tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190135462012-01-27T02:42:04.355-05:00All About FileMaker Pro! Interviews, How-Tos, Reviews, News, and more!Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.comBlogger1121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-77591275389927255362011-11-21T16:10:00.004-05:002011-11-21T16:21:52.930-05:00

Quite often, especially when working with a client that is new to FileMaker, I'll get asked questions about licensing. I typically try to refer the client directly to FileMaker Inc for answers and pricing. However, there are resources online that I also recommend to them. They are:Licensing FAQ: http://www.filemaker.com/purchase/store/licensing_faq.htmlLicense Program FAQ: http://

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-60169385758823325812011-09-20T06:23:00.003-04:002011-09-20T06:30:39.661-04:00

Anyone who has worked with me knows how much I dislike Microsoft. It takes everything in me to install and run Windows on my Macs, which I do using Parallels to test my solutions on that platform. And for years I've been able to avoid installing Office on my Macs, and instead used Pages and Numbers to open the Word and Excel documents that I receive.So recently, when a client told me that he

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-48367996157518333482011-08-30T20:05:00.002-04:002011-08-30T20:11:51.498-04:00

I'm writing this blog post from a Starbucks just outside of Richmond at around 8pm on Tuesday, August 30th. In 15 minutes or so, my home will have been without power for 80 hours. That's not a typo. 80 hours. Our community was hit hard by Irene on Saturday, and large parts of the area are still struggling to get back to normal. I normally consider myself to be something of a digital nomad. I'm

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-82747341658174205662011-07-08T03:54:00.002-04:002011-07-08T03:57:56.094-04:00

I enjoy doing FileMaker development so much so much that there are some mornings where I literally jump out of bed ready to get started. The problem is that this sometimes happens a little too early - like at 4:00 AM!

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-85334696003276616742011-04-27T16:23:00.002-04:002011-04-27T16:34:30.819-04:00

It seems like forever since I last posted to the FileMaker Addict - a little less than five months, in fact. I guess that gives you a hint as to how insanely busy I have been.In some ways, being busy is a good thing. It could be worse, I know, and I'm very grateful for all of the business that has come my way over the past few years.But at some point, my business reached a sort of tipping point,

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-82706192860573110662011-01-05T06:34:00.002-05:002011-01-05T06:46:31.456-05:00

New Years Eve, 2010. The clock strikes midnight and a new year begins, filled with hope that every new year seems to bring. I watch a couple of episodes of the Twilight Zone, check email one last time, and eventually nod off to sleep...And it was at that point, from what I can tell, that all hell broke loose. No, it wasn't some cataclysmic, world changing event or anything. But for me, it may as

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-19521336915481576192010-10-25T19:25:00.005-04:002010-10-26T19:30:31.253-04:00

It seems that each year there are a few things that happen - new functionality is added to FileMaker, new third-party products and services are released, and so on - that significantly change the way we do FileMaker development and conduct business. This year has been no exception. In fact, I can't remember a year where so much has happened that has had such a profound, positive impact on my

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-9781625114520621522010-10-22T16:14:00.002-04:002010-10-22T16:34:05.500-04:00

We're happy to announce that the 2010 FileMaker Salary Survey is now underway!Have you ever wondered how your salary stacks up against other FileMaker professionals? Thinking about becoming a FileMaker developer and wondering if you can make a living doing so? Yeah, we've been wondering, too...So we worked with Andy Gaunt and his team over at FMPug to put together this survey. Our goal is to

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-50908593894730880342010-10-18T09:51:00.005-04:002010-10-18T11:22:48.441-04:00

After a long hiatus from publishing interviews, we're back! Our first interview is with Audrey Akhavan. Audrey is well known in the FileMaker community due to her Twitter posts about FileMaker. Her contributions to the FileMaker community led to her winning the "Mad Dog Award" in 2009, and in 2010 she was awarded the "Evangelist of the Year" award. If you want to keep up with what's going on in

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-51021270461123884202010-10-08T19:21:00.001-04:002010-10-08T19:23:45.084-04:00

A few days ago I got to thinking about how different it is to be a FileMaker developer today compared with a few years ago. Obviously, the technology has come a long, long way, as the product line has matured. Support for developers has also greatly improved, from both FileMaker Inc and the user community (via TechNet, FMPug, the FileMaker community on Twitter, and so on). And from what I've been

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-34865326443071968282010-09-05T13:25:00.002-04:002010-09-05T13:31:57.388-04:00

In my recap of DevCon 2009, I called Geoff Coffey the "God of Script Triggers." I hear that he rocked DevCon 2010 as well. Geoff has recently posted to the Six Fried Rice blog about the OnObjectValidate script trigger (which is new in FileMaker 11). In his post, he uses a couple of very helpful diagrams that clearly illustrate how FileMaker processes field triggers.Be sure to check it out, here:

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-25011866951858942912010-07-12T22:29:00.002-04:002010-07-12T23:52:10.260-04:00

This is one of those weird issues that I've probably run into a half dozen times, and it gets me every time.When using the FileMaker API for PHP to call a FileMaker script, you'll sometimes get this notice:Notice: Only variable references should be returned by reference in C:\inetpub\www.somewebsite.com\data\FileMaker\Command.php on line 127I'm still not sure what causes this notice to be

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-54251100894243273552010-03-28T18:56:00.006-04:002010-03-28T21:13:35.208-04:00

