Ask FileMaker XXX

08/02/2013
MS
Dashed Lines in a Text Field
Ask FileMaker how to have "dashed lines in a Text Field, to write notes"

14/09/2016
MS
Field Names inside the Field
When I go into Find Mode, the Fields are totally blank.  It would be nice to have the Field name shown inside the Field so that I know what Field it is (in case there are no Field Labels present).
The  workaround to type "Self" in the Tooltip Field in the Position Tab of the Inspector only picks up the Field Name and displays it when you hover over the Field in Browse Mode - not in Find Mode!

19/09/2016
MS
Empty Fields
There should be an Inspector Tab that shows which Field is used in which Layout, which will facilitate the decision making process whether to delete this Field or not, otherwise you can end up deleting a Field that looks unused to you but in reality it is used in a  Drop Down Menu, a Script orr Calculation and once you delete the Field all the Data is lost: the Data contained in this Field and any Calculation based on its Data. 

27/09/2016
MS
When FileMaker Pro deletes a Field, it shows a number of Layout names during the deletion.  This is (I presume) the list of Layouts that are open whilst the Delete operation is being processed.

06/10/2016
MS
Import one text file (or spreadsheet) into two Tables

10/11/2016
MS
How to select the correct Field based on the content of the Clipboard: When I am searching for a company, I can do this by Company Name "Spak Orgochem(India) Pvt. Ltd" or by Company Number "2752".  If the Clipboard has text, enter the "Company Name" Field; if it contains numbers, enter the "Company Number" Field.

Suggestion 34: Sell Many Items from One Layout

Suggestion 34

The database should be able to handle sales of many products and services with varying prices etc., all from one form.

Layout Parts and other Issues - Part I

04/02/2013
MS
Minimum Height of Body Part 
Ask FileMaker: What is the Minimum Height of the Body Part in a Layout?

06/02/2013

Menasche Scharf

Question: One way FileMaker is different than MS Word where the Header and Footer remain unchanged, whilst in FileMaker every Layout needs to be changed separately.  This means that I need to manually go through every Layout to apply the same change repetitively.
Answer: maybe this is what it means a "THEME" or "TEMPLATE" or "MASTER PAGE"?  Lack of knowledge on the part of a developer doesn't warrant an attack on FileMaker!

12/12/2013

Menasche Scharf

Question: how to customise Tab behaviour, like one can change the behaviour of Layouts, Portals and Parts? 

Answer: Start with the “Go To Object” Script (See: FileMaker Help for more options [cdvi]).

See: http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7105

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6145/~/how-to-navigate-between-tab-controls-using-scripts

14/05/2014

Menasche Scharf

Ask FileMaker how to arrange the Tab Order for the Find Layout to be separate than the Browse Layout.

19/03/2015

Menasche Scharf

How do you set a Script/Condition to Show/Hide the Header/Footer in a Layout?

Answer: You need "Kiosk Mode" in FileMaker Pro Advanced.

See: http://forums.filemaker.com/posts/ad637a59ec

29/04/2015

Menasche Scharf

I followed all the instructions to a t and although the Merge Variable shows fine in Layout Mode, nothing shows in Preview Mode. 

See: http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/3629

Automatically Resize Window

29/01/2013 MS: Automatically Resize Window around every different Layout size/shape
(See for example the differing Factory Visit Layouts).

Dissect Address and Populate Fields

01/11/2013 MS: Ask FileMaker how to Shift Data from one Field to another, i.e. if the Address Field is blank and there’s an address in Address2 Field, how to Cut and Paste all these bits of text throughout multiple Records.

====== Setting up Calculation or Value Lists ======

See the following links:

1. http://fmforums.com/topic/89648-ceating-a-value-list-from-related-tables/
2. https://coresolutions.ca/blog/core-filemaker/create-value-lists-unstored-calculations.php
3. http://www.modularfilemaker.org/module/virtual-value-list/
4. https://filemakerhacks.com/2012/07/25/magic-value-lists/
5. http://burnignorance.com/filemaker-pro-tips/create-a-value-list-in-filemaker-from-an-unstored-calculation-field/
6. https://www.teamdf.com/blogs/conditional-value-lists-pt-1-what-are-they-how-to-build-them/
7. https://community.filemaker.com/thread/148486?start=0&tstart=0
8. https://community.filemaker.com/thread/90199?start=0&tstart=0
9. http://fmtechniques.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/quicktip-creating-drop-down-list-from.html
10. http://www.nightwing.com.au/FileMaker/demos4.html
11. http://www.soliantconsulting.com/blog/2013/03/context-independent-value-list-active-records
12. http://www.filemakertoday.com/com/archive/index.php?t-28230.html
13. http://www.filemakertoday.com/com/tags.php?tag=value%20lists&language=lv

04/02/2013

Menasche Scharf

Ask FileMaker: How to use the same Value List for two Fields?

