Claris FileMaker Platform (2022) - Complete Course

- Make sure the version of FileMaker you are using with FMSP is appropriate.

- FMSP is a great teaching tool. About half of the course uses FMSP as a demonstration of some features/concepts. The other half will use some specific sample file.

- This course is meant to teach you about FileMaker Pro and uses FMSP as a helpful tool.

- The 200's section of videos is specifically about FMSP.

- Find out the differences between the new user interfaces and how they work depending on your skill level within FileMaker.

- When you start up FMSP 7 for the first time you will be prompted to choose your skill level. Depending on the skill level you choose it will bring you to a layout that matches your choice.

- There is a beginner, intermediate and advanced level. Each level will bring you to a layout that will represent that skill level.

- Find out the features that are implemented in each of these categories and how they can help you learn the FileMaker platform easier.

- Get the inside scoop on how and why RCC organized the FileMaker layouts the way we did, plus how we can support the devices that we support.

- In FM Starting Point 4.6 and later, all layouts are designed to be WebDirect compatible.

- Go on the iPad and Go on the iPhone use different layouts, because they have different screen sizes.

- Layout Numbering.

- Layout Numbers.

- Overview of FM Starting Point.

- Beginning of our technical walkthrough series, discussing the Preferences table, which has ONE RECORD.

- We do not show the status area when displaying layouts.

- Discusses how to report a bug in FM Starting Point.

- Adding records to the preferences table is bad, and will result in erratic behavior of FM Starting Point.

- You can get the latest version of FM StartingPoint here: http://www.fmstartingpoint.com.

- Go through the settings and find out how each of the options work.

- Walk through the preferences and see how you can customize FMSP 7.

- We want FMSP to be understood by new FileMaker users, power users, or by "junior level" developers.

- More experienced FileMaker developers who write complex advanced scripts prevent new FileMaker users from understanding a database... and as a result... prevent them from making useful customizations.

- Keeping FM Starting Point simple is a great way to teach junior developers and enhance the customizability potential for mid to high level developers.

- Well, it's not really a secret, it's pretty straightforward, but new developers rarely think to do this.

- We start you out on the "right foot" with FM Starting Point.

- Numbering your scripts is important and helps you group and organize them by their unique numbers.

- Accounts in FM Starting Point are really companies or organizations.

- Does your new project really need the accounts module? If not, you can remove it easily.

- FM Starting Point key fields have prefixes.

- We also walk through the various sections and secondary navigation modules.

- Includes instructions on how to customize Invoice Status and also what fields may be removed depending upon the structure of your database.

- There is a limited inventory tracking system built in.

- 2 Different Printer Layout Styles are available for printing or e-mailing PDFs.

- Printed Layouts are managed differently in FM Starting Point... than a typical on screen data entry layout. We normally make sure they are different layouts... depending upon the intended use.

- Reporting is VERY limited in FM Starting Point... since most businesses will have different needs and expectations for the reports they want to see.

- Overview of the E-mail template automated system for quick selection of E-mails, and firing them off to customers.

- You can find our email template tab in FMSP under the second set of tabs.

- With an email template tab you are able to make Pre-Canned emails to send out to your clients.

- See some of the tricks RCC uses in their internal database to get some useful tips.

- Have a follow-up system in place to manage your clients and know when you need to follow-up with them.

- Be able to disable or re-enable the follow-up system through the preferences tab.

- Choose follow-up dates with our easy time period buttons. This allows you to choose the amount of days you want to wait to follow-up instead of having to look at a calendar and count it out that way.

- You can see the follow-ups in the calendar section of FMSP as well so you can visually keep track of your clients and when you will need to check up on them.

- Scripting Popover Windows.

- Scripting Slide Controls.

- We discuss our deployment of a "transactional model" within FMSP.

- Discuss Starter Solution - Invoices.fmp12.

- Keywords "Invoices, Transactions, Adding Line Items".

- Go through the steps on how to customize your transfer of data from invoices to estimates and see what kinds of things you can customize.

- Found out what kind of knowledge you should have to be able to do this kind of work within FMSP.

- Go through the script itself and see how we change the script to allow these customizations to work.

- Markup and Margin are not the same.

- Margin is the difference between the price the customer pays and the price you paid internally.

- In FMSP, margin is a decimal number that transfers to a percentage after you type it in.

- Must have an API Key in Preferences > Map before continuing.

- Uses Geocoding API from Google Maps API to get the latitude and longitude based on addresses.

- Contacts are shown as pins on map.

- An option in settings lets users change map type

- Button to the left of Contacts List lets users center on pins.

- FM Go version works very similarly.

- Google Maps API gives a free trial initially. Watch the next video for pricing.

- In 2018, Google Maps API was (more or less) free to use. Now, it is charged per usage per API.

- After the free trial is over, you are put into a free-tier. Billing information is needed.

- In the free-tier, JavaScript API can do 28,000 loads and the Geocoding API can do 40,000 calls.

- Each time the Maps layout is entered, a call is made.