When the past few versions of FileMaker were released (including FileMaker Pro 9 back in July of 2007 and FileMaker Pro 10 in January of 2009) I couldn't wait to review them and share my thoughts here on FileMaker Addict. However, when FileMaker Pro 11 was released earlier this month, I decided to wait before posting anything about it. The main reason was this: My first impression of it was one

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-47464013378086817172010-03-26T12:51:00.002-04:002010-03-26T12:54:50.336-04:00

FileMaker Inc. has posted a new "Total Cost of Ownership White Paper" titled "Supercharging Return on Investment with Rapid Application Development Tools." Makes for an interesting read, and yet another compelling argument when pitching FileMaker-based solutions to prospective clients.The white paper can be found here: http://www.filemaker.com/downloads/pdf/it_tco_wp.pdf

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-85589122322797159972010-03-24T12:33:00.002-04:002010-03-24T12:43:10.049-04:00

I was recently working on a FileMaker / PHP project and ran into a situation where I needed to be able to replicate FileMaker's "Duplicate Request" function. There is nothing in the FileMaker API for PHP that appears to be an equivalent to the function. However, it can be done, and this post shows the process.In this example, the code is handling a search request against a contacts database.

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-68732219143404719592010-03-24T06:27:00.004-04:002010-03-25T07:35:54.433-04:00

I woke up this morning to find that my trusty MacBook Pro was having problems. It had been in sleep mode, and when I woke it there was no video output at all.Restarting it did nothing. I then tried zapping the PRAM (by pressing and holding the Command-Option-P-R keys when booting) a few times, and that didn't help.I booted from the OSX install CD, and still nothing...At that part, I started to

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-26851591783930323082010-02-21T16:15:00.001-05:002010-02-21T16:17:23.742-05:00

If you're using the PEAR mail class to send messages via a mail server that requires connections via SSL (such as Google's SMTP servers), you might run into this error:Failed to connect to ssl://smtp.gmail.com:465 [SMTP: Failed to connect socket: Unable to find the socket transport "ssl" - did you forget to enable it when you configured PHP? (code: -1, response: )]This is typically an indication

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-69456392488423411152010-02-21T15:45:00.002-05:002010-02-21T16:04:13.256-05:00

If you've been doing FileMaker custom web development using PHP, you've probably heard of PEAR. PEAR (short for "PHP Extension and Application Repository") is a collection of PHP code that performs many common functions. PEAR packages either provide enhanced versions of functionality that is built into PHP itself, or provide functionality that PHP lacks. For a list of packages that PEAR provides,

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-115373511799883842010-02-18T09:36:00.005-05:002010-02-18T09:43:53.586-05:00

I've been burned by this one a few times, so I thought I'd share it here...If you install PHP as part of the FileMaker Server for Windows installation process, PHP's SOAP extension (as well as several other extensions) will be installed. However, the extension is disabled by default.To enable it (and other extensions), do this:1. Find the php.ini file. The default location is: C:\Program Files\

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-42451499945588006622009-08-18T13:38:00.001-04:002009-08-18T13:40:14.656-04:00

I was asked about the "big takeaway points" from DevCon 2009. Here's my take: * With Script Triggers, it is now possible to safely open up and take advantage of FileMaker's native user inteface. In other words, you can give serious consideration to displaying and unlocking the status area -- something a lot of us have been locking down for years, for fear that our users might end up somewhere

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-82036873589301557922009-08-16T20:55:00.001-04:002009-08-19T20:41:53.879-04:00

This was the last day of DevCon 2009, and it was a short one. Here's a final recap...My first session today was Geoff Coffey's "Practical Script Triggers." Geoff did a great job of showing us how we can very easily use script triggers to make big improvements to our solutions. His demonstrations included highlighting of the active record in list view, a technique for safely allowing a user from

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-80688174138719143452009-08-16T02:46:00.002-04:002009-08-16T02:51:11.776-04:00

Day 2 of DevCon was a blast. Once again, I was attended a lot of great sessions. Here's my experience...The first session that I attended was Albert Harum Alvarez's "The Idiom of FileMaker: What's New, What's Old, What's New Again." I've attended Albert's FileMaker Design Master Class in the past, and that was a great experience -- a real eye opener with regard to how I design solutions. So my

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-85616370070551488572009-08-15T02:06:00.002-04:002009-08-15T02:10:06.283-04:00

Wow, what a great first day of DevCon sessions. Here's a recap of some of the events and sessions that I attended:First off, I skipped the "Continental Breakfast," and from what I hear that was a very wise decision. Instead, I hit the StarBucks in the lobby before a line had formed. I had a nice caffeine buzz going before the first session even started.The first session that I attended was

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-59019837779170199062009-08-14T01:05:00.004-04:002009-08-14T01:36:44.021-04:00

The PHP User Group meeting at DevCon 2009 was informal yet very informative. This was the first "technical" event that I attended this year, and I'm glad I did.Joel Shapiro (http://www.jsfmp.com/) started the meeting by demoing a FileMaker / PHP-based site that he has developed for NASA's Life Sciences Data Archive. He also demonstrated TCPDF (http://www.tcpdf.org/), an open source PHP class that

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-58341773870282310832009-07-30T23:43:00.002-04:002009-07-30T23:46:57.224-04:00