In essence, the questions is if the data entered using the Value list in one Field changes anything in the other Field? 

לכאורה this will not happen.

13/02/2013

Menasche Scharf

Ask FileMaker how and why should I use this: “Show Values Only From Second Field” (See: ) [cdxviii]

See: https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&safe=active&tbo=d&sclient=psy-ab&q=%22filemaker%22+%22Show+Values+Only+From+Second+Field%22+%22drop+down%22+%22menu%22+%22button%22+%22layouts%22+-auto-complete+-portal

13/02/2013

Menasche Scharf

Ask FileMaker why a Value List shows in the Inspector, when the Member of Value List Drop Down List in the Options for Field Combox (in the Manage Database Combox) it states: “”? (Try to See: ) [cdxix]

See: [cdxix] https://www.google.co.uk/search?q= =Value+List+%E2%80%8EInspector%E2%80%8E+Options+%E2%80%8Efilemaker&aqs=chrome.0.69i57.19693j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=%22Value+List%22+%22Inspector%E2%80%8E%22+%22Options%22+%22filemaker%22+-dynamic+%22Manage+Database%22&safe=active

15/10/2013

Menasche Scharf

How to Find a group of Records between two values / numbers: low and high – when the Field contains an alpha-numeric Code/ID?

01/05/2014

Menasche Scharf

Ask FileMaker to allow select entire cell contents for the values in the Inspector->Position->Left/Top/Right/Bottom/Width&Height

18/09/2015

Menasche Scharf

Ask FileMaker how to set up the Drop Down List to display in a smaller font size (so that more values are shown in the Drop Down List), whilst the data in Field (i.e. one selection out of the Drop Down List) is shown in regular size font (i.e. like all other Fields)

FileMaker related Schmooze Part II

FileMaker related Schmooze Part II - FileMaker Custom Apps

https://msdev.co.uk/blog/filemaker-web-services-continuing-story

Integration of web services into a FileMaker solution

https://www.filemaker.com/downloads/pdf/it_tco_wp.pdf

Total Cost of Ownership White Paper

https://pauseonerror.pbworks.com/w/page/14902706/Domination

Global variables

https://pauseonerror.pbworks.com/w/page/20300373/Zulu%3A%20iCal%20Server%20for%20FileMaker

iCal Server for FileMaker

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/filemaker-design-standards/JvAQF01AeCs

A MySql based wiki and cms tool with a FileMaker database which pulls information via ESS to synchronize and update new records

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7612/~/installing-filemaker-server-11

Installing FileMaker Server

https://vimeo.com/10731983

Inventory Based Manufacturing Systems

https://pauseonerror.pbworks.com/w/page/14902762/Universal%20Catalog%20Tool

https://pauseonerror.pbworks.com/w/page/15445161/Google%20Mapping%20in%20FileMaker%3A%20A%20Study%20of%20Techniques

https://pauseonerror.pbworks.com/w/page/14902701/Data%20Modeling

Data Integrity and Transactions:

https://pauseonerror.pbworks.com/w/page/14902738/PDX10Schedule

https://www.udemy.com/filemaker/

Beginners FileMaker Pro 12 Training - A Practical Guide

https://vimeo.com/10598529

testing and implementing code in FileMaker

Find Data in a Field that gets the Data from Two Fields in Two Separate Tables and it shouldn’t take soooo long:

https://pauseonerror.pbworks.com/w/page/14902716/fmSearchResults

* Hide Home Page with all Songs - even when I want access to the iTunes Store

http://www.allbusiness.com/3470945-1.html?query=filemaker

FileMaker related Schmooze Part I

FileMaker related Schmooze Part I

Bug reports

1) http://superuser.com/questions/994652/filemaker-pro-13-advanced-and-windows-server-2008-r2

===== Request for Change - Feature Wish List =====

Copy / Place here all the relevant records from FileMaker that fit the Label: RFC = Requests to add a Feature to FileMaker

Place here the ideas, suggestions and requirements that we want to implement in the first major overhaul of our Management System (as opposed to Phase One, where we only do minor improvements to our existing FileMaker Dashboard system)

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

 Date: 23/09/2009

I now realise that FileMaker isn't capable of doing all that I wanted.

