Category Archive for "FM Tips"

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FileMaker 18 feature: new interface for importing data

Some of the most exciting products to make are the mobile tools, iPad or iPhone apps, which can be used to conduct business in out-of-office locations, like on-site at a client’s business, or even out in the field for some construction, oil well, or vineyard apps which we have created. To be able to take […]

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Three Models for the FileMaker Relationship Graph

There are three primary models, or ways of arranging the data architecture in FileMaker Pro. These are: 1. Hub & Spoke (HS) 2. Anchor-Buoy (AB) 3. Selector-Connector (SC) HS has been around for a long time, and is perhaps the oldest and often original method for design. It is a common (mistaken) expectation of new developers, as I remember […]

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FM 17 Master-Detail Portals

A nice change which they made in FileMaker 17 is an enhancement to the Master-Detail portal. If you don’t know what that is, a Master-Detail portal is a UX design in which a portal is on the left-side (typically) of the screen, and displays all the records for that table. So if you are on […]

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FileMaker 17 – My Apps

You may not have noticed this in FileMaker 17, but there is a very nice new display feature called “My Apps”. Under the File menu there is the usual, “Open”, “Open Recent”, and “Hosts”. But there is also one called “My Apps”. This is basically a ‘favorites’ list. It is very handy, as it can […]

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FM 17 – What happened to Pro?

You may have noticed a name change with the new FileMaker Pro Advanced 17 release. FileMaker, Inc, used to provide two varieties of their desktop app: FileMaker Pro which retailed for about $329, and FileMaker Advanced which retailed for about $500. The Advanced version has always included additional developer tools like the script debugger, and […]

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New FileMaker 17 Feature: Sensors

FileMaker Pro has had support for iBeacons for several years now. But with FileMaker 17, some new functions were added which can capture sensor support from iOS devices. Using a new calculation function mobile apps can capture information from iOS sensors in your iPad or iPhone device including location, air pressure, accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope, barometer, […]

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FileMaker Encryption Options

FileMaker has provided MD5 encryption for several versions now. But with the release of FM16, they have expanded the capabilities of FileMaker with the following functions: 1. CryptDecrypt ( container ; key ) or CryptEncrypt ( data ; key ) — Decrypts/Encrypts container data with the specified key and returns text or container data. 2. […]

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Instant Database File from Excel

FileMaker Pro has great integrations with Excel. Not a lot of people realize that you can instantly create a FileMaker database using an Excel file. Here’s how; it’s very complicated, so pay close attention: Drag the Excel file onto the FileMaker icon. That’s it! As soon as you do that, FileMaker will import the Excel […]

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FileMaker 17 New Feature – Multiple Email Attachments

Yes, it is a pretty common ability in almost all programs to add multiple email attachments. But the big news here is that FileMaker has finally joined the rest of software and now can include multiple attachments to any of its emails it sends out. Yay! Now, you could always get around this by having FileMaker […]

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FM Keyboard Shortcuts

There are a ton of available keyboard shortcuts for the FileMaker platform. If you become familiar with the more commonly used key commands, you can save yourself a lot of time while working with FileMaker. In fact, the most recent versions of FileMaker have improved their script workspace such that we have moved away from […]

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