- By default, FMSP makes a call to the Geocoding API anytime a Contacts address is changed.

- There are various ways to limit calls made to Google Maps API.

- The Static API is currently free and could be a good alternative.

- On Google Cloud Console, you can view API metrics and reports. Budget alerts and quotas can also be setup.

- All the ins and outs of the tab panel in FMSP and how to modify its values and calcs.

- Secondary Navigation is made with Tab Controls.

- "Calculation" means that the value is based on a Calc.

- "Show Sample data" in Layout mode can be handy to see how things will look in Browse Mode.

- Let Function is used.

- To Change a name... you have to change it in 3 places in the calculation.

- If this is too complicated... DELETE everything... and just put the name in once... in text in Quotes.

- Look into the newly updated calendar that is available in FM Starting Point.

- See all the new feature that you can use at your disposal, like the feature to filter by staff member or being able to open each even in a pop-up window that has all the information.

- fullcalender.io has 2 versions of their calendar. A free version and a paid version. FMSP is integrated with the free version.

- Allows for a variable day range for viewing events.

- When creating an event, there is a check box to tell FileMaker to show the event on the calendar. By default this check box is checked.

- Under the Preferences table, under the calendar tab you can click "View Calendar Code".

- You have the ability to change/view all the source code for the calendar. BE WARNED: Changing the code here can potentially break the calendar, so proceed with caution. There is a restore code feature to fix bad changes.

- The calendar has full drag and drop functionality. Moving an event with the mouse to a new time slot changes the start and end dates.

- The calendar will try to be smart about saving events sign in account names. You can link account names to staff accounts. Staff   counts can then save user specific settings.

- Typing quotes in the JSFunction section can sometimes cause problems as the quotes won't read correctly. Simply copy/paste a quote from another file to fix.

- This video requires advanced skills found in later videos. The charts that we deal with are not based on number or text fields.

- We'll also be going over chart rendering and performance in your solution.

- Charts can run on PSOS or Perform Script on Server or they can run locally if PSOS is NOT available.

- Charts are based on FMI's built-in charts.

- Charts are based on data that is cached in Preferences table.

- The "Update" button will recalculate the values we need for the chart.

- Charts are part of the FileMaker Certification Exam.

- There are 3 ways to feed data to a FileMaker Chart:

(A) Grab Found Set of Current Table of the Layout your in.

(B) Grab the Contents of a field... that contains Delimited data like a Value List.

(C) Related records to the current record.

- We set up all the charts with option "B", the Delimited Value List.

- Only one record in the preferences table.

- A value list is a text or number value followed by a carriage return. For Engineers and mathematicians these are also called one dimensional arrays.

- Charts are Word problems.

- We use lots of different technology to make the dashboards.

- Scripts that specifically build the charts end up dealing with word problems.

- Word problem: Find Invoices for just the past 12 months.

- Use GTRR can be used to find all the related records... for the all the records in the current found set.

- Set up cached fields... to hold the value... of what we calculate in the a script.

- Dates are calculated in FileMaker by allowing the users to add or subtract one or more days... by simply adding or subtracting whole numbers.

- Use GTRR or Go To Related Record command to jump tables.

- PSOS - Perform Script On Server- please remember that if you aren't an advanced user this video may be confusing.

- PSOS Radically improves performance.

- This video wraps up the Chart building set of videos and we will cover the actual chart building scripts themselves. As well as how and where you apply them.

- Individual sales tax may vary by jurisdiction.

- VAT in the EU and UK is managed somewhat differently than sales tax in the US.

- AvaTax is a free lookup feature for FMSPe 5.0.8 and later... as a Side Nugget.

- AvaTax allows users inside the United States to use the sales tax lookup for free.

- You must have a paid subscription to use AvaTax to look up VAT.

- Previously we had a very intricate script setup to help migrate data from one copy of FMSP to another. It was very fragile and could only be done by people with a vast knowledge of FileMaker.

- FileMaker now has a migration tool to help you migrate your data from one database to another and the process is a lot easier.

- Keep in mind that the migration of data works best when the structures are very similar. This is why it works so well when moving data from an older version of FMSP to the newer version.

- The Data Migration Tool won’t move your buttons or scripts or anything along those lines, it will just move the data.

- New in FMSP and in FM Pro 16 is the Card Style Window.

- Changes to the relational key management system.

- We have added Side Nuggets! Great pieces of additional functionality that you have the option to implement.

- We've made performance enhancements specifically in the Invoices and Estimates modules by using pre-stored calculations.

- FMSP comes in 2 versions, Basic and Enhanced.

- FMSP Basic comes with a new calendar integration. An open-source html calendar that has more robust features.

- FMSP Enhanced has the calendar, as well as the Avalara Tax Lookup feature and PayPal Integration.

- The PayPal integration allows FMSP to talk to PayPal's REST API. This means that you can create invoices in PayPal and have them sent out from PayPal's website to your customers.

- New Master-Detail layout for all of the main modules.