Please let me know what items in this spreadsheet are beyond its limit and we'll keep it for Phase 2: SQL or Servoy

===== iTunes =====

FileMaker related questions:

What is a breadcrumb in FileMaker parlance?

What is a foreign key (and a foreign key field) in FileMaker parlance?

What is a List() function in FileMaker parlance?

What is a portal key value in FileMaker parlance?

What is a Recursive calculation in FileMaker parlance?

See: http://www.filemaker.com/ten/resources/index.html#0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3glsDziYb0s

If I could only choose five features to have FMI work on, the following would by far be the most important feature requests:

1. Comprehensive Solution Profiling
2. Solution Updating
3. Native Parameter Passing
4. Ability to turn off Script Triggers
5. Built-in Data Auditing

Look up:

Script Profiling

Layout Profiling

Import field mapping

See: https://beezwax.net/products/inspector-pro/

Size Matters - Part I

21/02/2014

MS: AutoFit Text into Text Fields

Ask FileMaker: How to AutoFit Text into Fields or Stretch, expand/reduce Field size to fit the text.

14/10/2009

RFC: 193

Expanding Field: In the Job Diary, when I click on an entry it expands to show the contents of the Field.

However as I reach the bottom of the screen, it doesn't expand.

Looks like it can only expand downwards, not upwards?

08/02/2005

Shrink or Expand Fields according to the amount of text

04/02/2013

MS: Dynamically Resize Body Area

Ask FileMaker: How do you set the Body Area in a Layout to Dynamically Resize, according to the Field sizes that ‘grow’ downwards, when they have more text than the regular Field size?

04/02/2013

Menasche Scharf

Ask FileMaker) How do you set a row of Text Fields to allow them to Dynamically Resize (i.e. Auto-size, Auto-resize (), Autosize, Expand, Autoresize - grow or shrink, slide) VERTICALLY or HORIZONTALLY, according to the one Field in the row that has the largest amount of text?

Links:

http://www.filemaker.com/help/11/fmp/html/edit_layout.10.9.html

http://www.macworld.com/article/1157176/fmproprint.html

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=shrink+enclosing+part+feature

FileMaker Pro 12: The Missing Manual:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dfkSTQ_mEqIC&pg=PA346&lpg=PA346&dq=%22resize%22%20%22objects%22%20%22layout%22%20%22filemaker%20pro%22%20%2212%22%20-photos%20-vectors%20-%22auto-resize%22%20-print%20-largest%20-formatting%20%20-together%20-moving%20-bug%20-app%20-ios%20-selecting%20-select%20-filemakertoday%20-plugin%20-advanced%20-containers%20-autosizing%20-flash%20-folders%20-Terminal%20-Autocomplete%20-image&f=false

FileMaker Resources VII

See the following links:

Search | Patreon https://www.patreon.com/search?q=filemaker

Find, Search III

Date: 30/10/2009

RFC: 217

The Find Function bring up a new window with three (or more) Fields where one can enter Search Criteria. This should do away with the Find Address and Find Number/eMail address Windows and replace the Ctrl+F Key Combination.

Suggestion: 35

Searching for eMail addresses

Question: Searching for eMail addresses; ask TechNet about the @ symbol and Unicode / ASCII / Raw Data / Invisible / Hidden Characters / Code Page (which is not displayed in FileMaker, only in the Avaya IP Phone Manager Lite and in QuickBooks - where text copied from Outlook is represented as Question Marks ("?") before and after the copied text - also regarding the dash ("-") and underscore ("_"), soft carriage return and similar

Answer: Use the operator \ to Escape the @symbol like this (between the quotes): "\email@address.fm"

03/09/2009

Searching for eMail addresses; ask TechNet about the @ symbol and Unicode

03/09/2009

I am looking for a Mrs "Klutz" who works in "Midas I".  So when I Search for "Klutz" I get 40 Records, when I Search for "Midas" I get 11 Records. I paged through the "Midas" Records and found her as a "Staff" at Record Number 10.

Can we have an "Advanced Search", where I can enter two Search Terms: Person and Company?

03/09/2009

Would it be possible to have WildCard search in the Name Field?