Have you ever needed to display a FileMaker TimeStamp field value in a PHP solution? If so, you might have run into problems with making the value format nicely.For example, suppose that you have a timestamp field named "DateTime_Created" with a value of "7/30/2009 9:18:29 PM." If you simply echo the value using PHP code such as...echo $response->getField("DateTime_Created");... then the output

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-83404174781364655722009-07-30T17:22:00.004-04:002009-07-30T17:28:13.785-04:00

Want to update a FileMaker Timestamp field with the the current date/time via a PHP solution?Use the PHP date function and format it using something like this: date("m/d/Y h:i:s A")For example, suppose that you want to update a "Last_Login" field when a user logs in. Your code might look something like this:$user_update_request = $fm->newEditCommand('PHP_Users', $user->getRecordID());$

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-5690687648999388222009-07-08T04:44:00.003-04:002009-07-08T04:50:31.935-04:00

Early this morning, for the first time I had one of our servers that we use to serve up FileMaker/PHP-based solutions throw a PHP error that read "PHP has encountered an Access Violation at 01E02B1B." From what I've been able to tell, this has something to do with running PHP on a Windows 2003-based server in ISAPI mode. I've cycled IIS and this seems to have solved the problem... and now I'm

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-44838197847841388802009-05-29T12:55:00.002-04:002009-05-29T13:05:40.090-04:00

We're still running FileMaker Server 9 Advanced (version 9.0.3.326) on a Windows 2003-based server. At least twice in the past month, we've had incidents where all write operations through the Web publishing engine (particularly through the API for PHP) have failed. Read operations are fine during this time, and the databases behave normally when accessed by users through FileMaker Pro.On both

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-54852721141956678052009-03-11T02:35:00.001-04:002009-03-11T02:40:21.274-04:00

Charlie Cheney is one busy man. As a musician, he's performing, hosting radio shows, making music. And when he's not rubbing elbows with fellow musicians (like Jackson Browne or Freedie Johnston) he can be found developing Indie Band Manager, a FileMaker Pro-based database management system for musicians, freelancers, agents, labels, publicists and managers. Read on to learn more about Charlie!

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-72680549050964106772009-03-06T10:18:00.001-05:002009-03-06T10:20:32.395-05:00

Back in July of 2007 I posted a list of Web sites that were good sources FileMaker-related jobs. This has proven to be one of the most popular postings to FileMaker Addict. A lot has changed since then -- including big changes in the economy. Unfortunately, a lot of developers are now looking for work. Whether you're actively seeking a new FileMaker-related job, or are just curious as to what

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-61549514758788030052009-03-04T06:00:00.003-05:002009-03-05T22:02:31.933-05:00

Our latest interview is with Hal Gumbert, the owner of CampSoftware, which provides Macintosh software and hardware consulting solutions for Central Florida businesses and home users. Hal has been developing with FileMaker since 1991. His experience with FileMaker, coupled with his strong commitment to the platform (he's certified in FileMaker 7, 8, and 9 and CampSoftware is a FileMaker Business

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-80229386306429269042009-02-25T06:36:00.012-05:002009-03-05T22:02:18.085-05:00

Loreli Voltmer serves as Project Administrator for the MidAtlantic Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (MATAAC), which provides financial assistance in the form of federal grants to help mid-Atlantic manufacturers meet and exceed goals to strengthen their position in today’s global marketplace. If you are looking for a great case study with regards to how easy it is for someone with a strong SQL

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-1757748792495647232009-02-11T05:40:00.010-05:002009-03-05T22:02:05.496-05:00

FileMaker Pro 10 is another release in what is without question a series of amazing product releases by FileMaker Inc over the past few years. Since FileMaker Pro 7, the development team at FMI has continued to raise the bar by introducing powerful functionality that makes our lives as developers much easier.FileMaker Pro 9 added support for ESS, Script Groups, Conditional Formatting, and more.

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-11333638377419279242009-02-02T20:46:00.014-05:002009-03-05T22:03:50.775-05:00

I'm often asked by FileMaker Pro users and enthusiasts about how they, too, can make the leap to doing FileMaker Pro work professionally. Many of these users are looking for ways to supplement their income. Others are passionate about FileMaker Pro, enjoy working with it, and want to focus their careers on FileMaker development. This article -- which lists some of the tools that every

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-68095112953777403032009-01-10T10:44:00.011-05:002009-02-15T18:52:13.037-05:00

One of the most exciting new features of FileMaker Pro 10 is Script Triggers, which provides us with a way to handle events. For example, we can automatically run scripts when a user changes to a new layout, when a field's value has been changed, when a record has been committed, and so on.In this article, I'll show you how I am using Script Triggers to log changes to records. This is a fairly

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-59568153892883669862009-01-05T09:40:00.017-05:002009-01-07T10:54:02.777-05:00

FileMaker Inc officially released FileMaker Pro 10 this morning! Here is a summary (with screenshots) of some of the new features in FileMaker Pro 10 (the client version):Script TriggersAt long last, with FileMaker Pro 10 we have native support for running scripts when events occur. Sure, for several years now we've had plug-ins available that can provide this type of functionality. But with the

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-71009593337094406872008-12-31T14:39:00.009-05:002009-01-05T13:31:24.954-05:00

It's been nearly 9 months since I re-started Xgravity (an information technology firm that specializes in the design and development of custom database and Web solutions). As 2008 comes to a close, this seems like a good time to reflect on things. I thought I'd share my experiences with the FileMaker community, in the hopes that doing so might help others who are also independent developers (or