- A bug exists in FMSP 5.0 - 5.0.8

- If you try to open FMSP 5.0.X with FileMaker Pro 17 or newer, FMSP will display an incorrect error message.

- To fix the error go to script line number 85 - 88, and highlight these lines. Then go to to Edit > Disable.

- If you want to modify the bugged code to retain the error checking code, then change your line 85 to reflect what is shown in the video.

- FMStartingPoint 7 is our new version of FMSP that was made for the new release of FileMaker 18 but also works on FileMaker 17.

- FMSP 7 works best for people that are new to FileMaker and want to learn more about the platform.

- See the new UI design that was created by Nick Hunter, Our In-house UI design engineer.

- Have different user interfaces depending on your skill level within FileMaker.

- See if you want to try our new QuickBooks integration that has been added into FMSP 7. (Account and plug-in required)

- There are multiple ways to open a FM file depending on where the file is located.

- Going to File > Create New, will open a dialog window to create a new FileMaker solution file.

- This creation window gives you some convenient options to jump starting a new solution, including template files.

- To open a file that is hosted on a server, you will need to go to File > open and then click the "Hosts" button on the window dialog.

- The Hosts dialog window will give you options to open files that are hosted on FileMaker servers. You can also add new servers to your favorites list.

- You can use a keyboard shortcut to open the remote host window with CMD + SHIFT + O.

- Basic overview of FileMaker and Databases in general.

- Collections of similar types of information goes into Tables.

- Fields are individual data elements.

- What are outside examples of a database? Ebay is one!

- Database = Template = Solution.

- The FileMaker platform uses the .fmp12 file format.

- FileMaker uses screens, called Layouts.

- Basic overview of FileMaker and Databases in general.

- Files, Tables, Fields, and Layouts and now we have relationships.

- Relational Databases - Connect tables together.

- Relationships are driven by key fields.

- Relationships allow data from multiple tables to be displayed on a single layout at one time.

- Scripts are little computer programs that can help automate activities in FileMaker.

- Browse mode is for using the database and editing the data.

- Layout mode is for customizing the look of the database.

- Find mode is for executing a Search in the database.

- Preview is for "previewing" how a print job will look if the print command is run or if a PDF is created from the current layout.

- The menu bar changes based upon the mode you are in.

- Super basic video that might be good for people who have no previous exposure to FileMaker.

- Navigating between fields, Browse mode, and flipping between records.

- Deleting records is not always a good thing, so think about that carefully.

- Status Toolbar shows lots of basic tools.

- Status Toolbar can be turned ON or OFF by the developer with a script.

- We do a couple of Finds.

- For most data entry in FileMaker, there is an undo capability.

- Walk through the basic FileMaker layout and see some options that are available within it.

- Find out how to add a field into your layout.

- See the different styles of fields you can add into your layouts and how they are different from each other.

- FileMaker saves pretty much everything automatically.

- There are a few caveats especially with backups and servers, we talk about those as well.

- When inputting data, there is no save command because there is no need for a save command.

- It's Pretty straightforward but a couple of "gotcha's" and FYI's.

- Make sure a trial conversion is done.

- Make sure that the end users TEST in advance of the solution going live.

- Test Test Test!!!

- Make sure your developer will be available WHEN you actually go live with the converted database.

- If you have a simple database, then this can be a simple process, but if you have a large complex solution, then this can be an ugly process.

- You will need MetaDataMagic to help analyze the .fp5 format to determine all the issues that have to be mitigated.

- You might want to weigh the cost of migration, versus the cost of a total rebuild. A number of companies opt to go with the rebuild.

- You can use a copy of FMSP as a backup if you're testing something or you're about to make a big change that could potentially destroy the database, copying your database is almost never a bad idea.

- Accessing a copy of the Database while it's live on Dropbox isn't a good idea.

- Make sure your file is totally closed before duplicating it.

- A Relationship is like a Bridge.

- Super basic video that might be good for people who have no previous exposure to FileMaker.

- Fundamental FileMaker conversation.

- FileMaker is great at sharing data with other users and collaborative sharing with your team.

- Work groups tend to access their own specific FileMaker Apps.

- FileMaker Server (On Premise) is the Mac and Windows Options. This can be install in the office...or it can also be installed on the Cloud. Linux version of this as well.

- Cloud is the current product offering, which has a much simpler purchase and set up process.

- Discontinued... Peer-to-Peer sharing is good for quick ad-hoc networks, but not a permanent solution. This features is still in FileMaker Pro 19, but we expect it to be pulled in the next release after 19.

- Basic outline of peer to peer hosting and FileMaker Server and FileMaker Cloud hosting.

- Concepts and benefits of using FileMaker Server.

- FileMaker is great at sharing data with other users and collaborative sharing with your team.

- Peer-to-Peer sharing is good for quick ad-hoc networks, but not a permanent solution.

- Dynamic and Static IPs.

- Basic outline of Peer-to-Peer hosting, FileMaker Server and FileMaker Cloud hosting.

- Concepts and benefits of using FileMaker Server.

