Why leave FileMaker for another tool

Suggestion 22

22/06/2015

Why FileMaker why leave for another tool

See: https://community.filemaker.com/thread/85132

Or: https://community.filemaker.com/message/191412#191412

Also: https://community.filemaker.com/message/167234

Contextual Help for a Error Message that comes up when desiging a Dialogue Box

Suggestion 19

12/09/2012

Menasche Scharf

[FileMaker Pro Help Case: 120912-000160]

Contextual Help for a Error Message that comes up when desiging a Dialogue Box

Upon my enquiry as to the lack of help inside the Dialogue creation feature, found in FileMaker Scripts, FileMaker answered me along the lines that the FileMaker documentation caters for this type of development help.

Surely this explanation could have been added to the Dialogue Box that contains the Error Message?

Future FileMaker Roadmap

Suggestion 21

19/06/2015

Menasche Scharf

Why FileMaker future roadmap

See: https://community.filemaker.com/message/191315#191315

FileMaker vs. AWS

Suggestion 23

24/06/2015

Menasche Scharf

Why FileMaker?

How it compares with AWS = Amazon Web Services:

FileMaker:
FileMaker, Inc., an Apple subsidiary, makes software that transforms businesses by enabling users to create and run custom solutions that work seamlessly across iPad, iPhone, Windows, Mac and the web.  Millions of people worldwide rely on the FileMaker Platform to share information, manage projects, track assets and more.

• Over 20 million copies of FileMaker software delivered
• Over 1.5 million downloads of FileMaker Go for iPad and iPhone

• The FileMaker Platform is available in 15 languages

Amazon Web Services 

Amazon Web Services offers a broad set of global compute, storage, database, analytics, application, and deployment services that help organizations move faster, lower IT costs, and scale applications. These services are trusted by the largest enterprises and the hottest start-ups to power a wide variety of workloads including: web and mobile applications, IoT, data processing and warehousing, storage, archive, and many others.

See: http://aws.amazon.com/products/?nc2=h_ql_reinvent_or

System Date Format Setting

Suggestion 24

System Date Format Setting

12/09/2012

Menasche Scharf

Problem:

FileMaker Pro 7.0v1 Does Not Follow System Date Format Setting: 

When launching the Main Menu FileMaker File, the following error message appears: 

Error: "The Date And Time Formats Associated With FileMaker Applications Are Different Than The Current System Settings" 

Solution: 

Check that the computer and the Date Fields in the Main Menu FileMaker File are formatted for UK GMT.  

Source: http://help.filemaker.com

Why FileMaker III

11/03/2015

Suggestion 20

Why FileMaker: Two guiding principles in FileMaker development: it's easy to create and simple to maintain

See:
http://forums.digitalmedianet.com/cgi-bin/displaywwugpost.fcgi?forum=dmn_news&post=080121150656.htm

FileMaker is Turing complete
http://www.filemaker.com/?board.id=FM-en-4&amp%3bthread.id=4503

03/07/2015

Pick the right tool for the job, as opposed to thinking one tool does everything.

Menasche Scharf

10/06/2015

Menasche Scharf

Who uses Filemaker: Over 10,000 K-12 schools use FileMaker in their data-driven decision making processes to achieve greater operational efficiency, easily comply with federal and state reporting requirements, advance teacher development and monitor student performance.

See: https://www.filemaker.com/solutions/k12/

03/07/2015

Menasche Scharf

Why FileMaker: What is unique about FileMaker is its tight integration between the schema and the User Interface.

18/08/2015

Menasche Scharf

Why FileMaker: Service Management Solution

See: http://www.filemaker.com/solutions/showcase/#market-refrigeration-specialists

28/08/2015

Menasche Scharf

Why FileMaker: "This raw data were further analyzed using Phenzomix, a data management tool developed in-house for use with these microarrays. Based on FileMaker Pro 5.3, this tool facilitated cluster formation based on both inputs from the arrays (mRNA intensity, fold change, and present/absent calls) and known functionality." 

See: http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/51/4/977.full

Layout and Object Colours

19/02/2015

Suggestion 25

Coloured text in Dialogue boxes

Ask FileMaker - How to have Coloured Text in Dialogue Boxes

Menasche Scharf

See the url below for an alternative solution to Dialogue Boxes, To emphasise a Button or Field, it should be possible to change its colour

See: http://www.mofeel.net/244-comp-databases-filemaker/568.aspx

07/09/2009
How to change the colour of the Background in Layout Mode to show it in Browse Mode?