When I was looking for "Wartman" and I didn't remember his first name, only 2 instances of "Wartman" appeared in the Predictive (or Autofill? or auto-complete as you call it). 

However, when I searched for "Wartman" only, the result was 9 records. 

Would it be possible to show all of them in the Auto Complete List? 

One way would be to have (yet another) Field where all the words in a string are rearranged back to front; i.e. "Lesley Wartman" becomes " Wartman Lesley ", so in whichever way I search it will come up.

Date: 12/10/2009

RFC#: 179

When looking for an address, I sometimes need the same address again.

Please make sure the Search Address window doesn't clear when closed. Instead, the text should stay there, highlighted.

This way it is still there for the next time if needed and if not, we can start typing right away (as the selected text will disappear immediately when we start typing)

Dummy Image in a Picture Container

20/05/2013
MS: Ask FileMaker:
How do you place a dummy image in the Picture container in Records that are not yet populated with the picture relevant to this record? 
One way is to set the Image Appearance to Fill with an Image, which will be covered by the image entered in the Record, as and when this happens.

31/08/2009
Re: GIF in FileMaker Container (or was it Global?) Field: eMail the problem to: CNSImage @ cnsplug-ins.com

Find, Search I

Date: 21/02/2013 MS:

Find a String of Text – in Field Labels or Text Objects

Ask FileMaker how to find a string of text – in Field Labels or Text Objects (Banners etc.) - in Layout Mode.

Date: 20/08/2009

The Find Function should work immediately when I hit the Enter Button, after entering some data in the Name Field. 

At the moment, it moves through 3 Fields before returning the Search Results

Date: 03/09/2009

When I click on the >> arrow Button in the Landlord - Managing Agent - Council (Housing Association is missing . . .) Window to find details of a Record, it becomes empty - Why?

Date: 07/09/2009

Copied from Wiki:

How to perform a Script that Finds only Customers or only Suppliers?

Then ‘hardwire’ it into the Button ‘Customers Database’ and ‘Suppliers Database’ etc.

Date: 17/09/2009

When I am in the Job Diary Layout and press Find Address (CTRL+1) it can't find any address.

Can you change the Script so that before executing the Open Dialogue, it first swotches to the Contact Layout?

Date: 21/09/2009

We need to find a better way to find addresses in the Ordering system.

Maybe we should type in the street name and from there on the street number.

It is much too hard to guess how to look for a property: is it 17A, 17 A, Flat 17, Flat A 17, First Floor Flat A, 17 - get the gist?

Date: 24/09/2009

I was in a Found Set of Contacts and I pressed Ctrl+1 to search for an address.

Although I was sure that the address exists in the database, it couldn't find it.

I then closed the (Combox) Window and it showed no records.

I tried again Ctrl+1 and it worked.

I tried recreating this problem but it worked perfectly first time round.

Is there a condition that causes FileMaker to lose track of Records?

Date: 24/09/2009

Can we have the "Find Address" button that you nicely placed in the Job Diary also in the main Contact Layout?

Known FileMaker Pro Bugs

As far as I know, these bugs are still relevant:

Known FileMaker Pro bug #1

Alignment Tools and Custom Menus

A bug that presented itself in FileMaker 10 and has persisted until this day concerns the alignment tools in the relationship graph.  If you entered the graph from a layout that is in browse mode, and are using a custom menu, then the alignment tools are going to be greyed out and unavailable.  You should ensure that you are in layout mode first, or switch your custom menu. 

Source: http://www.teamdf.com/weetbicks/138/tips-hints-the-relationship-graph

Known FileMaker Pro bug #2
When moving a hosted file to another location, remember to also manually delete the entry of the previous server from the Favourite Host listing in the “Manage Favourites” popup window, as shown below, otherwise it will 'mask' the newly allocated server address.  If this happens, delete all hosts' addresses from the Open Remote DIalogue Box and - after you've deleted the old server's details from the Manage Favorites List, re-create the new server's details in the Open Remote Dialogue Box, under Favorite Hosts Tab.

Known FileMaker Pro bug #3

====== Leading Zero ======

Suggestion 15

====== Leading Zero ======
Add a '0'0 to every entry in the Time Stamp Field, where I enter the time manually.

This will ensure that the Sorting of Time related Records will happen in the right order.