- FileMaker is great at sharing data with other users and collaborative sharing with your team.

- Peer-to-Peer sharing is good for quick ad-hoc networks, but not a permanent solution.

- Dynamic and Static IPs.

- Discusses the basics of Find mode and Found Sets.

- "Found sets" are collections of records that match a particular find request.

- Find mode focuses all user activities on the "found set."

- Default searches in FileMaker are wild card searches that search the first part of each word.

- Learning to do finds for various items at one time as an "and" find or as an "or" find is an important skill to learn.

- FileMaker will Include by default.

- Performing a range search in FileMaker is one of the most useful skills to use, and teach to other FileMaker users.

- Special operators i.e. reserved characters, can do magical things when in FileMaker Find mode.

- Search for an empty field, E-mail addresses, exact searches, or other wild card searches.

- Understanding Indexes is the key to understanding how to make your finds run fast.

- Make sure that the fields the users will search on will be indexed. If they are not indexed, expect SLOW performance.

- Stored Calcs - will perform FINDS much faster.

- Unstored Calcs - cannot be indexed, resulting in slow searches.

- Extending and Constraining a found set are super helpful skills to help figure out more complex finds especially where multiple requests need to be worked out.

- Unless you're a rocket scientist and you can do everything in your head, you will want to learn this skill set to help build complex finds.

- Sorts are limited to the current found set.

- Keep in mind, that added sorts will cause a performance hit on the database when you do it. So automatic scripted sorts should only be used for those sorts you actually need.

- We haven't talked about scripting yet; but for now remember to limit sorts to perform only when needed. Not just for fun, especially for shared databases on the internet.

- Sorts sound simple, until you have AD and BC dates.

- These are custom sort orders and the content in which you're sorting by may cause problems and get complicated.

- Basics of the layout tools for building and editing layouts.

- Detailed discussion of the tool bar in layout mode.

- Status Toolbar.

- Basic discussion of Buttons, Button Bars, and Tabs/Slides.

- Basic discussion of the Layout Object Tree / Window.

- Understanding all the panels of the inspector are important, and will come with time as you start building solutions in FileMaker. FM12 only had 3 panels, but 13, 14, and 15 all have 4 panels. We talk about the POSITION panel more in a later video on object alignment. This is more of a well-rounded summary.

- Short discussion about naming objects.

- Data, Position, Appearance, Style.

- Discussing hiding objects or POV.

- Discussing the QuickFind function.

- Discussion of Placeholder labels.

- Discuss the 2 features NOT in the Inspector - Conditional Formatting or setting up a button.

- Formatting date, time, and currency values.

- Discussion of object states in layout mode: Normal, Hover, Pressed, InFocus (In focus).

- Buttons have the 4 states as well.

- Aligning objects.

- Resizing object to the same size.

- This is a great tool to use when dealing with layout objects layers deep.

- You can access it, of course, in Layout Mode and it will open up separate of the Inspector.

- It will highlight items on the layout as you click through the list.

- It allows you to hide certain objects as you work on the layout.

- Hiding something in LOW does NOT reflect browsing the layout in Browse Mode.

- The list is also searchable by object name.

- This is a great tool to use when dealing with layout objects layers deep.

- You can access it, of course, in Layout Mode and it will open up separate of the Inspector.

- It will highlight items on the layout as you click through the list.

- It allows you to hide certain objects as you work on the layout.

- Hiding something in LOW does NOT reflect browsing the layout in Browse Mode.

- The list is also searchable by object name.

- Adding new fields; finding space on an FMSP layout for new fields; and introduction to Tab Objects.

- Introduction to locking objects; Aligning objects; and the format painter tool.

- Formatting number field for financial currency data type; and reordering tab panels.

- Working with a Tab object, and locking panels of a tab.

- FileMaker has automatic alignment indicators in "blue" while in Layout mode.

- Using the Inspector Pane... and then the Data Panel.

- Customizing the name on the Tab Panel.

- Super Valuable Video for New FileMaker Users/Developers.

- Introduction to calculation fields and hidden objects.

- Think about naming conventions, I put "calc" at the end of a field name; so I know it is a calc.

- Objects can be hidden by a calculation. To access this, click the Data Tab of the Inspector.

- Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak.

- Hiding Objects works by answering this statement: "Hide Object When.. formula is true"

- *** We do NOT discuss Unstored Calc fields yet.

- Creating fields for a survey is easy. Creating an easy-to-use survey takes more work.

- Formatting the fields for easy data entry is the trick.

- Adding or removing a TAB Panel is an easy way to create some room for adding fields.

- You can reorder the Tab Panels to appear in a certain order.

- You can specify a specific TAB panel is the default tab viewed... its doesn't have to be the first tab.

- Holding down the COMMAND or CONTROL key when selecting will cause FileMaker to select ONLY the item that is completely enclosed inside the selection area.

- The inspector allows us to Align Objects... to a LEFT EDGE..or a RIGHT EDGE.

- Use the CONTROL STYLE in the Data Tab in the Inspector, to customize the formatting of the field.