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-42598650031986520172008-12-30T03:33:00.005-05:002009-01-02T18:45:39.195-05:00

So it appears that FileMaker Server 9 and FileMaker Server 9 Advanced sometimes don't play nicely with Java 6. In the past 24 hours, this has burned me twice. First, on the server side: I'm running FileMaker Server 9 Advanced on a Windows 2003-based server. FileMaker appeared to be fully patched and showed the current version as 9.0.3.325. After installing the latest Java Runtime Engine (which is

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-64934088854444075832008-12-29T13:05:00.001-05:002009-01-01T21:23:57.432-05:00

It always feels good when a project that I've been working on "goes live." Not just because the project has reached that final step and there is a sense of accomplishment (although there is certainly that). No, there is something more than that. There's a certain pleasure that I get when people actually begin to use the solution that I've developed, and I can see that the solution is helping them

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-7262134727686109712008-11-15T12:32:00.000-05:002008-11-15T13:00:08.945-05:00

It has been more than 2 months since my last post to FileMaker Addict, and I've had a few faithful readers write to ask why. Well, I'm happy to report that I am still very much "addicted" to FileMaker Pro. In fact, if anything, I'm more addicted than ever. Here's what's been going on, and why my posts have been few and far between over the past several months...Back in February, I made the

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-81011961463455544172008-08-29T21:06:00.000-04:002008-08-29T21:09:06.124-04:00

Back in April I had run into problems getting FMSA 9 to install properly on a server running the 64-bit version of Windows. This evening I was finally able to take some time and try this again -- and this time, success!!!Thanks to some suggestions from FileMaker Addict readers, I found a way to get IIS to run in such a way that 32-bit ISAPI filters (such as the FileMaker Web Publishing Engine)

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-45720008636647768352008-08-04T11:35:00.000-04:002008-08-04T11:46:28.676-04:00

I'm processing a very large batch file for a client this morning, and it is going very, very slowly. That got me thinking about how, with a few new FileMaker Pro features, this file might have been easier to process. So here are two new features that I'd like to see in a future release of FileMaker:* Replace Multiple Field Contents: Wouldn't it be great if you could replace the contents of

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-56410016121406340952008-08-03T21:23:00.000-04:002008-08-03T21:27:53.602-04:00

There are two very similar -- and therefore, somewhat confusing -- exact match operators available when specifying find criteria in FileMaker Pro. I've had a lot of FileMaker users ask me what the difference between them is, so here is a brief explanaition...The first operator, which is the equal sign ("="), is used to find exact matches on whole words. For example, a standard search in a Company

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-77850214030172616722008-07-09T12:15:00.000-04:002008-07-09T12:41:00.526-04:00

I have a client for whom I recently installed FileMaker 9 Server Advanced on a brand new dedicated Windows 2003-based server. It is running fine -- I was even able to easily work around the usual installation problem where the FMS installer cannot see IIS. All was good...This morning, I attempted to install an open source PHP/MySQL-based bulletin board application called Simple Machines Forum ("

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-30859114941445561202008-06-27T20:16:00.000-04:002008-06-27T20:25:42.167-04:00

I've been using the ESS feature in FileMaker 9 for awhile now. I've used it to develop several FileMaker-based, mission critical solutions that integrate very well with SQL-based systems. I'm living proof that FileMaker can be integrated with SQL databases, and it can be done securely and efficiently.One of the most common complaints that I hear from SQL DBAs with regards to ESS is that they

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-20446718814292975972008-06-20T21:39:00.000-04:002008-06-20T22:01:28.661-04:00

I think I've found a bug in FileMaker Pro 9's ESS function, specifically with regards to how it deals with SQL views as datasources. Here's the story...I was working on a FileMaker / SQL Server integration project, and run into a problem. I was trying to include a view in the relationship graph. I selected the datasource, selected the view, and was prompted to select a column to use as the unique

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-328341051181680432008-05-27T10:30:00.000-04:002008-05-27T10:38:56.656-04:00

Here's a cool tip and a great way to save a few bucks: Barnes & Noble recently opened their online magazine store. I decided to check it out and see if they happened to have Filemaker Pro Advisor available. Sure enough, they do! And best of all, it is heavily discounted. A one year subscription (to the print version, which includes 6 issues) is $49 (and only $44.10 for B&N members). Compare that

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-89909335797525032072008-05-21T19:57:00.000-04:002008-05-21T20:15:04.195-04:00

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) has announced the winners of its 2008 CODiE Awards, and FileMaker Pro 9 was selected as the "Best Database Management Solution." The SIIA is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. The SIIA was originally the Software Publishers Association (SPA), which established the Codie Awards back in 1986.FileMaker

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-61988952279909668342008-04-18T22:23:00.000-04:002008-04-19T04:10:02.340-04:00

Oh, the joys of working with Windows! (Heavy sarcasm!)I spent the better part of the evening setting up a new server for a client. The server is a nice Dell server, speedy processor, plenty of RAM, RAID -- you get the picture. Oh, and it is running Windows 2003 Server R2 Standard x64 Edition with SP2 installed. Sounds nice, right?So I begin the process of installing FileMaker Server 9 Advanced.

