1. 7 Basic FileMaker Tips

    August 11, 2010 by Biran

    I often work with casual FileMaker developers and there are some common yet simple issues I commonly come across that I wanted to share:
    1. After creating a record, it’s not possible to go to related records until the current record is committed. After setting a relational field in the new record, make sure to click out or commit before trying to go to a related record.
    2. In preview mode, the vast majority of record manipulation besides record sorting either won’t work or show up besides sorting. Make sure to modify records beforehand in browse mode before entering preview mode.
    3. When [...]

  2. A Natural System

    June 14, 2010 by Biran

    I recently returned from a visit to Woodstock, New Hampshire helping roll out a FileMaker database for the Hubbard Brook project and was thrilled to have experienced a closer bond with nature. This long-term research project is a joint effort of Wellesley College, Cornell University, the University of Vermont, Dartmouth College, and the Smithsonian Institution, and seeks to discover the effects of climate change on migratory songbirds. Their research focuses on the black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens), a 9g songbird that breeds in mountain forests of eastern North America and winters in the Caribbean. The research consortium needed to have [...]

  3. Our staff is now FileMaker 11 certified

    May 14, 2010 by Anvil

    Congratulations to our developers! As of Monday 5/10/2010 Anvil Dataworks is now fully staffed with FileMaker 11 Certified Developers.

    If you have an interest in becoming a FileMaker certified developer Anvil Dataworks offers a specialized FileMaker Developer Exam boot camp. You will work one on one with one of our highly qualified staff to review and learn all of the skills you need to pass the exam. Please contact Sales@anvildataworks.com if you have an interest.

  4. Moving Within Portals

    December 11, 2009 by Biran

    Whenever you use a script to place the cursor into a portal field, you must always be aware of your position. Whenever you manipulate anything outside of the portal fields, your position moves out of the portal.
    One of the first things that a new FileMaker developer will notice is that you can’t modify a portal row, commit records, and then try to access the next row. Once you commit, your position in the portal disappears and you’re back in the focus of the main record. If you go to the next portal row from there, you’ll simply go to the [...]

  5. Basics of FileMaker Debugging Part 2 – Scripts

    December 4, 2009 by Biran

    Having FileMaker Pro Advanced dramatically helps reduce debugging time. For those who aren’t aware, along with its many other benefits, FileMaker Pro Advanced provides:
    *Script Debugger: allows you to traverse through any executed script step-by-step
    *Data Viewer: allows you to check the value of any field, variable, or random calculation of your choice at any given point (including during the middle of Script Debugger)
    After activating Tools->Script Debugger, you’re now ready to debug scripts. You can start a script with a script trigger from any object or from the layout itself. Or you can activate it through a traditional button press.
    If a script [...]

  6. Consolidating FileMaker users in a large organization

    December 3, 2009 by Chuck

    Lately at Anvil we have been helping some of our customers at large organizations consolidate their users. FileMaker solutions are most frequently used in the work group and department levels in larger organizations. We have found especially in universities that many different groups of users are not really aware that there are many other FileMaker users in their midst.
    Once users are aware of each other, the natural tendency is to form a user group. User groups inside of organizations serve as a wonderful resource. The members tend to be more familiar with aspects of issues than FileMaker users outside of [...]