Philosophy of FileMaker

07/17/2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FileMaker Meta-Consulting: Helping you Over Programming Hurdles

Chino Hills, Calif., July, 17th 2024 -- Well known FileMaker author and trainer John Mark Osborne has been offering a service to developers called Meta-Consulting for over a decade now. It’s a combination of consulting and training conducted over GoToMeeting screen sharing. John Mark will personally program the feature while you watch and ask questions. Not only do you get assistance with a programming hurdle but you get to learn how it was accomplished. When the session is complete, John Mark sends you the modified version of your file. You can even request that the session be recorded.

John Mark Osborne has been working with FileMaker Pro for over two decades and has become one of the leading industry experts. John Mark is co-author of the wildly popular Scriptology book and CD ROM which has become the standard for FileMaker Pro developers. Recently, he received a prestigious award from FileMaker, Inc. for developing outstanding technical resources for his popular FileMaker Pro web site, Database Pros . John Mark is also a regular speaker and trainer at MacWorld Expos and the FileMaker Developer Conference. Database Pros works closely with FileMaker, Inc. as one of their FBA (FileMaker Business Alliance) members and an authorized trainer. John Mark is a certified FileMaker 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 developer having passed all nine certification tests.

If you have questions about working with John Mark Osborne, feel free to call or email:

909-393-4664

[email protected]

If you are a student of my videos, there is a special hourly rate which is nearly $75.00 off the standard rate.

https://philosophy-of-filemaker.thinkific.com

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For more information on FileMaker Pro 2024, available through computer resellers, visit .

06/25/2024

Gathering PortalsIn a relationally sound FileMaker database solution, you will definitely need portals. When you have a one-to-many relationship, the most common way to display the many related records from a layout based on the parent is to employ a portal. But portals don't always do what we want. Sometimes you need to enhance them or reformat the data displayed in a portal. In this article, we'll explore a method for gathering the data from a portal and displaying it in a comma-separated list using the power of parsing and return-separated lists.

http://www.philosophyoffilemaker.com/gathering-portals-200

06/25/2024

Gathering PortalsIn a relationally sound FileMaker database solution, you will definitely need portals. When you have a one-to-many relationship, the most common way to display the many related records from a layout based on the parent is to employ a portal. But portals don't always do what we want. Sometimes you need to enhance them or reformat the data displayed in a portal. In this article, we'll explore a method for gathering the data from a portal and displaying it in a comma-separated list using the power of parsing and return-separated lists.

http://www.philosophyoffilemaker.com/gathering-portals-200

06/18/2024

Database Pros web site updated with 6 new free videos http://www.databasepros.com/

03/07/2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FileMaker 20 Video Training

Chino Hills, Calif., March 7th, 2024 -- Well known FileMaker author John Mark Osborne has released part 3 of his training videos for FileMaker Pro 20 titled The Philosophy of FileMaker. The videos are created in FileMaker Pro 20 Advanced but can be used with FileMaker Pro 12 through 20 with the exception of a few exercises. The videos cover intermediate, advanced and expert techniques in relational design, scripting, calculations and reporting.

"I've seen a lot of training material use examples from a variety of solutions and they are difficult to follow", says John Mark Osborne. "I use a single example of an invoicing solution throughout the 3 part series in order for students to follow along easier and produce something tangible".

The training videos are sold in three 10+ hour volumes for $99.00 each per year and as a bundle with all 3 volumes for $199.00 per year (over 30% discount with pre-orders available). John Mark is concise but very detailed in his presentation in order to pack in as much information as possible. If you ever wanted to design your own FileMaker solution, this tutorial series is the way to go!

To find out more information or purchase these videos, visit the Philosophy of FileMaker web site web site:

https://philosophy-of-filemaker.thinkific.com

John Mark Osborne has been working with FileMaker Pro for over three decades and has become one of the leading industry experts. John Mark is co-author of the wildly popular Scriptology book and CD ROM which has become the standard for FileMaker Pro developers. He received a prestigious award from FileMaker, Inc. in 1999 for developing outstanding technical resources for his popular FileMaker Pro web site, Database Pros . John Mark is also a regular speaker and trainer at MacWorld Expos and the FileMaker Developer Conference. Database Pros works closely with FileMaker, Inc. as an FBA (FileMaker Business Alliance) members and 1 of 16 trainers authorized to teach the FileMaker Training Series from FileMaker, Inc. John Mark is a certified FileMaker 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17 developer having passed ten certification tests.

To find out more information or purchase these videos, visit the Philosophy of FileMaker web site web site:

https://philosophy-of-filemaker.thinkific.com

or, call:

909-393-4664

or, email:

[email protected]

# # #

For more information on FileMaker Pro 20, available through computer resellers, visit .

01/04/2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FileMaker 20 Video Training

Chino Hills, Calif., January 3rd, 2024 -- Well known FileMaker author John Mark Osborne has released part 2 of his training videos for FileMaker Pro 20 titled The Philosophy of FileMaker. The videos are created in FileMaker Pro 20 Advanced but can be used with FileMaker Pro 12 through 20 with the exception of a few exercises. The videos cover intermediate, advanced and expert techniques in relational design, scripting, calculations and reporting.