Keywords: Hide Hidden Object POV

- Note: This is an internal database at RCC which makes for a great demo.

- Radio buttons and check boxes gone wild... in FileMaker.

- These tools can auto-enter data into normal text fields which can be super handy.

- Radio buttons and checks boxes can also obscure actual data in the field... if the actual data in the field does not match an approved value for the value list.

- Holding the SHIFT KEY down... allows you to multi-select items with Multiple radio buttons.

- Note: This is FMSP 4.5 although this is no longer the latest release, the process is the same for ANY database.

- Deleting objects on a layout without affecting the database structure.

- Managing object layers, and customizing Tab Controls which are made up of individual tab panels.

- More advanced Object layering with hidden objects and conditional formatting of text blocks.

- Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak.

Keywords: Hide Hidden Object POV

- Note: This is FMSP 4.5 although this is no longer the latest release, the process is the same for ANY database.

- Holding the SHIFT key allows you to select multiple objects.

- Selecting an area grabs all items that "touch" the box.

- Hold the COMMAND or CONTROL key down gives you a shaded box which only selects items that are totally enclosed within the shaded box.

- Users frequently copy and paste text from other sources into a FileMaker database.

- This creates local styling which can override your nice, pretty layouts.

- You need to clean the text and learn how to format text fields.

- Also covered: Selecting multiple objects in layout mode.

- Seamlessly adding dynamic data in the form of fields, tightly mixed with blocks of text data is best handled by Merge fields, which cannot be manually edited in BROWSE mode.

- Sometimes you have a choice between using a Stored Calc, and an Unstored Calc. Often, FileMaker will FORCE you to use a unstored calc because of the contents of the formula.

- 3 Things That can Make a Stored Calculation Field Reevaluate:

(1) When you First Define the Field. (Duh)

(2) Making a new record. FileMaker will reevaluate the Calculation.

(3) If LOCAL referenced data Changes (Local... Not related data). I.e. Local filed or Merge fields on a Layout. No Variables! Variables are NOT considered Locally referenced data. They are nothing. Not Local data and not referenced data.

- Stored Calcs cannot handle variables at all and will not evaluate reliably. Think of Variables like transient Get functions. Always in flux and changing. For that reason if you're connecting a variable to a calculation filed, make sure it is unstored.

- Unstored Calcs have the Same Dependencies, plus one additional One.

- If the Unstored Calc is drawn on screen it will reevaluate.

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- FileMaker forces a Calc to be Unstored if it:

(1) References Related Data.

(2) References Global Field.

(3) References Summary Field.

(4) References another Unstored Calc (in case you're trying to cheat).

- Use conditional formatting to control Glyph Color. Glyphs are a GRAPHIC on top of a button.

- These are labels that live in the field as placeholder text.

- As with most things in the FileMaker platform, just because it's great, doesn't mean it can't be abused.

- Make sure you keep in mind that if the inline label isn't visible, is the purpose of the field still obvious?

- That can be an issue in a list view if there are no labels at the top of the list.

- Auto-enter options can fire upon creation of a record, upon modification, or upon trigger of a calculation, etc. They are extremely powerful.

- They are used to form the "backbone" of the automatic processes that drive FileMaker.

- My opinion is that they are still useful, but more complex situations would probably be better suited by leveraging script triggers, which are new tools with exponentially more precision and power.

- The most common auto-entry uses is for assigning unique serial numbers for use with Relationships, or auto entering the time and date of record creation.

- Primary Keys are frequently assigned this way.

- Understanding how FileMaker files behave when shared with multiple users is an important skill if you do a lot of work in FileMaker.

- There are some different rules for development when making multi-user databases.

- Understanding record locking, sorts, finds, and Global fields are all important to successfully deploying a shared solution.

- Peer to Peer sharing is technically multi-user, but it sucks. No Backups and less reliability.

- Use FileMaker Server for best results for sharing.

- Only one person can be in "Manage Databases" at a time.

- Only one person can change a specific layout at one time.

- Multiple people can change different layouts.

- Only one person can be editing a single script at one time.

- Multiple people can change different scripts at the same time.

- Individual users will have their own founds sets and sort orders while sharing a single database.

- Global fields are essentially regular fields with "Global Storage."

- Global fields are a great tool for scripting and other unique data organization.

- Globals have different properties. One value for the table, but essentially accessible anywhere in the file through a relationship.

- Each user has their OWN UNIQUE values in "their" Global fields. Global field values ARE NOT shared between users in a Multi-user database.

- On a single user file Global fields that have values will have those values saved when the user closes the file.

- On a multi user file (being hosted) Global fields that have values will NOT have those values saved when the user closes the file.

- On a multi user file (being hosted), opening the file Global fields will have values that exist when it was last closed by a single user. NOT the values set by the previous Multi-users.

- *** To ensure that Global fields have the values I want when a user opens the file in a multi-user environment I set the Globals with the "Startup Script."

- A user can add a text description to various objects in Layout mode.

