At https://www.reddit.com/r/filemaker/comments/1v7byt1/get_number_of_records_per_person_for_the_current/, a redditor asked, I use FileMaker for my patient files and am trying to find a way to display how many times that patient has come this year (1 record = 1 visit). I have a PatientID field and a TreatmentDate field. What is the best way to do this? I’d like to […]
This is a proof of concept. I had an acquaintance whose FileMaker system was receiving PDFs from an external source, which would land in a container field. The problem was, the source was sending them zipped, so instead of filename.pdf he’d get a zip archive, filename.pdf.zip. He was having a hard time finding a reliable […]
FileMaker has a built-in GetThumbnail() function to resize and convert image formats for images stored in container fields. However, there are scattered reports that this isn’t always reliable (like at https://www.reddit.com/r/filemaker/comments/1et224c/strange_container_bug/ and https://community.claris.com/en/s/question/0D53w00005ZIw34CAD/getthumbnail-on-filemaker-go-not-working-with-png-files-when-fm-file-is-hosted. So I used a javascript demo I found (at https://dev.to/ninofiliu/lets-write-an-image-converter-in-20-lines-of-htmljs-bng) to create a webviewer-powered function that uses pure javascript to resize and […]
A redditor asked, “If I enter a client that already exists in my database into a new record, how can I have it automatically fill in the company name from that client?” Simply put: you can use a self-join to look up information from the same table, just like you could use a relationship (also […]
The “Advanced SSH & Web Terminal” community add-on for the Home Assistant home automation package is a really awesome utility written by a guy who seems to have a bit of a surly attitude towards his users. (Hard as it is to imagine a developer with a surly attitude.) Following lots of questions about his […]
This one drove me crazy for a few weeks, and the solution was tough to find, so I’m posting it here. I would be working on my laptop and my screen would suddenly black out and the computer would randomly go to sleep as I was typing. I’d have to hit a key to wake […]
SHORT ANSWER: Try moving the file ‘ServerCustom.pem’ from the “C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server\CStore” directory to the desktop, and then try starting the FileMaker Server. If it works, you’ll need to download and install a new SSL certificate, but other than that you should be fine. If it still doesn’t work, put it back into “C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker […]
Note: This technique should be considered “almost always working”, not “always working” as previously (and wishfully) billed. Sorry, as FileMaker and desktop OSes have changed, this file, which relies on several technologies from several different sources working together, has proven to be not always reliable. I would not try to use it in any solution […]
I do a lot of posting to Tumblr to archive notes on interesting things I’ve read online. Tumblr’s default sharing bookmarklet and browser extensions have two serious drawbacks: 1.) They either create photo or link posts, nothing else 2.) They frequently don’t work at all: the share window opens, and then the “spinner” graphic sits […]
Due to FileMaker version 16’s new warnings about connecting to servers without SSL, after upgrading, some opener files simply don’t open files from FileMaker Server over the network like they did under previous versions of FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Advanced. The symptom: Many users use “opener” files, local files saved on their hard drives, to open FileMaker databases […]
TL;DR: I edit scripts in TamperMonkey (GreaseMonkey replacement) and have the changes automatically update a master GitHub repo by backing TamperMonkey up to Dropbox, then having an OS X Folder Action perform the GitHub update. Here’s a pretty arcane trick that hopefully will be of use to some other person, somewhere, someday. In my GitHub repo I have shared a […]
This hidden feature of FileMaker has been documented elsewhere, but there’s a little quirk that isn’t always mentioned. You can capture a screenshot of your current layout in FileMaker by going into Preview mode, and selecting “Copy” from the “Edit” menu. This places a screenshot of the Preview on the clipboard. However, if you script this, […]
TL;DR: A corrupt record can cause sporadic performance problems in FileMaker databases, especially when accessing them remotely. I encountered an interesting error recently. A client database on which I am working remotely suddenly took much longer to open than it used to – increasing from about 20 seconds to fully open to about 4 minutes. The database […]
FileMaker’s web viewer has opened up vast new possibilities in user interface design within FM. As of FileMaker version 13, the Base64Encode function allows images stored in container fields to be displayed within web viewers and used in any way that a normal image file can be used by HTML, CSS, and javascript. Let’s say […]
Summary: The Terminal command “sudo spctl –master-disable” can restore the option to open apps from anywhere without Sierra giving you a warning. The General tab in the “Security & Privacy” System Preference used to show you three settings for where it would allow you to open applications from without complaining: just the Apps Store, just […]