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-1606953911012201002008-04-10T06:19:00.000-04:002008-04-10T07:48:24.159-04:00

Like many of the developers that I have interviewed over the years, Chris Manton's path to becoming a FileMaker developer is an interesting one. He started his career in the movie industry, then moved to a very successful career in advertising, and ultimately ended up doing FileMaker development. Today, he runs BabelFix Ltd, a London-based software consulting firm that specializes in the

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-4868942448766683062008-03-21T05:11:00.000-04:002008-03-21T05:26:05.753-04:00

In case you haven't heard, this week saw the release of the FileMaker Pro 9 Bible. Written by Ray Cologon (of NightWing Enterprises, a FileMaker Pro consulting and development firm based in Melbourne Australia) and Dennis R. Cohen (who also coauthored the FileMaker Pro 8.5 Bible), this is a complete rewrite of the previous edition of the FileMaker Pro Bible.It is always good to hear that new

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-47524030888752150902008-03-18T18:43:00.000-04:002008-03-18T18:44:50.794-04:00

After reading a few of her answers, I think you'll easily be able to tell that Susan Prosser is a professional writer with what appears to be a natural born talent. Her answers are well thought out, logically presented, and best of all, interesting! Susan is perhaps best known as the co-author of the popular FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual which she co-wrote with Geoff Coffey. Susan is also

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-6604402252759581052008-02-07T13:32:00.000-05:002008-02-07T13:45:06.512-05:00

I recently encountered an error that I know other developers have run into. It's "Error 102" which indicates that a referenced field is missing. The error started to be thrown by one of our PHP applications. The code that was throwing the error is used to find a record. The bizarre thing about the error being thrown is that nothing -- and I mean nothing -- had changed in the FileMaker

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-87831969408086801632008-02-04T20:27:00.000-05:002008-02-04T20:32:05.430-05:00

Ever meet someone and find that they are so enthusiastic -- so in love -- with what they do, that their enthusiasm seems to "rub off" on you in some way? You walk away from that meeting happy that you met that person, and glad to know that there really are people out there who have found their "true calling."My interview with Cris Ippolite is a virtual version of just such an encounter. As I read

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-70892822989561169862008-02-03T20:51:00.000-05:002008-02-03T20:54:55.793-05:00

Loyal readers of FileMaker Addict probably know by now that I'm a big fan of Scodigo's SmartPill PHP Edition plug-in. I've said before how amazing this plug-in is, and have told colleagues that when I've got SmartPill loaded up I feel like I'm running with the "Super Advanced" version of FileMaker Pro 9. Apparently I'm not alone in my enthusiasm for SmartPill. In 2007, FileMaker Inc. awarded

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-7684103014109643402008-02-03T15:03:00.000-05:002008-02-03T15:13:42.847-05:00

Those of you who have been aching to run FileMaker Server 9 on "Leopard" (Mac OS X 10.5) will be happy to know that the long-awaited "v3" updater will be released this Tuesday (February 5, 2008). The updater will take FileMaker Server 9v2 (Standard and Advanced) up to v3. The update not only provides Leopard compatibility, but will also provide a number of bug fixes as well. Therefore, the

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-60193643906108775622008-01-31T19:18:00.000-05:002008-01-31T19:23:41.872-05:00

Earlier this week, I reviewed the popular FileMaker book, "FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual." I had an opportunity to interview Geoff Coffey, co-author of the book. My interview with Geoff follows. In it, we discuss Geoff's career as a FileMaker developer, his love of writing and what went into getting The Missing Manual published, and much more. I think you'll enjoy this one!In the weeks

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-53713769982805832762008-01-28T21:56:00.000-05:002008-01-29T07:15:39.330-05:00

One of the first things that I noticed about "FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual" is it's size. It's a big, heavy book, clocking in at 778 pages. But there is a good reason for this: This book covers a lot -- and I mean a LOT -- of ground. As such, it has something for everyone. From newcomers to veteran developers, you're bound to find something new here. So don't let it's size scare you away!

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-21184257451641401712008-01-23T21:41:00.000-05:002008-01-24T04:42:54.708-05:00

Over the past few years, Jonathan Stark has become known in the FileMaker community as one of only a handful of FileMaker / Web gurus. He is especially known as an expert in how to integrate FileMaker databases with the Web using the FileMaker API for PHP. His 2007 book, Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9 (which I reviewed earlier this week), further established Jonathan as an expert in this

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-67419143315566305432008-01-21T20:31:00.000-05:002008-01-22T06:57:33.334-05:00

Over the holiday break I had some time to read (a better word might be "consume") Jonathan Stark's book "Web Publishing with PHP and FileMaker 9." In a little more than 250 pages, Jonathan manages to do the impossible: He explains how to put the FileMaker API for PHP to use. The book is divided into four logical sections. The first section provides background information for those new to the

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-10057007376044520702008-01-17T12:10:00.000-05:002008-01-17T12:13:09.198-05:00

I first interviewed Denis Somar of New York City-based Secret Weapon Labs way back in November of 2005. In fact, Denis was the second FileMaker Addict that I interviewed. Well, a lot of time has passed since then...So I thought I'd check in with Denis to see what he has been up to. In this interview -- the first "follow-up" interview that I've done -- Denis spoke about the exciting new product

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-5575191007662089072008-01-10T21:35:00.000-05:002008-01-13T23:55:24.381-05:00

In December, I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to take the FileMaker Design Master Class that is offered by SmallCo.net and presented by their lead designer, Albert Harum-Alvarez. I had heard great things about the Master Class, and especially about Albert. So my expectations were high...Well, the class exceeded those expectations. Albert's teaching style, combined with his approach to