How to create a floating Window

Suggestion 18

06/03/2015

Menasche Scharf

Ask FileMaker: How to create a floating Window that contains clickable links to the open Windows in FileMaker.
This is following the new arrangement, whereby a new Window opens up every time a Button is clicked to reach another Layout.

====== Interface I ======

Suggestion 16

====== Interface ======

We need to have the option of having more than one record open at one time.

Example: If I'm dealing with a job at the property address 7 Glademount, in the mean time a call comes in about a job in 16 Hadley Court, the previous Job should stay open and this way I can return to it when I finished the enquiry for the new call about Hadley.

07/09/2009 The interface should be intuitive:

In the Orders Layout there is a Orders Link in White (in the External Links part), that is not Live.

Then there is a Orders List Link in White that is also not Live.

Which one should be Blue?

Q. Scenario: I'm looking for a job (EPC) of a particular address (Gypsons Gardens), so I click ~Search~By Address, then when I find it I click Close and See Details.

I then click on Orders but all I see is a listing of ALL orders.

I wanted to see only orders connected to this property address!

A. Orders are NOT connected to any job addresses – Product Ordered are.

There is a button (label) in the Address box titled ‘Jobs’ this will bring up a list of all jobs ordered for that address

Q. Is it possible to Right-Click on a name and FileMaker should bring up the telephone number?

I know it's too early days, still we need to look into it as - at the moment - it takes too many steps to navigate through the system.

A. There is no right-click script trigger in FileMaker.

If you can give me an example of a place where you have a name and no telephone number I'll appreciate it if you can show me.

Q. The Orders Layout should be rearranged: the bottom part where the details of an individual Order ID are shown should go on top of the table with all the orders. Innit?

A. Will have to look into this for the next iteration.

19-Nov-2009 Messaging Options

The Copy for Engineer Button should open a menu selection: For eMail and For TxT

Date: 08/09/2009

Can we have the pop-up Calendar also in any other Date Field throughout the system?

For example, the Date Field in the Diary Layout.

Date: 24/09/2009

Q. Can you make a Pop-Up Clock, like the Calendar?

We need it in the Job Diary (and memayle all over)

A. There is no popup clock control as far as I know.

On second thought, I can make a popup list that you can choose from predefined time values.

Broken URLink

Suggestion 26

Broken URLink

On the page at URL Reviews | FileMaker, there's a url to a Review by programmableweb:

http://blog.programmableweb.com/news/review-filemaker-13-enables-powerful-custom-database-solutions-no-programming-requi…

this url is broken.

====== Ctrl+2 ======

Suggestion 17

====== Ctrl+2 ======

The shortcut Ctrl+2 (to open the Find Tel/eMail Window) should also work from within any other Layout (Diary, Switchboard etc.)

Create New Records

===== Suggestion 14: Create New Record with Text in Search Layout =====
 If you search for a record based on various fields and the record can't be found then you have to make a new record - instead of having to insert all the field values that you have tried to search a record for FileMaker should be made to remember these values and enter them for you

If I can't find an address after typing it into "Search Address", can I have the typed text in the Clipboard? This way I don't have to type it all over again when I create a new Record.

Date: 14/09/2009
Is there a way to enter a new property in the Properties Tab, without leaving the Customer's Record? This would make it much easier for users. The Association of the Two ID's (Contact and Property) could be made automatically.

Date: 10/09/2009
When I enter "Tenant" in the Name Field, it should automatically populate the Type Field with "Tenant"

Date: 10/09/2009
Q. I placed two Orders with Nahid of Beechwood, the Order Count still shows (0) - why?
A. There are no Order Count at the moment for a Contact

Q. Where do I put the Directions from GoogleMaps and others, Parking Restrictions, Congestion Charging Details and the like?
A. I'll create fields for those data.

Q. If a Contact Record has the word "Vacant" in it and the Type Field: Tenant and the Credit Field: "No Credit", it follows that the Type in the Address Box should be "Job Address"
A. Will do.

Date: 16/09/2009
Q. Can you Capitalise all Names in the Contact Name Field?

Date: 17/09/2009
Can you treat "Vacant" in the Name Field in Contacts the same as you treat "Tenant"? Hide Credit Status etc.

Date: 17/09/2009
Q, Is it possible to warn a user when he is about to enter details of a contact that already exists?

