Philosophy of FileMaker 20 - Volume 1

Create invoices and add customers, products, and lines in FileMaker; apply a clear naming scheme for primary and foreign keys, with serial keys and housekeeping fields.

Learn to build core file relationships using the anchor boy method, create table occurrences, and add foreign keys to connect invoices, customers, lines, and products, including one-to-many and portal behavior.

Determine the minimum layout size by querying users’ actual resolutions, and design an invoice interface with a title, navigation, current record, found set, and housekeeping fields.

Automatically format phone numbers in FileMaker to enforce uniform entry, using let, left, middle, and right functions with auto enter and validation for 7 or 10 digits.

select a customer for an invoice by building a dynamic value list from the customers table and linking invoices to customers via a primary key; filter active records.

Learn how to build a lines portal in FileMaker to manage a many-to-many relationship between invoices and products, including join tables, auto entering fields, snapshotting price, and calculating extended price.

Add a status field to invoices, filtered portals, compute a total price from line items with a sum, link invoices to customers via an anchor-based relationship, and sort by date.

Create a filtered invoice portal using a global status field as an interface control, toggle paid, billed, or canceled with a checkbox, and refresh the portal with a script trigger.

Master auto sizing and anchoring in layouts, optimize portals and list views for any screen, and leverage case statements over nested if statements for efficient conditional data display.

Learn eleven methods to trigger a script in FileMaker, from buttons to script triggers and Incomer JavaScript, with guidance on prioritizing useful steps.

Explore how go to related record (GTRR) navigates across related tables to show invoices, products, and customer details in new windows, with tooltips and open URL features.

Explore the new window script step by creating a merge letter in FileMaker, using merge fields, page setup, and preview to print while preserving the original found set.

Build a Rolodex style alphabetic find in FileMaker by using a single script parameter per letter to filter customers by last name initial.

Compare and contrast FileMaker scripting approaches. Explore copy and paste drawbacks, and use set field, global fields, variables, script parameters, or go to related records for context.

Discover how execute SQL, a FileMaker calculation function, fetches values or sums from tables without entering heavy relationships, avoiding summary fields in portals and reducing graph clutter.

Learn how to search overdue invoices by outstanding balances and use a script-triggered balance update, deciding where to place calculations between the managed database and scripts for reliability.

Automate full payment by auto entering the remaining balance on new invoices, align labels for a neat layout, and enhance usability with tooltips and inline edits.

Develop a delivery date calculation in FileMaker that adds five workdays to the posted date, excluding weekends, using the date work finish field and a week-based logic.

Learn how timestamp and modification fields update across invoices and their lines, using max to identify the most recent change and test fixes.

Name windows to reveal context as you navigate records. Build a window title using a calculation and an on record load script that updates with company or person name.

Learn how scripting a find reduces user errors by clarifying fine mode, avoiding accidental data entry, and guiding results to list or form views based on matches.

Hide and reveal FileMaker objects by window mode, using get window mode to separate browse and find modes. Adjust layouts and buttons for fine mode to improve find workflows.

Learn to simplify FileMaker searches by indexing fields and a phone find field. Use text and number indexing rules to support partial and exact matches, and design a user-friendly interface.

Explore how a find with no matching data triggers a user-friendly message by using get last error checks, showing all records, and the script debugger to diagnose issues.

Learn to handle no find criteria and errors in FileMaker scripts with pause on error and last error checks.

Combine a dynamic save-and-restore script for found sets in FileMaker, using get layout and layout by calculation to route to invoices, products, and original layouts.

Learn to implement instant feedback and single-field find and browse filtering in FileMaker using a global X filter field, on object modify, and a dynamic quick find workflow.