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-53138631850987324982008-01-04T13:51:00.001-05:002009-10-06T04:25:14.551-04:00

Have you ever copied text from an application (such as a Web browser) and pasted it into a field in a FileMaker database, only to find that the text was pasted in with the an undesirable style (color, font, size, etc)? Sometimes the styled text is ok. But if you're pasting the text into a field that you use for doing things like printing reports or labels, the styled text can cause you

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-62025965340023559642008-01-02T21:18:00.000-05:002008-01-02T21:26:44.149-05:00

Our first interview of 2008 is with Stephen Knight, co-founder of FMWebschool (developers of FMStudio and Dolphin Cart Pro). Stephen is very active in the FileMaker community. You'll find his contributions in the various Web forums, in the popular FMWebschool Newsletter, in FileMaker books, and more. Our interview covers a lot of ground -- from Stephen's start in the IT world to the formation of

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-40898117286857452702007-12-04T14:31:00.000-05:002007-12-04T14:35:02.635-05:00

I use FileMaker Pro day in and day out, and I've been using it since 1992. And even though I am very familiar with it, I still find that I learn something new about it all of the time. Sometimes that knowledge comes in the form of "gotchas" where the problem that I run into is apparent. This post is about a few of the recent "gotchas" that I have run into...Context & Table OccurrencesThis is one

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-197902719820193262007-11-27T08:28:00.000-05:002007-11-27T08:33:40.052-05:00

In a little over 3 weeks (on December 19, 2007 to be exact), FileMaker Inc. will officially discontinue the ill-fated FileMaker Mobile. This comes as no surprise to those of us who have used (or attempted to use) the product over the past few years. FM Mobile never did live up to the great expectations that many of us had for it. The prospect of having "anywhere, anytime" access to the data

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-24730018012505264752007-11-19T07:05:00.000-05:002007-11-19T07:07:22.288-05:00

This week's interview is with Jason Mundok, a FileMaker consultant and manager of training services at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based IT Solutions Consulting, Inc. Jason is well known in the FileMaker community as an authority on "FMAgile -- a project management methodology designed specifically for FileMaker. Read on to learn more about Jason, FMAgile, and more...How did you get started in IT?

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-62207363902853918602007-11-14T07:01:00.000-05:002007-11-28T19:37:41.834-05:00

This week's interview is with Timothy Trimble, the founder of Mukilteo, Washington-based Data Design Labs, which specializes in the design and development of custom and commercial software solutions using FileMaker Pro. Tim is also the author of several books, including the popular FileMaker Pro Design & Scripting for Dummies. Read on to learn more about Tim, his company, and more!How did you get

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-67569408826633342782007-11-05T21:03:00.000-05:002007-11-05T21:07:40.840-05:00

This week's interview is with Dwayne Wright, a Senior FileMaker Developer at Seattle, Washington-based SolutionMakers, Inc. and the man behind the popular "aFILEMAKERaffliction" (a network of FileMaker-related resources). Dwayne writes extensively about FileMaker on the "AFA" network, and has also been published in FileMaker Pro Advisor and ISO FileMaker Magazine. Read on to learn about Dwayne,

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-22683085469704654802007-11-01T21:07:00.000-04:002007-11-01T21:35:36.693-04:00

I've just finished my first product review for FMPug. One of the many benefits that FMPug members get is the opportunity to participate in their "review it and win” program, where you get to review products, and after you've completed the review process, you get to keep the product. Very cool!My first review is for "FileMaker Pro 9 Beyond the Basics with: Cris Ippolite," a video training product

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-47131772954007675712007-10-29T22:00:00.000-04:002007-10-29T22:02:34.044-04:00

This week's interview is with Andy Gaunt, the founder of FMPug -- a growing syndicate of FileMaker Pro User Groups located around the globe. As such, Andy is one of the most visible and respected members of the FileMaker community. FileMaker Inc. itself has acknowledged this, having awarded Andy the "FileMaker Excellence Award for Evangelist of the Year" in 2006 and 2007, and the "Mad Dog PR

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-80640153691707836732007-10-23T04:45:00.000-04:002007-10-23T05:05:11.480-04:00

This week's interview is with Micah Woods, the Founder and President of Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Scodigo. Scodigo is a professional software development firm that focuses on the development of client-server applications using FileMaker and web applications using PHP and MySQL. But Scodigo is perhaps best known as the developer of SmartPill PHP Edition™, a FileMaker plug-in that gives developers

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-13494357596201222072007-09-29T15:54:00.000-04:002007-10-17T08:15:37.357-04:00

Last night I upgraded one of our servers that is running FileMaker Server 8 Advanced to FileMaker Server 9 Advanced. And even though I had done a lot of prep work, the process, which should have taken about an hour or so, turned into a 5-hour ordeal. I'm going to share some of what I went through, and some of what I discovered along the way, in the hopes that this might help someone else who runs

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-66652671949745926792007-09-17T20:59:00.000-04:002007-09-17T21:05:17.147-04:00

Our latest interview is with Allan Hunter, FileMaker Solutions Developer for "alwaysBEthere" (a wireless-centric telecomm company based in Minneapolis). Like many of the FileMaker developers that we've interviewed in the past, Allan didn't start off in IT. Read on to find out how he discovered FileMaker, how he is managing to maintain sanity while working on a very complex application redesign,

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-84566189839348338782007-09-16T00:14:00.000-04:002007-09-16T00:27:57.707-04:00

