Pseudoportals with Alternating Fill
Among my longest-standing feature requests for FileMaker are portal rows that slide individually to accommodate their content. Although I can usually get by with constructing my layouts in the related table, that’s an approach that usually leaves something to be desired. My favorite workaround, to date, has been what I call a “pseudoportal” (though I’m sure there’re other names for the technique). Read more
Tip of the hat
Having skipped DevCon in order to afford an iPhone, I’ve been dealing with my DevCon envy by exploring some of the wonderful sample files that people have been putting together for FM9.
The fuss over Andy’s conditional formatting tricks, for example, is certainly well-deserved (though let’s face it, we all would have worked that stuff out on our own, right? no?). After playing with those for a bit, a post about Ray Cologon’s “Progress Bars” ( http://www.nightwing.com.au/FileMaker/demos.html ) caught my attention, and I ended up spending a good afternoon hacking that file apart. Read more
Conditional Formatting Tips
Conditional Formatting is currently my favorite FileMaker 9 feature. It used to be that we had to add all these extra barnacles to our database in the form of fields, calculations or relationships to highlight a simple portal row. Conditional Formatting goes a long way towards eliminating all that nonsense. CF is a big deal because for the first time in FileMaker’s product history, you can actually apply an expression (a formula) to layout objects–you can now program field objects…at least…sort of.
Yes, it isn’t exactly the feature I had in mind. I would have preferred to have full-blown access to all object properties and a way to program them using the calculation engine. But, Conditional Formatting gets me very close.
Here are a couple of basic highlighting patterns solved using CF.
1. Highlighting a Focused Field
There was quite a bit of buzz about Andy Lecates’ DevCon 2007 session where he showed off this active-field highlighting in his demo app. Andy noted that he was almost embarrassed to tell people that the formula behind this technique was literally a “1″. This puzzled me a bit so I decided to reproduce the technique. I have been told the credit for discovering this should properly be attributed to Chad Novotony of The Support Group. Kudos, Chad; it is really quite brilliant in its simplicity.
fmCollective welcomes Ray Cologon, Molly Connolly and Don Levan and Barbara Levine
It is my great pleasure to welcome Ray Cologon, Molly Connolly, Don Levan and Barbara Levine as the newest contributing authors to fmCollective. Ray, Molly, Don and Barbara are among the most respected developers, consultants, entrepreneurs and business people in the FileMaker community. Their addition to fmCollective will added valuable depth and new perspectives to the blog.
Cheers!
What I Learned At DEVCON, Chapter 2 (2007)
The 12th FileMaker Developer Conference concluded the other day. It was held in Orlando, Florida, again this year at the same venue as last year.
Just as was the case last year, I learned quite a few things at this DEVCON, and I thought I’d share some of them, in no particular order of significance.
1. It is good to have more of some items (workshops and “Under the Hood” sessions with engineers) and less of some other items (chicken at every meal, unless of course, it’s Southern fried).
2. Energy is not a fungible commodity; it is however an absolutely indispensable one. Do something to take it away, or to send it away, and the entire community will suffer as a result.
3. A relearn: Andy Gaunt of FMPUG fame is possibly the greatest showman since the late Phineas T. Barnum. His second FileMaker Excellence Award is also extraordinarily well–deserved. Same as last year.
4. Another relearn: Several FileMaker, Inc. Engineers and Product Managers could give up their careers in the software industry and become highly successful emcees of television shows or comedians in nightclubs. Some of these guys are really funny, and they are really good performers. Same as last year, except more.
5. A lot of developers and IT administrators still do not understand some fundamental elements of FileMaker security, and as a result, both their data and their jobs are at risk. Tim Neudecker is not among this group, and he did a superior job of presenting useful suggestions for securing an otherwise insecure FileMaker Pro solution.
6. It is better to take steps to prevent corruption and damage to files than to try to alleviate or remediate such damage once it occurs. Use of proper server class hardware, especially hard drives, for hosting FileMaker Pro files is a major component of an effective file maintenance and safety plan. Thanks to the Engineers for again stressing this important information.
7. Reconfirmation of long-known item: The FileMaker, Inc. System Engineers are a huge asset for both the company and the developer community.
8. Headgear worn at DEVCON can be unusually clever and distinctive as witness the FMDiSC Fez Brigade.
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Steven H. Blackwell
Platinum Member, FileMaker Business Alliance
Partner Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance (1997-2007)
FileMaker 8 Certified Developer
FileMaker 7 Certified Developer
FileMaker Certified Trainer