Download the PDF version of this tip from the FileMaker Tips and Tricks page

In fact, the only real limit is your imagination. (There is, however, one very strange oddity with it that bears mentioning because it makes no sense; for some reason, you cannot apply conditional formatting to a square or a rectangle but you can apply it, to a button in the shape of a square or rectangle which, if you remove the embossed, engraved or checkbox effect, becomes just another square or rectangle. Weird, huh!)

Because conditional formatting is so flexible, you can use it to, dramatically, but subtly, enhance your interfaces giving your users visual cues that they will react to at a subconscious level. For example, this screenshot shows a sign up sheet for an activity. The portal rows list all of the possible participants and, as soon as a participant is added to the activity, conditional formatting puts a pale green background to the name. The name that is highlighted in pale blue is on the waiting list for that activity.

On this same screen, we have another section that shows the number of signups:

Below that, you’ll see a field in red which is the # of volunteers required for this activity. Currently it is in red because 8 are needed and only 7 have been assigned. When the numbers match, the red background changes to green. Simple but very obvious.

Here’s another simple but powerful use for conditional formatting in a selection system to build conveyors:

Note that the bottom field for Modifications is empty. Now we’ll enter a value in that field:

The Series field is now highlighted telling the user that they have to use a different series than original since there are now modifications.

Another way I like to use conditional formatting is to let the user know which record they are currently working in.

This portal shows all of the related records for the current quote and lets the user know that he is in 612114. Of course, he can see that information elsewhere on the screen but this little splash of color jumps right out at him.

A very cool thing you can do, and which is one of my personal favorites, is have a block of text appear on screen overlaying a field. If the field is empty, the text shows up but, as soon as something is entered into the field, the text disappears into the background:

These are just a few ideas that you can use to enhance your own interfaces. Remember that the purpose of them is to provide users with visual cues and add an extra degree of user-friendliness. (If you have any cool ways of using conditional formatting, I’d love to hear about them).

This trick is © Michael Rocharde

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – April 4, 2012 – FileMaker, Inc. today released the FileMaker 12 database software line. FileMaker 12 launches a new era for databases, empowering users to create stunning custom database apps for iPad, iPhone, Windows, Mac and the web.

The entire line of new FileMaker 12 software is available today.

FileMaker Pro 12 features beautiful new themes and Starter Solutions, powerful iPad, iPhone and desktop design tools, and superior file management for today’s media-intensive applications. FileMaker Pro 12 Advanced adds additional development and management tools.

The FileMaker Go 12 for iPad and iPhone apps are available free on the App Store. The free download of FileMaker Go 12 makes it amazingly easy for everyone to run iOS database apps created by FileMaker Pro 12.

The new 64-bit versions of FileMaker Server 12 and FileMaker 12 Server Advanced improve performance on wide area networks, enhance support for large databases, and add fast file and multimedia-content streaming.

“Databases only boost productivity if people genuinely enjoy using them,” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president, marketing and services, FileMaker, Inc. “Everyone wants a great database, but not everyone is a great designer. Let FileMaker 12 handle the design and you’ll create dazzling databases that are incredibly easy to use, on iPad, iPhone, desktop and the web.”

Breakthrough design features boost usability on iPad, iPhone and desktop

FileMaker Pro 12 lets anyone create stunning databases. Sixteen beautiful new Starter Solutions speed creation of databases for managing contacts, projects, digital content, inventory and more essential business tasks. Starter solutions include ready-to-use screens optimized for iPad and iPhone.

Users can instantly change the look of solutions with 40 new professionally designed themes. Themes can be used with the Starter Solutions or applied to existing databases for a fresh new look. Special touch themes are tailored for iPad and iPhone with fonts, colors, buttons and other iOS design elements.

Users can rely entirely on the included themes, or can customize every detail with new design tools such as gradients, image slicing, dynamic alignment guides, and configurable grids. Custom screen stencils make it easy to arrange information for iPad and iPhone screens.

FileMaker Pro 12 also features new Quick Charts to create eye-catching, on-the-fly graphs, and five attractive new chart styles: bubble, scatter, positive/negative, stacked bar and stacked column charts.