I'm always on the lookout for new FileMaker-related resources, and happened across this one this week: http://www.nabble.com/Filemaker-f734.htmlIt's a group of FileMaker forums/mailing list archives hosted on Nabble (a site that "offers free forum hosting and mailing list archiving"). They've got 6 FileMaker forums/mailing lists hosted and/or archived there, including: FMPExpertsFilemaker Pro -

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-57586449716200990772007-09-11T14:33:00.000-04:002007-09-11T15:36:18.281-04:00

FileMaker users who have been around long enough probably remember a little company called Claris. At one point (1987 or so), Claris was a thriving software development company that had been spun off from Apple and given the task of evolving popular Apple applications such as MacWrite and MacPaint. Claris evenutally morphed into the company that we know today as FileMaker Inc. (For more info on

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-66414979665386941762007-09-11T09:05:00.000-04:002007-09-11T09:07:54.322-04:00

Ernest Koe (of The Proof Group LLC) has posted some exciting conditional formatting tips in a blog post over at The FileMaker Collective blog. (If you haven't been reading the FileMaker Collective Blog, I encourage you to start doing so. There is a lot of great information over there!) I found this post to be particularly helpful, because I have recently been trying to figure out how to use the

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-92172307643306220422007-09-05T21:59:00.000-04:002007-09-05T22:11:34.260-04:00

I know that I've read about this one before, but I had never been burned by it until today: Hiding a window seems to commit the changes that have been made to the active record.I ran into this while working on some of the core scripts that make up the new transactional inventory system that I've been working on at work. One of the scripts that I'm workiing on pauses between attempts to commit a

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-15987414715593705842007-08-11T18:29:00.000-04:002007-08-11T18:32:50.707-04:00

I've finally added all of the FileMaker 9-related books and software to the FileMaker Addict Store. You'll now find all of the latest FileMaker 9 books, as well as software and upgrades.

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-68548819633211259472007-08-09T00:55:00.000-04:002007-08-09T02:19:56.599-04:00

My last day at DevCon 2007. Here are some of the sessions that I was able to squeeze in before heading home this afternoon...Integrating With SQL-Based Applications -- I was lucky enough to take quite a few ESS-related sessions during DevCon. As many of you know, this is my favorite new feature of FileMaker 9. I do a lot of work with SQL Server, and it has long been a dream of mine to be able to

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-43675417478260814652007-08-09T00:18:00.000-04:002007-08-10T06:48:33.848-04:00

Here's a summary of some of the sessions that I was lucky to attend on Day 2:Database Transactions / Transactionize It! -- I started DevCon 2007 Day 2 by taking back-to-back offerings from Todd Geist of geist interactive. Todd is the expert when it comes to implementing transactions in FileMaker. The Database Transactions session explained in a little more than an hour an elegant method for

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-25391174851944056502007-08-08T07:01:00.000-04:002007-08-08T07:46:34.209-04:00

The sessions and workshops here at DevCon 2007 have been amazing. I went to 3 sessions and 1 workshop on Monday, and 4 sessions and 1 workshop on Tuesday -- and got valuable information from each and every one. Sure, it's a lot of information to take in, but it's valuable information that I'll more than likely use as soon as I get back to work.Here's a quick re-cap of some of the sessions and

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-58966936411662094202007-08-06T18:02:00.000-04:002007-08-11T18:49:29.252-04:00

The "official" first day of DevCon started with the Keynote -- and it was a great way to get started. There's a lot of enthusiasm here about the new FileMaker 9 product line, from both the 1300+ DevCon attendees and the FileMaker staff itself.And it is little wonder that everyone is so enthusiastic. The "new stuff" in FileMaker 9 opens up worlds of possibilities for us. The ability to use

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-25837937778071921862007-08-04T17:21:00.000-04:002007-08-04T21:57:19.674-04:00

Tick... tick... tick... DevCon 2007 is only a day away. I've been using FileMaker since 1992, and this is my first DevCon. How insane is that?In any case, to say that I am excited is a massive understatement. I'm looking forward to learning more about FileMaker 9, seeing how other FileMaker Addicts are using it, and hopefully getting some insight into the future of FileMaker.I'll be blogging

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-51672647606656589822007-08-01T00:30:00.000-04:002007-08-01T00:33:51.880-04:00

FIleMaker's "Go To Related Record" (GTRR) script step is a very convenient, very powerful step. With GTRR, you can navigate to one or more related records in a table that is related to the current record. So, for example, you could easily jump from an order header to that order's lineitems in one easy step. Very cool.However, GTRR can get you in a world of trouble depending on how it is being

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-22548811260654225872007-07-26T23:32:00.000-04:002007-07-27T00:00:52.810-04:00

It looks like the first FileMaker Pro 9 book is on it's way and should be available sometime in August!Amazon.com has listed FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual on the Amazon.com Web site, and it is available for pre-order. The book is by Geoff Coffey and Susan Prosser.I own the FileMaker Pro 8 version of this book, and it is really quite good. I've recommended to several colleagues and FileMaker

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-63457549985170286692007-07-26T22:43:00.000-04:002007-07-26T22:45:32.027-04:00

Looking for a job as a FileMaker developer? Here are a few sites that list FileMaker-related employment opportunities...FileMaker.comWould you like to work for FileMaker itself? (How cool would that be?) Well, they're hiring! And while the jobs typically aren't FileMaker developer positions, they sure are interesting. Take a look!fmpro.orgFMPro.org, the "ultimate site for FileMaker," lists