- This text will then pop-up when a user hovers their mouse over the corresponding object.

- This has limited uses largely due to the lack of controls provided by FMI.

- Introduction to IF THEN statements in Calculations.

- The time a ToolTip is displayed is NOT customizable, so you're stuck with the settings that FileMaker gave you.

- Part of learning to develop in FileMaker is learning all the little icons that may be assigned to an object in layout mode.

- Inline Text Badge.

- Conditional Formatting.

- Script Triggers.

- QuickFind.

- Tooltips.

- Button.

- Popover Button.

- Hidden Object Indicator (POV).

- View Page margins can be shown.

- View Page Breaks.

- Horizontal Pages breaks are pretty critical.

- Page breaks vary depending upon the paper size that is currently setup.

- Show and Align to Grids.

- Learning the various methods for aligning objects, and learning what works for YOU as a developer is an important step in your development.

- We will also spend some time in the VIEW menu item and also the POSITION panel of the inspector.

- Multiple Inspectors, Grid system, & customizing the toolbar is "User Specific" so changes are not shared with other people. The settings are specific to your copy of FileMaker Pro.

- Unlimited number levels of undoing and Grouping and Ungrouping objects.

- In addition to customizing a prebuilt FileMaker template like FM Starting Point, you can create a layout from scratch.

- You can specify a custom layout size in the Stencil specific to a type of device.

- Please reference the 2 cheat sheets in the work files for this training course.

- Resolutions are Points Not Pixels.

- Field Picker.

- Modern Validations may be better for you depending upon what you need. Consider using Script triggers for a modern validation.

- Old School Validation is defined in the same area where you define the fields and setup the auto-enter options.

- Applying field level validation applies the validation process EVERYWHERE on all Layouts.

- Validation Options are different between the field types.

- Specifying a Validation occurs during data entry only or always. This can affect imports.

- Test for Empty fields, or contain unique values.

- Test for values that must already exist.

- Validate data is within a range.

- Validate a maximum number of characters.

- WordCount allows you to count the number of words.

- In general, FileMaker Validation error messages are not very good.

- Find out what a repeating field is and get some insight on its history within FileMaker.

- Repeating Fields were usually used to create old “portals”, they weren’t live data but a lookup used to display information from another table. This was popular before because there were no relationships yet and there weren’t any portals either.

- Repeating Fields aren’t used very much now because FileMaker has created a work around to accomplish what repeating fields were used for.

- No more drilling down for conditional formatting, etc.

- FileMaker 14 introduced Layout level tooltips to tell you all the attributes for an object. Very cool!

- The ins and outs of Currencies in FileMaker.

- You adjust the currency symbol in layout mode.

- Data Formatting is a Superficial layer that adjusts how a number field looks.

- Adding data formatting does not affect the number that is stored inside the database. It is only a superficial layer.

- This data formatting CANNOT be changed with a script. It must be changed manually.

- Custom Function.

- Text fields do not automatically format currency properly when inserting a number value into the text field.

- For example, having a note, that is created via a script, that has a number value, will not easily show the number as a currency.

- Custom function easily found at www.briandunning.com

- To add or edit a custom function, you need to be using FileMaker Pro Advanced if it is an option.

- Deletion will remove parts but also objects.

- You can remove parts without deleting or moving objects using modifier keys in Layout Mode.

- This will keep layout objects in place while removing the layout parts quickly and easily.

- Button Bar wasn't intended to be used as a "Control Style"

- Exploding Monkeys.

- Different Buttons in the Button bars have different colors.

- Changing the Color of a button segment by using Conditional Formatting.

- The Creator of FileMaker's Starter Solutions, Nick Hunter, showed me these techniques.

- Started with the release of FM 12, and improved in the following releases.

- Digital Document Management is now built into the base FileMaker Platform without the need for 3rd party add-ons.

- Containers can store any kind of documents, but most commonly, I see scanned PDFs, Excel files, and Word files.

- Secure storage is Encrypted, which helps the operating system.

- Too many Images in one folder will slow the Computer.

- Using secure storage will automatically separate the files out over a number of directories.

- Container fields show small thumbnails to help cut down on network traffic.

- Whatever machine is hosting the file, will be the one to generate the thumbnail.

- The PDF, Charting, and Thumbnails engines are licensed 3rd party technologies that FMI put into FileMaker.

- Mac computers will generate file thumbnails, but Microsoft Windows will not.

- Containers generally perform better when optimized for image mode.

- Selecting "Interactive Content" can slow performance for a hosted solution.

- In FMSP, we wrote some scripts to allow for easy opening of the container content.

- We also show how FM Go shows "Interactive" containers.

- We also show how to script the export of the container, into a temporary folder, and then have the operating system open it.

- Get(temporaryPath) is used.

- Setting Variables for establishing a Export Path.

- Note: This is FMSP 4.5 although this is no longer the latest release, the process is the same for ANY database.

- NOT a remote container video. This video deals with the more common interactive fields and tips and tricks with the interactive components.

