to accomplish functions that would be hard to do without them.
If you started building FileMaker applications from scratch in more recent versions of the product you may not be very familiar with repeating fields and probably have never used them. You may even have an understanding of what they are but have never found a need to use them. If you've been using FileMaker for a long time or have taken over a legacy solution, chances are you've had to deal with them.
When you get more than three FileMaker developers in the same room, it’s inevitable that at some point in the conversation they will start reminiscing about “the good ol’ days” of FileMaker and trying to one-up each other with how long they’ve been using FileMaker (since 2.1 in my case).
As we anticipate the release of FileMaker 18, I've gotten a little nostalgic about the FileMaker application and naturally, about some of the major milestones of The Support Group.
Every year, usually during the summer, FileMaker hosts a massive global conference for their developers. Like most customer/user conferences, the goal is to experience the product in different ways and explore new product features, in a supportive and fun environment. But leave it to technology to create a common developer dilemma – to go or not to go to DevCon. FileMaker, Inc. will eventually share most, if not all, of the session materials – including videos – within the FileMaker Community. So why not save the registration and travel expenses and wait until the materials become public?
Well, The Support Group has participated in DevCon in different capacities since the very first event in 1996. Yes, it's been that long and we can certainly tell you that it's worth it every year! We even share some of our own DevCon experiences during and after the conference. I cannot adequately capture the essence of why we go to DevCon, but I will try to capture a few of the main benefits.
The FileMaker Platform gives you plenty of options for exporting data out of your app. You can export files as text or even a separate FileMaker file but in our experience, the most common export format is Excel. It's pretty easy to export data out of FileMaker into Excel; the tricky part is customizing the headers of the exported data.
Why would you want to customize the headers? You may want to customize headers so that they're easy for the user to understand or to make them consistent with field names in other systems. For example, some of our developers like to group the "name" fields in a contact database by having them all start with the text "name" – nameFirst and nameLast instead of First Name and Last Name. So when we export that data natively from FileMaker, the column header will be nameFirst, not First Name. I won't get into why we do that here; that's a whole other blog post about field naming conventions.
Keyes North Atlantic (KNA) provides design and installation service and maintenance for electrical, heating, cooling, alarm and automation systems. They've been serving clients in Greater Boston and the surrounding areas since 1952. From gas-powered generators and high-efficiency heating solutions to thermal solar and variable refrigerant flow systems, they do it all including designing and engineering the projects. They offer a wide range of services while demonstrating the highest level of professionalism and excellence with every customer and project. They're able to maintain workflow efficiency and exceed customer expectations with the help of a workplace innovation platform – FileMaker.
Although Google App Maker is a great example of a “low-code” development platform, it isn’t exactly a “no-code” platform. To really leverage the potential power of Google App Maker, you need to roll up your sleeves and write some code. Luckily the code of choice for Google App Maker is JavaScript, one of the most widely used and well-documented languages out there. JavaScript is the language that web browsers use to execute most website workflows, so it only makes sense that Google App Maker would use it too. Even though JavaScript is one of the more approachable languages available, it's still a deep and varied subject that will require a book to explore completely. Having said that, there are some aspects of JavaScript that you will most likely find useful in Google App Maker, specifically when it's combined with another tool called regular expressions (regex).
There are different factors that contribute to a successful custom application. Of course, function is important, but even if the app does exactly what users need it to do, users may not necessarily like it if it's difficult to use due to poor legibility, navigability, responsiveness, etc.
FileMaker, the Workplace Innovation Platform, helps to speed up custom app development, right down to the smallest detail, including design styles. The user interface has a huge impact on user experience. A well-designed interface generally equates to a positive experience. Developers must ensure that they use appropriate and consistent fonts, sizes, colors, images, layouts, and so forth within their applications. They can simply accomplish this by creating custom styles for the apps they design.
The West Side Montessori School (WSMS) has been offering a Montessori program for early learners since 1963. The school has grown from fifteen students to over one hundred and they also offer a teacher education program (WSMS-TEP) for adult learners training to become Montessori teachers. Based on the Upper West Side of New York City, they also have locations in New Jersey and Beijing China. In 2015, they renovated part of the children’s gymnasium into an adult learning space for their WSMS-TEP students. Needless to say, growth and development are important to the founders, faculty and students, both young and young at heart. And so we knew a Workplace Innovation Platform, like FileMaker, would facilitate that growth.
