The Support Group Blog

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.

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.

Common Types of Relationships 

Previously, we discussed one-to-many relational databases. By far, this is the most common type of data relationship that we encounter. We discussed parents and children. A parent record can have many child records, but a child record belongs to one and only one parent record. Those relationships are defined through data. A parent record has a primary key that is assigned when a record is created. A child record displays part of the DNA of its parent by carrying the unique parent ID in a foreign key field. When the child’s foreign key value matches the parent’s primary key value we have a link between those records.

Other types of relationships occur as well. In this article, we’ll cover one-to-one and many-to-many database relationships.

What is a Database?

A database is an organized method of storing information in a computer system. There are many different database products on the market, but they all boil down to keeping track of your important personal or organizational information.

Previously, we talked about how to access FileMaker on Linux. In this article, we'll review how to integrate FileMaker Linux Server with cloud-based storage options like AWS, Backblaze, Dropbox, or even a LAN-based drive so that we can easily access it from our app of choice. 

You may have heard that Claris has introduced a version of FileMaker Server for Linux. With the introduction of Claris's new Linux version of FileMaker Server and it's command-line based environment, many folks are wondering how to access their backups and other related files. Well, it is not as hard as many may think. But first, we need to review some basics about cloud services before we get started.

Imagine coding an app from scratch. How long do you think it would take you to develop and perfect it? How much effort do you think it would take to maintain and debug it? 

Low-code development platforms negate these types of questions. You can use some code or no code to develop an app to improve your workflows. What's more, you can apply your technical and non-technical skills to design the app. Keep reading to learn about low-code and what makes for an excellent low-code development platform.