- Interactive Setting in the Inspector causes FileMaker to load a "player" so it can play a video, etc.

- Only turn on Interactive Setting when you're sure you want to watch a video or listen to an audio file.

- Non-Interactive has much better performance but gives you thumbnails for images and PDFs (as long as you have a Mac client, or the server is a Mac).

- There are essentially 2 methods for inserting documents into FileMaker.

- Method #1: Right Clicking a container and selecting "Insert File" option or using the equivalent script step.

- Method #2: Drag and Drop.

- Method #1 will NOT provide any interactivity. You will especially see this if you have containers added from FileMaker 11 or earlier.

- https://www.teamdf.com/blogs/change-containers-from-files-to-interactive-content-in-an-instant/

- Base64 Encode.

- Base64 Decode.

- GetContainerAttribute.

- Unless you are a senior FileMaker Kung-Fu developer, the "Store Only as a Reference to a File" option is bad news, and will get you in trouble.

- "Store Only as a Reference to a File" is essentially a FileMaker legacy behavior that has been preserved in the newest version of FMSP. I would recommend staying away from this.

- FMSP ships in its default state of being "Internally Stored" NOT "Externally Stored."

- We ship FMSP this way to keep FMSP simple as possible for new people to understand and use.

- Experienced users can easily change containers to be "Externally Stored" when they realize they actually need it. It's a learning and experience issue.

- If Containers are stored Externally, then the FileMaker files (.fmp12 files) have to be KEPT with the folder of containers. They MUST stay together or things will break.

- We discuss container problems, and what generally happens and how we at RCC solve them.

- Try to keep your external container files organized.

- Do you want to keep your external container files locally or host them on the Server?

- Manually uploading to FileMaker Server can potentially cause issues.

- Find out how you can drop a folder of files into a container and have it stored as separate records. All the files will be uploaded into the database at once.

- Walk through of how you can manually add all the files in at once and see how you can script the process instead.

- Building the interface of your FileMaker solution the right way will add to your productivity.

- We’ll show you the steps you need to get started.

- In the following videos, we will show you the various ways to display data through UI techniques.

- Having multiple windows open can help simplify complicated tasks.

- Design considerations.

- Multiple windows in Pro vs Go vs WebDirect.

- FileMaker has many different layout objects that can be used as a supplement to windows to display information.

- Popovers, tab controls, slide controls, dialog boxes, dialog windows.

- The different types of windows and what you need to watch out for when adding them to your solution.

- What works with all versions of FileMaker consistency.

- FileMaker Pro supports displaying 2 or more Windows at the SAME TIME.

- IMPORTANT CONCEPT: Go & WebDirect are referred to as a "Single Document Interface." This means that Go & WebDirect can only display one Window at a time. You can create more than one window on Go or WebDirect at the same time, but only ONE of those windows will be displayed at one time. This may limit the user's awareness ... that they have more than one window open.

- A new Window can be handy in preserving context. For example, a user has to stop what they are doing in FileMaker and perform some other task.

- You can completely control all the windows you create in Pro, Go, & WebDirect,.. by using scripts. It is just that Go & WebDirect can only show one of these windows at one time.

- Popovers Work Great in Pro, Go, and WebDirect. It was deigned to help address the Single Document Interface limitation of Go & WebDirect.

- For FileMaker, popovers provide another awesome option for providing data, adding navigational controls, etc. Record locking is discussed.

- We are not talking about scripting a New Window Command and the various options if you're scripting the process.

- Slide Controls were added in FileMaker 13 and sometimes developers get confused as to the proper deployment for Tab Controls as opposed to Slide Controls.

- Both Slide and Tab panels are similar, but Tab panels provide visual guidance in terms of the contents of the panel.

- You can drag a Tab Control Object onto a layout from the tools in Layout mode.

- You can drag a Slide Control Object onto a layout from the tools in Layout mode.

- Hamburger Menu - Not an official FileMaker object, but used almost everywhere.

- Hamburger Menu - Usually a button with a popover window.

- This is a somewhat controversial method.

- Don't make your Hamburger Menu a junk drawer of buttons.

- Hidden Buttons - Invisibility Cloak for your buttons.

- FMSP - A great place to start your next project

- Do you have secondary capabilities that need to be hidden? Or is there a positive benefit to having these capabilities be visible?

- There are some Apple applications that use Hamburger Menus.

- Does your Hamburger Menu help the experience of the user?

- Great way of displaying additional data on a layout.

- We’re using a demo from Digital Fusion.

- Hamburger Menu usually used for button icon.

- Works on FM Pro, FM Go, and FM Web Direct (limited).

- Most legacy layouts will have the "Classic" theme, and that is very wasteful and slow when compared to other themes.

- Using a custom theme and shared Styles, like what we did for ALL layouts in FMSP 5, will make layouts load twice as fast.

- Now you can start to unwind our hard work once you start to customize the look of FMSP, but if you follow our guidelines and observations in the rest of our videos you shouldn't have any problems affecting performance negatively.