Date: 24/09/2009
If a company employee has no address then the whole address table should be blanked out. 
This is much more user friendly than having empty fields

Cloud Based PBX on FileMaker Pro

====== Telephone PBX Integration ======

What are the things that one needs to look out for when selecting a Cloud-based Soft PBX (Private branch exchange) that will Hook into FIleMaker Pro, in order to integrate it into a UC platform that has VOIP Handsets connected to the same LAN as the hardware that runs FIleMaker Pro?

There is a documented example HERE, but this only works on iPad or iPhone devices with FileMaker Go, not on a PBX with FileMaker Pro.

P.S. As I'm an infrequent user AND this Forum has undergone changes recently, please forgive me if I posted this enquiry in an inappropriate Space (or Place...)

URL: https://community.filemaker.com/message/520117#520117

Integrate with FileMaker with Telephony - see:

 * http://www.linearblue.com/phone_companion.php

 * http://www.24usoftware.com/FMPacks

 * http://www.24usoftware.com/PhoneCompanion - also makes other Plug Ins

 * http://www.dwaynewright.com/resourcesfiles.html - free Plug Ins filemakerlayouts.blogspot.com

 * http://www.myfmbutler.com/ http://www.myfmbutler.com/ - FileMaker Add-ons, Plug-Ins

 * http://fm.geckotribe.com/ http://fm.geckotribe.com/ - FileMaker Add-ons, Plug-Ins

 * http://www.troi.com/ http://www.troi.com/ - FileMaker Add-ons, Plug-Ins

 * http://www.newmillennium.com/index.php?src=directory&view=products&back=products&category=Developer%20Software

 ** Integrate with Tadiran PBX:

FileMaker is TAPI compliant, find some plugins below:

 * http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=filemaker+tapi&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

 * Integrate with Mobile Solution

 * Integrate PBX, Server and other pieces of the system architecture with any phase of the above three phases

31/08/2009
I wanted very much to be able to connect FileMaker to the PBX, as it will help when dialling out and also when receiving calls. Incoming calls - Screen popping: I checked the telephone system software and they have some help on the following url: mk:@MSITStore:C:\Program%20Files\Avaya\IP%20Office\Phone%20Manager\Langs\eng\Help\PhoneManagereng.chm::/screenpop.htm

Sent: 31 July 2008 10:20, From: Antony Larose [mailto:antony_larose@filemaker.com], To: Isaac Izzet

Subject: Re: Property Safety Ltd

Hi Isaac, Yes FileMaker is TAPI compliant, I did a search in google ( FileMaker Tapi) to find some plugins and I go to these results: http://www.google.com/search?&q=filemaker+tapi&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8.  If you need any additional information please do not hesitate in giving me a call.  With regards, Antony Larose, Senior Licensing Sales, FileMaker International

Scheduled Postings of Blogger Posts

Question: I want to place one Post every day, so as to spread out my postings.  Is there a possibility to queue the Posts on a time-based schedule, where it will upload one every day?

Answer: Use the Schedule Button in the Post Settings Drop Down Menu (Right hand side).

Question: If  the Schedule Button is meant for queueing a Draft Blog to be published at some point in the future, why tehn is the Publish Button still visible, even after setting a Date and Time?

See also: http://joelcalifa.com/work/do-share/

Drop Down Menu

Sent: 03 December 2008 10:25

Question for you:

You made a new drop down menu in the Jobs Layout: “POM” or “not POM” – why can’t you run the script through the main drop down menu?
It’s neater and the information is already there!
From: Menasche Scharf

Spaces or no Spaces?

From: Menasche Scharf [n]
Sent: 09 March 2009 14:43
The Contracts Manager asked me why when he copies an address from FileMaker into QuickBooks; he always needs to delete so many spaces between the different parts of an address.
I proceeded to delete the spaces by eliminating the following text from the formula in the FindText Field: and ” “
The next morning, Works Manager calls me and asks why suddenly he can copy text from FileMaker to QuickBooks, but all the words are stuck together!
I explained to him that – if he remembers – I asked him to enter any piece of address into FileMaker with a space, so that when we need to copy it elsewhere it will look nice. As a precaution for when he forgets to add a space, I added a space in the formula between each field.
Now I think the solution to this conflict would be to ensure that whenever a user leaves an address field, FileMaker should add a space after the end of every address string.

Monthly Statements

Sent: 28 January 2009 17:52
Monthly Statements
The Statement should include the following data:
Invoice Date,
Property Address [of where the works were carried out],
Amount and [Condition] Balance (if the payment is partially paid)

Sent: 28/01/2009
When creating Monthly statement, there should be a checkbox next to each customer record in the Company Contact File, which can be toggled On or OFF.
If the box is set to the OFF position, this customer will not have their statement printed out.
Very useful for customers who always pay on time.

