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.
Dealing with Damaged FileMaker Files
8-9-2007 by
One of the most asked questions about FileMaker is how to deal with damaged files. There is a glut of choices when attacking this problem and there doesn’t seem to be one single answer. Compact, Optimize or Recover… Maybe Save as Clone which one works and why? Hopefully, this will answer a lot of your questions.
FileMaker DevCon Day 2
8-8-2007 by
DevCon Day 2 featured two sessions by a couple of FileMaker insiders. Andy LeCates showed off some really slick implementations of Conditional Formatting and some innovative ways to use tab controls. Jon Thatcher eliminated a lot of the confusion about File Maintenance and Recovery practices.
FileMaker DevCon Day 1
8-7-2007 by
The show has officially started. I’m seeing faces I haven’t seen in ages and having a blast. Here’s a quick recap of the highlights of DevCon so far, from my perspective.
Six Fried Rice at the DevCon FileMaker Genius Bar
8-2-2007 by
I’m excited to let you all know that Jesse and I will be participating in a cool new dealio at DevCon. If you haven’t heard about it, here’s the scoop: Chris Kubica (author, developer, and all around FileMaker powerhouse), arranged for a special booth at DevCon to be staffed by reasonably good FileMaker folks like us. You can bring your problems, questions, and FileMaker challenges to the booth and get free advice. It’s called the FileMaker Genius Bar. I love the idea and hate the name.
Stored Calculations and FileMaker Plug-ins
7-31-2007 by
FileMaker Server does some funny things when you create a stored calculation that uses a plug-in. In fact, odds are you received everyone’s favorite invalid character, the ?. This article explains why this occurs and gives some solutions for this rather pesky problem.
Automate FileMaker Plug-in Deployment with AutoUpdate
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Back in the late 19th century, when FileMaker Server 5.5 was released, one of its stellar new features was AutoUpdate. FileMaker Server can automatically install plug-ins on the connecting FileMaker Pro clients as needed. This is very cool, but there are a few gotchas, which are explained here.
Configuring a Firewall for FileMaker 9
7-27-2007 by
FileMaker Server 9 represents a pretty significant redesign of the FileMaker Server product line. One consequence of all the changes is that things may not work properly without reconfiguring your firewall(s). Improper firewall configuration can lead to all kinds of problems, some obvious (I can’t connect to my server) and some not-so-obvious (the Server Admin Console opens, and then hangs). This article attempts to explain in full detail exactly how each participant in the FileMaker ecosystem communicates, so you can jump right past these problems and get to developing awesome databases.
The Secret Life of Find Mode: Requests
7-23-2007 by
FileMaker’s find mode is a great feature. You can tell because, like all great technologies, it is easy to understand the first time you try it, and yet has a depth of capability that can be unlocked if you know a little more. Unfortunately, many FileMaker developers (and users) never venture beyond the simplest of finds. This series of articles aims to change that.
Custom Page Numbers in PDFs and Printed Reports
7-18-2007 by
In FileMaker 9 Tip #6 we explained how to use the new Append to PDF feature in FileMaker 9. With it, you can build up a PDF file over many steps in a script, to produce a much more complex and data-rich PDF than was ever possible before. One of our readers, Norman Foster, asked a very sensible question:
This Append looks great but can it paginate across the entire set of PDF files. I want the page numbers in footers or headers, and I want them to be sequential. -Norman Foster
The Append to PDF Feature doesn’t do this automatically, but with a little calculation magic, it can be done.