- Before we start customizing a theme, we should remove unnecessary objects from the layouts to minimize network traffic from the server to the client.

- Learn to make a layout load twice as fast.

- This video is one of the most critical videos to watch if you want to learn how to lighten your layouts and make the load 200% faster. No Joke. This is a new technique in FileMaker 13 and optimized in 14 and 15.

- Step 1 - Minimize number of layouts.

- Step 2 - Optimize layout.

- You want to have groups of objects with shared styles to minimize the CSS footprint.

- Making these changes cut the data being sent over the internet back and forth by HALF.

- Learn not to blow up your hard work of shared styles.

- Avoid the format painter tool because it creates its own blocks of CSS AKA a "local CSS override."

- Be careful about copying objects from one layout to another layout, that uses a different theme.

- Do not use the format painter if you are trying to optimize your layout.

- Painter tool very much behaves like the classic theme.

- Tip of the video: Do not copy and paste between two layouts with different themes.

- This is a super clever process that I learned from Nicholas Hunter (the creator of FileMaker's Starter Solutions).

- This saves a ton of processing time and effort if you have a number of hidden objects with the same formula.

- This can be a factor in performance improvements.

- Apply "Hidden Object" to an entire Slide Control. Which minimizes the number of Hidden calculations that must be processed to render a layout.

- The GetLayoutObjectAttribute function is handy for determining if something is actually hidden without using a big long calculation.

- If you have a big long calculation, this function is a performance advantage.

- Advanced discussion, covering the use of OnRecordLoad Script Trigger, GetNthRecord, Get(RecordNumber). Cartesian Join, Summary field List field.

- GetNthRecord of the current table returns the Nth record of the found set according to how the current table is sorted.

- GetNthRecord of a related table returns the Nth record of the related set (relative to the current record), regardless of how the related table (or portal) is sorted.

- Get (RecordNumber) - The value returned is determined by the relative place of the record in the found set, and it changes depending on the find criteria and the sort order.

- Cartesian Join - describes a relationship where any record in one table occurrence will match all the records in another table occurrence.

- Summary Field - Use summary fields to calculate values such as subtotals, averages, and grand totals across multiple records.

- You need to have mastered the previous video on virtual list prior to watching this video.

- Sample files available from http://www.newleafdata.com

- You need to have mastered the previous video on virtual list prior to watching this video.

- Sample files available from http://www.newleafdata.com

- Featuring Claus Lavendt of DataManix who explains what a SVG is, how its different than a PNG, and how to hack the SVG to get it to work with FM15.

- Unless it is hacked, FMP won't be able to control the color of the icon dynamically. The helper tool assists with this.

- Web Viewers were introduced in FM 8. Since then they have become a very flexible and useful tool.

- Web Viewers are driven by your Operating System, and it's not actually rendered by FM.

- Web Viewers don't necessarily need to display data from the internet. It can be told to render local HTML code.

- A URL Protocol is a way for FileMaker to communicate with other applications that are running on your computer or device.

- You will see how to use the URL Protocol to access your database and we will break down the URL itself into pieces that are understandable.

- Starting with FMP 18 there will be a version specific URL Protocol because there have been issues in the past where the URL Protocol uses an older version of FileMaker if you had it on the computer or device.

- Having more than 1 copy of FileMaker installed on a computer can confuse the URL Protocol and cause malfunctions to happen because the URL Protocol can try to work in an older version of FileMaker that is installed on your computer.

- This shouldn’t be a problem for end-users but developers will most likely have multiple copies of FileMaker.

- New capabilities part of FIleMaker 19

- Previously you had to use the URL Protocol, which was imprecise

- Perform JavaScript in Web Viewer allows you to call JavaScript in a web viewer from a FileMaker script

- Calling FileMaker scripts can be done in JavaScript, but requires precise naming.

- You can ping-pong data back and forth between FileMaker and a web viewer using JSON objects

- FileMaker.PerformScriptWithOption was added in v19.1.2

- Option 0 - After a currently running FileMaker script has completed, queued FileMaker scripts are run in order. If FileMaker script execution is canceled, the queue is cleared. (This is the behavior if option is not specified. This is also the default behavior for FileMaker.PerformScript() starting in version 19.0)

- Option 1 - Halt - Execution of a currently running FileMaker script is halted, and all other pending scripts (queued or in the call stack) are canceled. Then script is run.

- Option 2 - Exit - A currently paused FileMaker script is exited. If the current FileMaker script was called by another FileMaker script, control returns to the calling FileMaker script until no more scripts remain in the call stack. Then script is run.

- Option 3 - Resume - A paused FileMaker script is resumed. After after the resumed script is completed, script is run.

- Option 4 - Pause - A paused FileMaker script remains paused. If the paused script is resumed and completed, then script is run.

- Option 5 - Suspend and Resume - A currently running FileMaker script is suspended and script is run. When script is completed, the suspended script resumes with the next script step. A paused script remains paused while script is run. (This is the behavior of FileMaker.PerformScript() in version 19.0.)