Estimated Time To Read This: 3 – 4 minutes       Gantt charts are (in my opinion) the best tool to help keep track of project activities and hours. Even with all the tools and built-in charts that FileMaker has for us, there will still be times where you’ll need to think outside the box to accomplish what you want to do. A Gantt chart is just one of those things. There are some really neat plug-ins you can use to produce Gantt charts, but we opt for a simpler, all FileMaker solution that doesn’t rely on ... Read More

Estimated Time To Read This: 2 – 3 minutes       Remember the old days, before FileMaker Pro 11, where you had to copy custom functions from one file to another by creating a new custom function and then copying all the code and parameters manually? (That was a even pain to type out, let alone perform!) This was extremely time consuming, especially in older projects where all tables had their own files. FileMaker added a neat new feature to their latest version that some of you may not know of. Keep ... Read More

Estimated Time To Read This: 2 – 4 minutes       When you think of charts in FileMaker, you’re probably thinking of plain, simple charts. Charts can be manipulated to make an assortment of things. Here are a few examples. Combination Charts You can display a hybrid of two charts by superimposing them and making the topmost chart transparent and matching the scales. One thing to keep in mind is that the built-in tooltips will not work for the bottommost chart since the top one is covering it. (superimposed ... Read More

Estimated Time To Read This: 2 – 3 minutes       In some cases, it can be beneficial to make a single report layout flexible enough to handle multiple reports. Hypothetically, let’s say that we have a Teacher Certificate system with the ability to generate and print teacher certificates, the accompanying letter, and restrictions (if any). The problem is, that depending on whether the teacher is teaching an elementary, high school, or continuing education class, a different accompanying letter needs to be ... Read More

Estimated Time To Read This: 2 minutes       Before the advent of FileMaker’s Quick Find, finding a value across multiple fields required you to create a series of find requests and enter the search text in the fields to search. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to search all fields (including merge fields) on a layout for anything that matches the entered text? The new Quick Find does exactly that! When in browse mode, you’ll see a search field on the right side of the status area. This is where you will ... Read More

Estimated Time To Read This: 4 – 6 minutes       Web Viewers have been available in FileMaker since version 8.5, providing a quick option for adding a custom map into your projects by using the Web Viewer Setup tool. You can set the parameters for creating a map by inserting a calculation, a field, or text and the map will refresh using the parameters as you browse through the records. The Web Viewer displays a map that is fully functional and adequate for most applications, however, you have very little ... Read More