There’s a lively discussion on the TechNet mailing list right now about the pros and cons of FileMaker Pro’s Object Grids feature. This is certainly an opinionated discussion, and there is clearly no “right” way. A lot of people find Object Grids annoying because it makes it harder to line things up sometimes. Here’s a quick tip to help get Object Grids to behave themselves. I love Object Grids, and leave them on almost all the time, but I don’t think I’d feel this way without the little trick explained here.
Migrating from the Beta FileMaker PHP API
9-25-2007 by
This is a quickie: If you were using the beta release of the PHP API for FileMaker, there are some things you should know.
FileMaker Dictionary Functions
9-20-2007 by
Since there were so many people where impressed with my named parameters article, I decided to write up another post about the dictionary functions. Well, actually in all fairness I think three people actually liked it. Vincenzo Menanno, Chris Wack and Sam Barnum this posts for you!
The Secret Life of Find Mode: Omit
9-18-2007 by
Today’s Find mode article is short-and-sweet. If you ever feel it would be easier to tell FileMaker what you don’t want it to find, the Omit checkbox is your friend. In fact, you can use this esoteric Find mode widget to create incredibly complex queries that target exactly what you want.
Importing Records to a Backup - Brute Force
9-13-2007 by
Your FileMaker Server loses power. All your files have crashed. What do you do now? The safest practice is to go to a backup. Sure, this sounds like a daunting task, but it is surprisingly manageable. The best part is that you won’t lose any sleep worrying about how long your baling wire and bubble gum files will last.
Limiting Checkbox and Radio Button Choices
9-5-2007 by
Did you know that if you shift-click on a field formatted as radio buttons, you can select more than one choice? Even if you don’t know this, chances are some day some user will figure it out. Yuck. Here’s a short-but-sweet technique to deal with the problem. And you’ll see how to apply the same concept to do some cool stuff.
Detecting Related Records
9-3-2007 by
If you have a relational database (one with several connected tables) and you do any scripting at all, you’ll almost certainly ask yourself a question at some point: How can I tell if the record I’m on has related records? This article explains the scenarios you may run in to, and how best to deal with them.
The Secret Life of Find Mode: Dates and Times
8-28-2007 by
Date values (and to a lesser extent, time values) are exceptionally common in database applications. And it isn’t at all unusual to want to ask you database interesting date-related questions, like “How many orders do we get on Tuesdays?” or “What was our total enrollment for the first quarter?” In fact, it is probably more common to look at ranges of dates than any particular date. Of course, if you’ve read our previous articles on Find mode, you know how to find whole ranges of dates easily using find symbols. But FileMaker Pro’s Find mode has several date-specific tricks up its sleeve. Using some not-so-obvious syntax, you can easily search for date slices like every tuesday, or the 5th of every month, or every January. This short article will explain how.
FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual Now Available
by
We’re thrilled to let you know that FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual is now available for sale. This sequel to the best selling FileMaker book out there was written by yours truly (Six Fried Rice co-owner Geoff Coffey), and the amazing Susan Prosser. You can read more about it here where you can also find a free sample chapter.
The Secret Life of Find Mode: Symbols
8-20-2007 by
Once you’ve mastered multiple requests, you’re ready to move on to the next Find Mode gem: Find Symbols. Using these bits of punctuation, you can tell FileMaker, when it goes about matching records to your find criteria, to be a little more flexible, or a little more strict. In this article, you’ll learn about each one.