POM_Callout Layout

Sent: 15 February 2009 16:00
POM Callouts
Please try to make a note on every POM Callout if it’s covered under POM or not.
This will help the telephoe operator decide whether to forward the call to an engineer or not.

Sent: 03 December 2008 11:03
If you’ll look in the POM_Callout Layout you’ll see that the Job Types vary from Record to Record, that means that the User will need a choice of selecting different Job Types, on the other hand FileMaker needs a way of making all those Jobs common just to Callout - this is where the Job Criteria comes in.

Size Matters - Part II

Size Matters

Where can I find the size of FileMaker Objects?

• One Record
• One Layout
• One File

Example: I need to send a dummy file to a developer so he can see our file and work on it.

Problem: "The file you're attaching is bigger than the server allows."

Solution: Delete the unnecessary Layouts or delete more Records?

I deleted about 25 Logo's from the Contacts Layout and the file size changed from 174MB to 160MB.
I deleted about 25 Layouts from the File and the file size changed from 160MB to 159MB.

I deleted 33848 Records from the Contacts Layout and the file size changed from 159MB to 63.9MB (these indisputably had some more Logo's in some of the records, which contributed to the size of this file).

I deleted another 50,000+/- Records from the Factory Visits, Certificates and Formulations Layouts and the file size changed from 63.9MB to 32.8MB.

I deleted another 55,000+/- Records from the "Layout #142" Layout and the file size changed from 32.8MB to 22.5MB.

I deleted about 25 Logo's from the Certificate Layouts and the file size changed from 22.5MB to 20.6MB.

I deleted about 25 additional Layouts from the File and the file size changed from 20.6MB to 19.7MB.

Add Record - Is it Set Field or Replace Field Contents?

16/12/2014 SB: When using the Add Record Button, it Duplicates the complete Record, including the contents of the following Fields: Follow_up_Comments, Importance, KIC Received, Report Received, Assigned To, Start Followup, Case Closed, Closed By and Comments. 

16/12/2014 MS: To solve the above problem (16/12/2014 SB), we need to find a way of duplicating a Record but with only some of the information, so that the new record has the main characteristics of the old one – but it is still not identical (as in an invoicing system, where the customer details are the same but the new sale has different sales data – See: [i]). Need to find out the difference between “Set Field [ ]” or, since you want all records, “Replace Field Contents [ ]” (Source: [ii]). “Replace Field” updates the specified field for ALL records in the current found set, not just the current record. Use “Set Field” instead of Replace Field Contents (Source: [iii]).

Solution - replaced the Script to carry out the following Steps:

• Duplicate Record, 
• Populate the above Fields with the following Values: 
• Importance: Medium (the Default Value), 
• KIC Received: “Not Yet”, 
• Report Received: “Not Yet”, 
• Assigned To: “Pending”, 
• Start Followup: BLANK (Clear Data), 
• Case Closed: BLANK (Clear Data), 
• Closed By: BLANK (Clear Data)
• Comments: BLANK (Clear Data).

[i] http://filemaker.463488.n4.nabble.com/quot-replace-field-contents-quot-td500161.html

[ii] http://fmforums.com/forum/topic/61648-how-to-remove-title-case-in-text-field/ Post #6

[iii] http://forums.filemaker.com/posts/5b8b7e42d1?commentId=286112#286112

Callout Box

09/07/2015

Menasche Scharf

How to set Tab stops inside a Callout Box

See: https://community.filemaker.com/thread/83989

Set Cache size for Individual Solutions

13/02/2013 MS: Ask FileMaker how to set Cache size for individual Solutions (Files, Containers?), instead of for the whole Application (See: [i])

---

[i] https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&safe=active&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22set+file+cache+to%22+%22filemaker%22+%22file%22+-mac&oq=%22set+file+cache+to%22+%22filemaker%22+%22file%22+-mac&gs_l=hp.3...5901.7114.11.7417.7.7.0.0.0.0.157.690.4j3.7.0.les%3Bernk_ir..0.0...1.1.2.hp.hqYE7pNhvFQ&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.42080656,d.ZGU&fp=620e60432c3ada21&ion=1&biw=1280&bih=905

Copy and Paste

Sent: 06 May 2009 10:55
Subject: Copy and Paste
Please can you paste the drop-down list from the record: “Reported By” to a drop-down list in the record “To Whom”?