A better way to handle documents and multimedia files

The FileMaker 12 product line helps teams and individuals manage the growing avalanche of digital content — especially multimedia files.

Enhanced container fields in FileMaker Pro 12 support drag-and-drop to store, many file types such as PDFs, video, photos, audio, and documents. Files can be stored in the database or linked. Managing linked files just got easier as FileMaker 12 now automatically organizes files on disk and can even encrypt them for extra security.

Access to large files is faster as FileMaker 12 will now automatically generate thumbnails, and, when using FileMaker Server, will stream media files to connected clients. When running on the iPad or iPhone users can now record video and audio directly into container fields, and can stream out content using AirPlay.

FileMaker Server 12 products offer faster, more reliable data serving

The new 64-bit versions of FileMaker Server 12 and FileMaker Server 12 Advanced are built for speed and productivity. Access to more memory can boost performance for larger databases, while enhanced WAN performance assists remotely connected users, especially those using iOS devices. A re-architected web publishing engine improves speed and stability when integrating custom web pages with FileMaker databases, while progressive backups ease server administration and improve solution reliability.

What beta users are saying about FileMaker Pro 12 and FileMaker Go 12 for iPad and iPhone

“FileMaker Pro 12 is a great update,” says Dean T. Bingham, president, db Digital Design. “I have converted all of my previous information to FileMaker Pro 12 and everything works flawlessly. I have used the slick new Starter Solutions to extend the functionality of my databases – and the ease of building forms from scratch, with the compatibility of desktop, iPad and iPhone formats, is a huge boon.”

According to IT and facility manager James Pierson, Rampart Hydro Services, “The use of FileMaker Go 12 enables us to get timely and consistent data from the field eliminating the hodgepodge of spreadsheets, hard-copy forms, and the odd flap torn off an old cardboard box. I love the idea of FileMaker Go specific script steps, making it easier to take advantage of the growing capabilities of iOS.”

“Thanks to FileMaker Pro 12 and its ease of extension to iOS devices, creating a full-on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for small business will take a lot less time and effort than I ever imagined,” says George Page, president, Sea Breeze Farm.

Pricing and availability

All FileMaker 12 products are immediately available. FileMaker Pro 12 is $299 /$179 upgrade, FileMaker Pro 12 Advanced is $499/$299 upgrade, FileMaker Server 12 is $999/$599 upgrade, and FileMaker Server 12 Advanced is $2,999/$1,799 upgrade (U.S. suggested list prices). FileMaker Go 12 for iPad and FileMaker Go 12 for iPhone are free from the App Store. Additional pricing and upgrade information is available at http://www.filemaker.com.
About FileMaker, Inc.

FileMaker is the leader in easy-to-use database software. Millions of people, from individuals to some of the world’s largest companies, rely on FileMaker software to manage, analyze and share essential information. The company’s products are the FileMaker line – versatile database software for teams and organizations, for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and the web – and Bento, the personal database for Mac, iPhone and iPad. FileMaker, Inc. is a subsidiary of Apple.

Customer contact:

800-325-2747

http://www.filemaker.com

 Download the FileMaker Demo File from the FileMaker Tips and Tricks page

The scripting is even designed to allow the user to un-sort the list. It can handle sorting all field types and it can sort by value lists. With only one minor difference the technique can be used to sort both list view layouts and portals. And each list can have it’s own unique sort order. How’s that for some fancy schmancy FileMaker trickery!

What do you think? Leave Duane a comment or suggestion below.

This trick is ©Duane Weller

 Download the PDF version of this tip from the FileMaker Tips and Tricks page

So, having put that to rest, let’s talk about the two scripted methods of adding related records. Which you use depends on whether you need the portal records sorted by a specific field or fields. If you do, then you create the related record by setting a variable (or global) to each the key fields of the parent record, opening a new window, going to the related table (not necessarily, the specific TO), creating a new record, setting those fields, allowing the user to enter other values in that new window, committing the record and finally closing the window. Record added, portal correct, done deal!

The second way, and which is the one I tend to use most of the time, is via a relationship, created for this specific purpose).

