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Version 2.0 now available ...see Products page |
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Over
your head?
Are
you working on an in-house FileMaker project that has you pulling your hair
out?
Is your budget too small for an outside developer?
Is your credibility, or even your job on the line?
We have the solution!
(Just click the SOS button.)
“I really owe you. These papers have given me badly needed direction. Because of them, I've been able to stop spinning my wheels so much about 'what should I be doing', and move forward to DOING it!”
Wendy
J. Sieja
Presto Products Company
“Great
document!
More genuinely useful information than many
$59.95 tomes.”
Chris L. Baumbach
Steve van Ness
“Hi
Ho Fellow FileMaker-ins.
Most of us have heard the expression 'Pearls of Wisdom' right. Well I have
a 'Full Oyster' for you… this is a great read.
What I am referring to is 'White Paper for FMP Novices'.. by David Kachel.
And if you think Oh, Ok, it’s just for novices! You will be making a
mistake...
You check it out for yourself and tell me if I’m wrong.”
Harry
Glosenger
FileMaker and the World of Harry Glos
...I really appreciate your generosity in making 'White Paper For FMP Novices' available. Even after ~20 years working with FileMaker I found it useful in reminding me of things I had forgotten and showing me things I hadn't thought of. It has been distributed to our developer team as recommended reading.
Peter
Trist
Lending Technology Services Pty Ltd
CAUTION: All content is provided absolutely without warranty or guarantee of any kind. Download, install and run/use items on this page entirely at your own risk. Foundation Database Systems and its functionaries accept absolutely no responsibility for any damages resulting from the use or transmission of any of the software packages or other content made available.
*** Some of the items on this page may still carry the old Codemasters Workshop logo or copyright. We're working to change everything over, but of course this takes time.Codemasters Workshop and Foundation Database Systems are the same company, same people, same products and services. The only thing that has changed is the name. ***
All items on this page are FREE to download and use (some have minor restrictions). However, you may not redistribute or reproduce any items, or altered versions of items, on this page in any way. Anyone desiring one of the items below must come to this web site to download it.
White
Paper for FMP Novices
(version 2.01; released 10/17/2011)
WhitePaperForFMPNovices.pdf
1.3MB (If on Windows: right-click, select "Save Target As...":
Adobe PDF format)
A
compilation of important advice on how to design a database, and what mistakes
not to make. This document contains much-needed advice not available elsewhere
that the FileMaker Pro newcomer must have to do a proper job. Currently covering
over 100 important topics in as many pages, this is a must-have
for any FileMaker novice or intermediate.
Comments are welcome,
send us an email with
the subject heading "White Paper for FMP Novices Updates".
Universal
Time Formatter
(version 1.01)
UniversalTimeFormatter.fp7
21KB (If on Windows: right-click, select "Save Target As...")
FileMaker time fields have always been too restrictive in some ways and too flexible in others. You cannot enter 723p and have it correctly interpreted as the obvious "7:23 PM". Neither can you enter "7.23.00" or "7 23 00" and have it interpreted correctly as "7:23:00". In fact, FMP will throw an error if a time field contains anything but numbers, colons (mandatory) and "AM" or "PM"; not even a simple "A" or "P" will work. On the other hand, FMP time fields will accept 36:00:00 (that's 36 o'clock folks!), displaying "12:00:00" but storing "36:00:00" for your bug hunting pleasure.
Some Europeans like to enter times with periods instead of colons, and who knows what separators are preferred elsewhere, but you can't use any of them.
Universal Time Formatter will let you enter anything, no matter how ridiculous, and correctly extract and format a valid time if the entered text contains one... anywhere. The following text:
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz7!@#$%^&*()_+2=-{}|\][';:"3/.,><?:"';{}|\][=-
+_)(*&^%$#@!zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba!@#$%^&*()_+-=\][{}|';
:"/.,<>?aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaappppppppppppppppppppppp~~~~~~~~~~
is correctly interpreted by the Universal Time Formatter custom function as 7:23 PM !