Scripting: How to clear Data from all your Fields

How to remove Data from Groups of Fields

Find out how to create a new FileMaker Pro database by ‎making a copy of an existing database without carrying ‎forward all the old data.‎

By By Chris Moyer, The Moyer Group CEO and FileMaker Advisor ‎technical editor, and Bob Bowers, Soliant Consulting CEO and ‎FileMaker Advisor contributing editor

First, if you're looking for a scripting solution to clear out ‎the data in a large set of fields, you'll want a solution that ‎doesn't require you to explicitly reference each field to be ‎cleared out. The best way to do this is to use the Go to Next ‎Field step to simply walk through all the fields on a layout, ‎clearing them as you go.‎

Say you want to clear out FieldA, FieldB, and FieldC. Create a ‎new Standard form layout and add just these fields to the ‎layout. (You can also simply add all the fields, then remove the ‎ones you don't need; that may be easier than selecting the ones ‎you want.) Be sure not to alter or otherwise mess with the tab ‎order on the layout. You can then use this script to cycle ‎through and clear the fields:‎

Go to Next Field

Set Field [gTemp , Get (ActiveFieldName)]

Loop

• Clear [Select] ‎

• Go to Next Field ‎

• Exit Loop If [Get (ActiveFieldName) = gTemp] ‎

End Loop ‎

This script works fine in earlier versions of FileMaker. Just use ‎Status (CurrentFieldName) in place of Get (ActiveFieldName).‎

Regardless of how many fields you have on the layout, this ‎script simply jumps from field to field until it has completed a ‎cycle of all the fields in the tab order. It "knows" when it's ‎arrived back to the top because you store the first field's name ‎in a global field at the top of the script. Note there's no field ‎name specified for the Clear step -- it simply operates on the ‎currently active field.‎

The script above clears data from a single record. If you want ‎to clear the data from your entire database, you could find ‎all records and loop through them one-by-one, or you could ‎use the Replace script step instead of Clear. Whatever method ‎you use, you want to be sure you're the only user in the ‎database when the script actually runs because record-‎locking conflicts can cause the script to halt or prevent data ‎from being cleared.‎

There's another way you can approach this problem. Make a ‎clone of the database, thus clearing out all your previous ‎year's data. Then import just the employee names (and any ‎other pertinent data) from the old file. The scripting solution ‎is the way to go when you can't easily get physical access to ‎the files to make a clone, but if that doesn't seem to be an issue ‎for you, cloning and importing should be a fast and easy ‎solution.

FileMaker Add-ons, Plug-Ins

FileMaker Add-ons, Plug-Ins

*http://www.profdata.nl/ - European manufacturer of a SQL plugin for FileMaker Pro.

*http://www.wmotion.com/ - Developers of Filemaker Pro plug-ins and custom solutions.

*http://www.fmplugin.net - Offers quality well-known plugins for FileMaker

*http://www.datamaticsoftware.com/ - Manufacturer of calendar and data filter plug-ins for FileMaker Pro.

*http://www.frontbase.fi/ - Developers of a SQL/ODBC plugin for FileMaker Pro.

*http://www.cssw.biz/ - Developers of imaging and charting plug-ins for FileMaker Pro.

*http://www.fusionplugins.com/ - FileMaker Pro Plugins for Email, Fax and TCP communications - Reactor v2

* http://campsoftware.com Layouts, Solutions, Templates, Scripts, type ahead functionality, PHP Site Assistant, Event Alerts, FileMaker XML DDR, SQL Statements in Scripts on FileMaker Data, Bar Code fonts from dafont.com,

Date Picker jQuery Plugin to Fit in Your Web Application: Date Picker jQuery Plugin allows users select a date or a range selection of dates easily.
It has a lot of options and easy to fit in your web application.
It supports multiple calendars in the component.
We can mark dates as special, weekends, special days.
FMSmallBusiness (FMSB) is a complete solution for running a small business that tracks Contacts, Calendars, Schedules, Activities, Projects, Documents, Letters, Products, Invoices, and more.
Think of it as a CRM (customer relationship manager) with more power.

20/08/2009
Q. I remember that Jonathan was talking about a FileMaker plug in that allows mailshots to be created using the eMail addresses in our customer database.  
Did he leave any details with you?

A. Create eMail Shots for marketing - SMTP-IT utility - see Wiki

PHPLD = PHP Link Directory

====== PHPLD - a PHP Database Plugin ======

phpLD is now the most widely used directory script on the internet. 

Our customers have tested the script on 50,000 websites, and we have been able to produce a script that works in nearly all PHP hosting environments. 

http://www.phplinkdirectory.com/index.php