Here is our portal relationship:

Important: Note that this relationship is sorted – you can have the sort on the portal itself instead of in the relationship if you want, but it must be sorted by the serial_# field descending:

Now let’s create the relationship to add those records. On the parent side of the relationship, I have a global text field called G_Text and on the other side, I have a field called Serial_# which is a number field that auto-enters a serial # into each new record; this one is vitally important – it must enter a serial #. The relationship, which we’ll call Add_Record goes from G_Text to Serial_# and allows for creation of related records.

Remember that the only purpose of this relationship is to create the related record.

In our script, we first set G_Text to “”, then we set the first of our key fields in the relationship. Let’s say, for example, that the portal relationship uses pk_id = fk_id (Primary key = foreign key). Thus in the Add_record relationship, we are going to set the FK_ID field with the PK_ID value from our parent table. Here is the script.

So, what just happened? Well, the related record has been created. For some reason, and I have no idea why this happens, because the G_Text field is set to “”, the relationship sees that it needs a value and sets it to the value of the serial # field in the child table, thus creating a valid relationship. With the record created, we commit the record (which is vital) and go back to our portal where the newly created record is at the top of the portal, providing that you’ve remembered to sort that portal by the serial_# field descending.

How do you use portals? Tell us below!

This trick is © Michael Rocharde, August 2011

Download the PDF version of this tip from the FileMaker Tips and Tricks page

Portals are both a good and a bad thing. They are a great thing when you simply want to see some key related information without leaving the screen you are on; they are a bad thing when the related table has lots of records and, especially, is being sorted. (As a general rule of thumb, if you have more than a couple of hundred records in the related table, don’t use a portal as all those records have to be loaded each time). This statement is much less true in FileMaker™ 11 which introduced filtered portals, a great improvement and which have many different applications. For example, you could create one relationship between two table occurrences and then use that relationship in multiple portals, each of which is filtered by a different value, say, for example, a category. Visually this helps break up a screen nicely, so it is very useful functionality.

But, for my purposes, filtered portals come into their own when you are entering some criteria into a field and using that criteria to display matching records.

So let’s take a look at an example:

In this example, the relationship is based on the category field so, when nothing is selected in the pop-up menu, no records show. In this example, we’ve selected Bracket as the category and are displaying about 20 matching records. (Because there only ever going to be a couple of dozen records showing, this portal is sorted, but normally, I would leave it unsorted since sorting increases the overhead, (which slows things down), and unless it is absolutely essential, I don’t use it. {If it is essential, I have scripts that sort the records the way I want to look at them, exports the sorted set, deletes the originals and then reimports them).

Now I am going to type guide into the filter field (next to the pop-up menu)

As I type, the list of records is filtered down to what has been typed. In this example, I typed guide and that is what it has found which is an exact match but what if I just wanted to type uid? Would it find the same records?

Yes, it would. In fact, it will find any occurrence of that string, using the patterncount function, which makes this technique incredibly versatile for searching purposes.

So, how does it all work? Let’s look at the portal filter criteria first:

The field in which we type the value we want to filter on is called FilterProduct and the name of the relationship is Products_SJ4Cat so this will display any records where what is typed in the filter field is included in the PDTName field in our related table. Very simple but there is a little bit of magic necessary for it all to work. Firstly we have to set a script trigger on the filter field:

And the script that this runs is this:

So this is all very simple and straightforward and, in this example, works extremely well as I know that I’ve only ever got a small subset of records that will be displayed and it will make little or no difference to the overhead. But what if I want to use a filtered portal with thousands of records which is going to cause a performance hit, especially over a network?

Again, the solution is very simple and that is to modify the portal filter criteria so the default state is to show no records and records only appear as something is typed in the filter field.

(All I’ve done is comment out the part about leaving the filter field empty so when nothing has been typed in the filter field, no records show at all).

And now we’ll type brack in the filter field.

Clicking on any item will load that record and the record that has the green highlight, is telling me that I am currently in that record.

While conventional wisdom might indicate that I should be displaying all of the records and filtering down, it is, in my opinion, much more useful to show nothing and filter up; that way, I don’t have to waste any time scanning for something that may or may not be there.