"I've seen a lot of training material use examples from a variety of solutions and they are difficult to follow", says John Mark Osborne. "I used a single example of an invoicing solution throughout the 3 part series in order for students to follow along easier and produce something tangible".

The training videos are sold in three 10+ hour volumes for $149.00 each per year and as a bundle with all 3 upcoming volumes for $350.00 per year (over 20% discount with pre-orders available). John Mark is concise but very detailed in his presentation in order to pack in as much information as possible. If you ever wanted to design your own FileMaker solution, this tutorial series is the way to go!

To find out more information or purchase these videos, visit the Philosophy of FileMaker web site web site:

https://philosophy-of-filemaker.thinkific.com

John Mark Osborne has been working with FileMaker Pro for over three decades and has become one of the leading industry experts. John Mark is co-author of the wildly popular Scriptology book and CD ROM which has become the standard for FileMaker Pro developers. He received a prestigious award from FileMaker, Inc. in 1999 for developing outstanding technical resources for his popular FileMaker Pro web site, Database Pros . John Mark is also a regular speaker and trainer at MacWorld Expos and the FileMaker Developer Conference. Database Pros works closely with FileMaker, Inc. as an FBA (FileMaker Business Alliance) members and 1 of 16 trainers authorized to teach the FileMaker Training Series from FileMaker, Inc. John Mark is a certified FileMaker 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 17 developer having passed ten certification tests.

To find out more information or purchase these videos, visit the Philosophy of FileMaker web site web site:

https://philosophy-of-filemaker.thinkific.com

or, call:

909-393-4664

or, email:

[email protected]

# # #

For more information on FileMaker Pro 20, available through computer resellers, visit .

All Courses The Philosophy of FileMaker 20 (2023) $350.00 / year 3 Courses All Courses The Philosophy of FileMaker 20 - Vol 1 80 Lessons $149.00 / year All Courses Philosophy of FileMaker 20 - Vol 2 64 Lessons $149.00 / year All Courses The Philosophy of FileMaker 20 - Vol 3 0 Lessons $149.00 / year...

09/14/2021

Everything Changes

Michael Rocharde and I started the Fireside FileMaker podcast way back in 2019. We've recorded 45 episodes along with our good friend Marc Larochelle. But, all things come to an end... at some point. I'm proud of the work I've done on the Podcast so I want to share some of my favorite episodes. There will also be a listing of all the Podcasts in case you are just discovering the show. Thanks for your support and Happy FileMaking!

http://www.philosophyoffilemaker.com/everything-changes-197

08/24/2021

Subsummary Unique Count

Over the years, clients have asked me for a variety of reporting features that aren't easily created with standard subsummary and summary tools. A lot of them, including this technique, use the GetSummary function. I remember having such a hard time wrapping my head around the GetSummary logic when I was working in technical support. Once, I got over the hump, GetSummary became one of my best friends, helping me overcome all kinds of FileMaker battles. In this article, I'll demonstrate how to provide a unique count of subsummary breaks.

http://www.philosophyoffilemaker.com/subsummary-unique-count-195

07/13/2021

Scripted Change Log

Scripting a change log table has been around since script triggers were introduced in FileMaker 10. But, do you know the right way to script a field modification log? I've been programming them for years and have gone through every version of them and have settled on what I'm going to cover today. We'll start off with the wrong way to script an event log so you can get some perspective but will end up with a dynamic solution that can be copied and pasted from FileMaker file to FileMaker file.

http://www.philosophyoffilemaker.com/scripted-change-log-194

05/11/2021

Abstracted Log

A long, long time ago, in a far away land, Bob Cusick, of Clickware, sent me a tip file that used a single field to log changes to fields in a table. Through the years I modified it and released it many times but here’s the latest version. This version is so abstracted, all you need is a single custom function with parameters that specify the fields that trigger the log and the log field itself. That means you can copy and paste the formula from table to table and make minor changes to create logs in all your files.

http://www.philosophyoffilemaker.com/abstracted-log-193

04/14/2021

Decluttering

FileMaker, Inc. and Claris have been waging a war against Manage Database clutter for over two decades. In the early days of FileMaker, let's say FileMaker 3.0, there was no need to worry about packing too much into Manage Database because people weren't designing complex solutions like they do today. These days, it's critical that you use all the tools at your disposal and don't just cram everything into Manage Database. This article will serve as a history of why features were added to FileMaker, examples of how they can be used, references to articles with more information and general commentary, so you can learn from the wisdom of time.

http://www.philosophyoffilemaker.com/decluttering-190

03/18/2021

Multilingual Solutions

I've talked to other developers, read articles and even attended presentations on how to create multilingual FileMaker solutions. I've always thought to myself... "I'll never have to do this myself" so I only half listened. Now I have a client who needs multilingual field labels, titles, button text, tooltips and placeholders. I'm going to walk readers through the process of determining the best solution for my particular client so you can learn the way I did. You may have to adjust your approach to your client needs but this should get you started.

http://www.philosophyoffilemaker.com/multilingual-solutions-189