Never use the colon again, use any separator you like, or use none at all:
72356p is interpreted by Universal Time Formatter as 7:23:56 PM.
No more error dialogs, no more frustration. Enter times any way you like and get back a correct and logical time.
This
custom function is free to download and use in your solutions, with minor
restrictions detailed in the text of the custom function itself.
Universal Capitalizer (version 1.04)
WARNING: UNIVERSAL CAPITALIZER IS OBSOLETE... DOWNLOAD "WHITE PAPER FOR FMP NOVICES" ABOVE FOR A NEWER, AND FAR SIMPLER REPLACEMENT CALC.
THIS FILE REMAINS HERE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.
TEAR IT APART, SEE WHAT MAKES IT TICK!
UniversalCapitalizer.fp7 48KB (If on Windows: right-click, select "Save Target As...")
FileMaker developers have wanted a tool like this for years. Now you can have it. The Title Case and Proper () functions built into FMP are virtually useless because names like "vanAtter", "O'Shay" and "MacArthur" will always come out "Vanatter", O'shay and "Macarthur". In the past, if you wanted text automatically capitalized in FileMaker (and other automatic formatting done) there was just no way to have it without an extra table of lookups that could only do the job if it contained the particular name or word you needed. Now you can have things formatted correctly and your users can stop relying on the Shift key. Just type in "dr af macnally, md" and get back "Dr. A.F. McNally, M.D." ! And if we missed something... you can add it yourself. The calcs are completely open. Formatting is easily overridden with entry of a simple tilde (~) character.
This
custom function set is free to download and use in your solutions, with minor
restrictions detailed in the text of the custom functions themselves.
Developer
Storage
(version 1.02)
DeveloperStorage.fp7
836KB (If on Windows: right-click, select "Save Target
As...")
In
response to requests from readers of White Paper for FMP Novices,
this completely open database will allow you to keep all of
your tips, techniques, demos, graphics and other commonly used FMP related
items in one place. Just put all those items scattered all over your hard
drive into this FileMaker database and you'll never have to hunt for them
again. Plus, this file also serves as a practical tutorial for FMP newcomers.
It is completely open. Take it apart, learn how it works, apply the concepts
in your own datbases.
Database
Design for FMP
(version 1.01)
DatabaseDesignForFMP.pdf
1.0MB (If on Windows: right-click, select "Save Target
As...": Adobe PDF format)
Every FileMaker book tells you to design your solution before
you start to build it, but newcomers never follow this advice because no one
tells you how to design your solution. Here's how.
This is a free step-by-step procedure to follow that will get you through
the entire design phase quickly, easily and correctly. Now you can actually
follow that sound advice.
Viewer
Table Demo
(version 1.0)
ViewerTableDemo.fp7
56KB (If on Windows: right-click, select "Save Target
As...")
In
response to requests from readers of our White Paper for FMP Novices,
this is an open demo of a viewer table solution. It is multi-user ready.
The
Kitchen Sink Too... portal sort
The Kitchen
Sink Too -Windows 35KB (If on Windows: right-click,
select "Save Target As...")
The
Kitchen Sink Too - OS X .sitx
36KB
The
Kitchen Sink Too - OS 9 36KB
Written by David Kachel and published in FileMaker Magazine in 2000, this FileMaker demo is completely open and you are free to "steal" the technique and use it in any of your solutions. It is a method for sorting portals in FileMaker versions 5 thru 11, that removes all the barriers previously found to sorting portals. You can sort on multiple columns, up or down simultaneously, in fact, any way you like. You must have a copy of FileMaker Pro to view these files. Instructions are provided in Word and plain text format. No plug-ins or exports/imports are required. Everything is done on the fly with FileMaker's existing functions. (Files are in FileMaker version 5/6 format, but will convert to .fp7 without incident.)
If you have any questions, email us
( support@foundationdbs.com
)