In conclusion, filtered portals are an incredible tool that will really help your interface sizzle and your users will love them.

This trick is © Michael Rocharde, August 2011

Make a major breakthrough when you come to the FileMaker Developer Conference 2012. Take a significant leap forward in your solution development skills. Discover the latest advances in the FileMaker product line. And get a once-a-year opportunity to collaborate with other like-minded FileMaker developers. You’ll be able to get creative new ideas and solve those tough development problems you’ve been working on throughout the year.

But all of a sudden, developers had the ability to put more information on a single screen than ever before and could just load up the screen with tab panel after tab panel. Of course, it took a while for many of us to realize that less is more and that they, the tab panels, that is, have to be used judicially and sparingly. Having said that, there are still many different ways of using them. 

My personal preference is to have a tab panel on the right hand side of the screen; that area generally being reserved for displaying filtered portals although sometimes non-essential data fields that there isn’t room in the main area for. In the example below, the right hand tab Notes & Pictures is a perfect example of that type of usage. But let’s look at one of the tabs that has a filtered portal on it.

90% of the time, those portals are completely empty until something is typed in the filter field; the reason for this is that if there are lots of records in the related table, it adds overhead to have them all displayed. Whereas if the default state is for none of them to show, then that overhead is eliminated. Portal filters are also something new in FileMaker™ 11 and are almost as amazing as the tabs themselves; we’ll talk more about those in another post). In this example, the user has to select a category for anything to show in the portal and, then type something in the filter field to reduce the list of records.

I’ll also use conditional formatting to draw attention to certain things; In the portal on the left, I’m showing discontinued products in red text and ones that are missing pricing have an orange background. It’s not essential but it does make it obvious to the user that something needs to be paid attention to. (You may have noticed that two of the tabs, this one included, have a background color; this color matches the overall description of the product and is set as a visual reminder to the user. By the way, don’t be afraid to use color sparingly; in other words, don’t over do it).

The purpose of this filtered portal is two fold with the first being to be able to quickly drill down to a particular product or set of products but it also serves a secondary purpose. In this particular project, we are building products by adding components and we add those components, from the components tab, by locating the ones we want and clicking on those items to add it to the related table of components. Since a product can also include other products, clicking on any line item here will add that product to the join table. (This is a classic example of how useful tab panels can be; one small piece of screen real estate; one huge piece of functionality).

Tabs can take many different forms. “Hey, wait a minute. No they can’t!” is what I hear some of you saying. While it is true that the actual tab object itself only allows you to have a rectangle or square and the tabs themselves can be aligned differently, there are dozens of different ways to have them displayed. You can have it look like the way it is drawn on the screen with borders, square or rounded tabs, aligned left, centre, right or all the way across OR you can do something different.

One of the way that I like to use tabs is to have no borders and no background. This makes them what I call invisible and here is a good example of that.

The tabs themselves are invisible but I’ve left the names and just added a small icon on the active tab. There are two separate tab panels here; the top one starts with General Notes and the bottom one has Stories and Pictures. Having no background allows the background image to show through. (The background is a low res jpg created in Photoshop and then inserted on the layout. Since this particular project was not going to be used over a network, the additional overhead of the image is not going to slow anything down. Thus you can be more creative with single-user solutions than with multi-user ones).

Another way is to have no names on the tabs themselves, with the default tab having no content, so when you enter that screen, the entire area where the tab is, is blank. Each of the tabs is named as an object, and there are buttons in the navigation area to go to each object. Although this actually involves more work in setting them up, it is particularly useful when you have rows of nested tab panels, and you don’t want to overwhelm your users with too many choices. I also put a color bar with the name of the tab on each panel so that when that panel is activated, the color bar reinforces what the user is looking at. (If you’re going to take this approach, you have to start off with the tab panel looking normal with lines and named tabs. Once you’ve given the tab an object name, you can change the name of that tab to nothing. Then you can add your color bars, etc on the tab panels (making sure that they are a couple of pixels smaller than the tab itself). When you then select the entire tab object and change the lines to none, it just disappears. (I mentioned earlier that this involves more work for me, as a developer, since I keep having to show the lines and then turn them off again but the trade-off is worth it).