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-25683185948058686172007-07-10T16:08:00.000-04:002007-07-10T16:11:26.478-04:00

Needless to say, this is a big day for the folks at FileMaker Inc. and the FileMaker community in general. Not one. Not two. Not three. But four new products have just been announced. Of course, I'm talking about the FileMaker 9 product line, which consists of FileMaker Pro 9, FileMaker Pro 9 Advanced, FileMaker Server 9, and FileMaker Server 9 Advanced.What follows is an overview of what's new

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-56100679181305717652007-06-27T22:16:00.000-04:002007-06-27T22:48:43.407-04:00

One of my goals this year is to become a FileMaker 8 Certified Developer. If you're not already certified, then the following resources might be of interest to you. Some explain the benefits of getting certified, others explain the certification process, and a few others might also come in handy...FileMaker 8 Certified Developer Overview -- Explains the benefits of becoming a certified developer,

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-87533043569042137432007-06-25T22:48:00.000-04:002007-06-25T23:09:43.889-04:00

Ok, I admit it. Until recently, I've tried to steer clear of FileMaker Pro plug-ins. I can't explain why, exactly. Maybe it was my fear that adding plug-ins might cause FileMaker to become unstable (which is an unfounded fear, I realize now). Or maybe I didn't want to have to admit that there are things that I sometimes need FileMaker to do that it simply can't do "out of the box."Over the past

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-4323481001458622452007-06-21T20:49:00.000-04:002007-06-21T21:11:28.479-04:00

There's an interesting (and at times heated) discussion going on over at DBMS2 — DataBase Management System Services about FileMaker Pro, and it is worth checking out. Chris Kubica (of Application Architects) has been trying valiantly to explain what FileMaker Pro is and how it compares (and in many cases doesn't compare) to other relational database management systems. It's a discussion that is

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-45276410222159310522007-06-10T09:02:00.000-04:002007-06-10T09:53:58.665-04:00

Our second interview of 2007 is with Stuart Gripman, the founder of Crooked Arm Corp, a full-service FileMaker Pro consulting and development firm based in Berkeley, California. Crooked Arm develops Gladys, the only remote monitor application for FileMaker Server 7 and 8. This is the first time that we've interviewed someone who has worked at FileMaker itself, and it is interesting to hear

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-92191580587298127132007-06-04T17:31:00.000-04:002007-06-04T17:58:27.314-04:00

There are times when you want to return a specific found set via a script. For example, let's suppose that you have a contact management application, and that contacts can be flagged as being Active or Inactive. You might want to launch the application and initially display only the Active contacts. This brief "how to" shows you how to write a script that does this.To script this find, we'll use

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-57116626475648723652007-05-29T22:39:00.000-04:002007-05-29T22:45:51.055-04:00

Have you ever received a really ugly data file that you needed to import into FileMaker Pro? As flexible and forgiving as FileMaker Pro can be in terms of what it can import, there are some files that even it can't deal with.A few years ago, I was doing some consulting work for a company that brokered leads for the financial services industry. We'd get hundreds, sometimes thousands, of leads

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-19088289856693443322007-05-22T22:13:00.000-04:002007-05-24T16:10:30.847-04:00

To effectively secure your FileMaker databases, you need to do so on multiple levels. This means not only securing the databases themselves (which is a good start), but also securing the servers that they are running on, the network that the servers are hosted on, and so on. A good strategy is to provide many different layers of security, so that if a single layer is compromised, the other layers

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-32817418813200584752007-05-14T00:40:00.000-04:002007-05-29T22:55:02.139-04:00

The IT Policy Compliance Group recently released a very interesting report titled "Taking Action to Protect Sensitive Data". Here's a snippet from the report...In one form or another, human error is the overwhelming cause of sensitive data loss, responsible for 75 percent of all occurrences. User error is directly responsible for one in every two cases (50 percent) while violations of policy -

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-83381659148163112812007-03-15T20:57:00.001-04:002007-03-15T21:01:32.658-04:00

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”- Steve Jobs, co-founder of AppleI came across this quote from Steve Jobs today, and it really hit home. I think he's right in that, because work is

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-78291411088270404612007-03-13T20:21:00.000-04:002007-03-13T20:22:33.676-04:00

The original intent of FileMaker Addict was for it to be a blog that showcases people in the FileMaker community -- developers, trainers, authors, users, anyone doing interesting work with FileMaker, etc. The blog has been a series of interviews with some people that you probably recognize and some that you might not. All of their stories are interesting for one reason or another. Some happened

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-33644376968124050992007-03-12T21:50:00.000-04:002007-03-12T21:53:33.740-04:00

Something new to announce: We've launched our own FileMaker books and software store!The store is powered by Amazon's very cool Associates Program. If you're not a member, check it out.FileMaker Addict Online Store

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19013546.post-1170815607839268622007-02-06T21:29:00.000-05:002007-02-06T21:35:36.500-05:00

Our first interview of 2007 is with Joyce M. Lillemon Boschert, the owner of Cross Platform Solutions, a Virginia-based training and development company. Read on to learn more about Joyce, her company, and how she manages to keep up with the constant changes to complicated applications such as Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, QuarkXpress, and of course, FileMaker...How did you get started in IT?I

Tim Dietrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09521035272549195177noreply@blogger.com0