FileMaker Platform Overview

3 Main Components of FileMaker

* Database Back-end - Storage of information (like excel)

* Graphical User Interface (GUI) - makes the storage of the information "pretty"

* Business Logic - How the database is run (workflow)

Example: FileMaker = The Home Depot

- You can find all the tools you need to build an app within FileMaker

* Ecosystem

- There is a massive ecosystem, including Plugin Developers who can assist in giving your FileMaker App more capabilities... like processing Credit Cards.

Expanding on the E-Myth...and applying real work solutions

• The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Berber, could save your startup or small business.

* 3 Personas Make up a Small Business

* #1 is the "Entrepreneur": Sees what could be in the future

* #2 is the "Technician": Technically proficient, but they are so busy, that they don't have time to think about fluffy stuff...like the future.

* #3 is the "Manager": This is the process...and procedure documenter ... and organizer.

* Technicans cannot transfer to the job of manager well...and this can cause a business to fail.

* New Hires doing receive documented training. Their training is handled verbally... via tribal knowledge.

* Tribal knowledge results in poor dispersal of knowledge and procedures.

* The business needs a documented, repeatable, and reliable process to follow.

* This course picks up where the book leave off....as we have the magic tool for creating an backend operational system.

* This tool, called FileMaker...can also be used to build vertical market applications.

* FM Starting Point is a great FREE tool to use with FileMaker... to create a documented operations management system.

Planning and Documenting are Critical

* Takes some skills and practice to get accurate estimates.

* You need documentation BEFORE you can create an itemized check list. The check list of items... is what you use to get the detailed quote.

* Wire frames are needed as well as a documented deliverables list.

* Professional, seasoned developers do not want to volunteer their time to document your software project.

* You need to pay for developers time if you want them to do the initial documentation. You can do the documentation yourself, but someone has to do it if you want a good accurate quote.

* Development methodology is either "Waterfall" or "Spiral."

* Developers cannot do detailed bug testing themselves. They begin to see what they want to see.

* Some projects do not need a "tight" fixed cost quote.

* Fixed Cost Quote cannot be provided based upon hand waving.

This is a whole lot more complicates than you think...

* Marketing Considerations

• You cannot just take a app you use internally... and just magically sell it to other companies.

• An app that is "good enough" for your internal use is most likely not good enough for commercial use.

• People will use tribal knowledge... to training various workers... how to work around a solution that is "good enough" ... to get the job done.

• Getting an app ready to be sold commercially may take up to 3 times the amount of time it took to build the initial app.

• With commercial sales... there is no tribal knowledge transfer between the internal users of the solution, and the people who bought the App.

Quick Course Summary

This training course focuses on FileMaker 14 and FM Starting Point 4.5, but is largely applicable to FM 13, 12, and 11.   There are corresponding versions of FM Starting point for these versions of FileMaker.

The beginning of the basics...

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=App. The FileMaker platform uses the .fmp12 file format. FileMaker uses screens, called Layouts.

Introduction to cool new capabilities for optimizing data and media input.

So begins a juicy conversation on Custom Keyboards, the the new InsertFromDevice script step... all part of FileMaker Go 14.

Use the camera to capture barcodes.

InsertFromDevice is one of the best new Script steps in FileMaker 14, and it is purely a FM Go capability. Super awesome. Keep users from mis-using containers for the wrong type of content.

Harness the camera and container fields.

Camera capture and signatures are important capabilities to take advantage of... especially the signature feature. Pay attention to FM Go's ability to test for fraudulent signatures.

FileMaker iOS App SDK

FIAS: Library of additional resources, that when combined with your FileMaker solution... can make a native iOS application.

XCode: Free App for building iOS and Mac Apps.

20,000 Foot view of the whole build process

Your going to be leveraging FileMaker Pro, and FileMaker Go, and then Xcode along with the FIAS tool.

There are a lot of moving parts.

Your need to carefully think this through ... or else...

Richard Carlton and Guest Speaker, Todd Geist (Geist Interactive): Please don't hose your customers...and loose their data. Think about the requirements of the FIAS Apps...and how they operate. Richard & Todd discuss several potential Strategies.

I have built $60,000 basic CRMs for iOS with other technologies. If I could have done this with FIAS...I could have built the same database for $10,000