Anyway, as I said there are many different ways to use tab panels and they should be an essential part of your toolbox. Just remember that their primary purpose is to separate out information into easily digestible chunks so that you can get more information on a single screen and focus attention where it is supposed to be.

Download the PDF: FileMaker Tips and Tricks

This tip was submitted by our very own Michael Rocharde, copyright © 2011

Stepping out of project management, henceforward my title is Vice President of Development & Quality Assurance. This roll includes overseeing all internal product development and quality control of client solution development, with the goal of raising the overall quality and consistency of our solutions and deliverables.

I will continue to work directly with clients in a QA development role, as well as with training, handholding and development assistance type projects that require a more one-on-one relationship.

I will now work directly with our web and FileMaker developers, reviewing their work before it’s delivered.  This extra step of quality control will allow us to catch potential issues that could otherwise be overlooked. It will also help us recognize common areas of development across projects, evaluate existing development methods and identify where refinements and consolidation can be made.

I will also be managing the development of internal tools that will help us continue to communicate and manage more efficiently. These tools are vital for us to grow our business, as they give us a competitive advantage in a highly competitive market and a tough economic climate.

We have a lot more planned for the future that I’ll be involved with in this new capacity, which you’ll learn about in the months to come. These are exciting times and we have an excellent team of talented developers to take on the challenges ahead. I’m looking forward to my new role, working much more closely with our team, and further improving the overall quality of our work output and already outstanding customer service.

Certifications are a necessary evil in the world of software development. The question is whether a certification means anything, and if our clients should care about them. So we asked our FileMaker Pro-certified developers to give their two cents about certifications and the certification process.

“Certification is, at its core, a metric used to gauge competency among the competencies of all other prospective hires,” said Ken Moorhead. “In and of itself (as with most metrics), it does not provide a complete picture.”

“The reality is that certification for software development is the same as a lawyer passing the bar or a physician passing medical boards,” said Levi. “It demonstrates a minimum measured body of knowledge. It is no guarantee of competence.”

“There are far too many ‘educated idiots’ in the world who have studied, passed a test and then go out proclaiming their expertise,” said Michael Rocharde. “The only thing that really counts is experience and a track record.”

Kurt Knippel, VP of Production at Excelisys, agreed, but also sees some value in the certification process. “Certifications are a dime a dozen, they are easy to get and mostly meaningless. They are also very important to have. Often times it is what you gained during the certification process that is the important part…the journey, not the destination.”

“Taking a manufacturer’s certification course and test, and attaining their certificate or degree, helped accomplished three tasks,” said Scott Mosher, Business Development. “One, it assured me I knew as much as I thought I did. Two, it ranked me with the manufacturer and, in many cases, allowed special privileges in their support systems. Three, it showed my clients I was recognized as a specialist in my field by the manufacturers themselves, allowing me to ride on their credibility coattail.”

“It’s the first line of defense when choosing a development partner,” said Andrew Persons, FileMaker/FLEX Developer. “Certification can’t guarantee expertise, but it does serve to verify that the developer has at least memorized the basic facts, grasped the basic abstract concepts and possesses a baseline commitment to the technology.”

So how would we advise our clients to view certifications? As a necessary evil. Portfolios, past experience and personal recommendations speak louder than any certification can.

Installer
• The fmserver user is no longer displayed as a user in the Mac OS X Lion login window.

Database Server
• Fixed an issue where a scheduled script using the Get(FileMakerPath) function on Mac OS X could cause
FileMaker Server to crash.

Web Publishing Engine
• Web Publishing is now fully compatible and supported on Mac OS X Lion. This includes Instant Web
Publishing and Custom Web Publishing (PHP, XML, and XSLT).

When upgrading your server’s operating system, you must reinstall FileMaker Server.  Because this software adds support for Mac OS X version 10.7 Lion, it is a full installer rather than an updater.

Learn more and download here:
http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9965

Best regards,

FileMaker Developer Relations Team

FileMaker, Inc.
5201 Patrick Henry Drive
Santa Clara, CA 95054
http://www.filemaker.com