Category: Filemaker Development

FileMaker Inc. has published an online guide to creating high-performance custom FileMaker solutions. The guide, titled simply "Performance," is the first in a series of solution design guides that will be made available for download from the free-to-join FileMaker Technical Network. Through the Network, users can join a community of FileMaker developers and experts to share ideas and solutions, as well as download articles, scripts, software and technical briefs.

The 30-page guide outlines how to create custom solutions that are not only efficient but easy to use, both in terms of their visual design and for subsequent maintenance and updating. The guide is suitable for both Apple and Windows users, and it focuses especially on mobile support. Readers will learn how to automate tasks through the FileMaker server to improve the performance of FileMaker Pro for iPad and iPhone.

"The Performance guide helps new users to optimize their new FileMaker solutions and experienced developers to tune up their existing solutions," said vice president of marketing and services Ryan Rosenberg. "High-performing solutions are easier to maintain and more enjoyable for people to use."

Additionally, the company announced that a free webinar will be held on October 28 on "Eight ways to make FileMaker databases run even faster." The webinar will be co-hosted by FileMaker technical marketing manager Matthew O'Dell and certified developer and authorized trainer Mark Richman of Skeleton Key, a St. Louis-based company that, like Kyo Logic, is a member of the FileMaker Academy. There will be two sessions on that date, at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm ET.

Relational database application FileMaker is helping businesses greatly reduce costs by allowing them to closely track and streamline their operations. British management services company Eversfield Consultants reports that its system development expenses were slashed by half by hiring a FileMaker developer. Eversfield specializes in providing cost and strategy support to construction and property management organizations, and uses databases to gather information about each building in its portfolio.

Eversfield attempted to create a FileMaker solution to enhance its property lifecycle management services by categorizing buildings by type, making it easier for employees to search through available assets.

"As we haven't got a lot of experience with FileMaker, it was very time-consuming for us to prepare our application," said Eversfield director Nick Woolcot of the process. "For this reason we couldn't focus on our core business. What's worse, we weren't happy with the performance of the app we created. Because of all that we began to consider hiring for this work a company specializing in FileMaker custom business solutions."

By turning to a certified FileMaker developer, Eversfield received expert services and an app that fulfills all of the company's needs, and they are already reaping the benefits. As well as being able to focus on core business processes rather than software development, it was of vital importance that the app be accessible from mobile devices, since many of Eversfield's business is done in the field during meetings with clients.

Custom database software can help companies in any industry by organizing all the information they need in a manner that is easily accessible. Developers can also provide instruction in how to use FileMaker so that IT managers can expand and update their own databases in the future as their business evolves.

The RunRevLive.14 conference, centered around app development and coding, began on Tuesday in San Diego and will run through the end of this week. One of the first announcements at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel was the introduction of FmPro Migrator 7.34, a piece of software designed specifically to convert FileMaker information to the LiveCode programming language. The new software will allow users to take metadata not just from FileMaker Pro 13, the latest edition of the most widely used version of FileMaker, but also editions 11 and 12. The data can then be manipulated with the upcoming LiveCode 7, whose development is the end result of a successful Kickstarter campaign that began last year.

New features include saving files in Excel and PDF format, and the ability to work on several layers and axes, allowing for increased versatility and adaptability. Said FmPro Migrator developer David Simpson, “Realizing the importance of the LiveCode 7 development cycle, I have been diligently testing FmPro Migrator with LiveCode 7 releases since early 2014. My app now looks razor sharp on Mac OS X and Windows Hi-DPI displays, improving the professional look of FmPro Migrator.”

FileMaker is a useful asset for any business, as it is the most comprehensive tool for gathering and analyzing data, making it more effective than traditional spreadsheet software such as Excel. FileMaker developers can create customized databases for small and medium-sized businesses to keep track of all the information they need for their operations, and to analyze and get ahead of market trends and developments.

As well as providing help with FileMaker development, certified trainers can also teach employees how to use FileMaker, so that they may maximize the profit that can be gained by having all that data readily available and easily accessible.

A series of webinars and training sessions designed to boost the use of database application FileMaker will be hosted by St. Louis-based technology consultant Skeleton Key, a FileMaker Academy partner of Kyo Logic, between August and October. The training series was presented at the FileMaker STL meet-up on August 5, fresh off the 2014 FileMaker Developer Conference, which was held in July in San Antonio and saw Skeleton Key honored with two awards. The company received the Business Alliance Excellence Award for Leads, and in the DevCon Developer Cup Challenge, Christopher Schmitz took first place just ahead of Kyo Logic’s chief technology officer Tim Neudecker.

Neudecker himself kicked things off with a free hour-long FileMaker Academy Webinar for developers and IT and project managers on August 19, which served as a prelude to Skeleton Key’s two St. Louis training courses. Skeleton Key has spearheaded the effort to promote FileMaker among local businesses in the St. Louis area.

The Developer Essentials three-day course will be held August 26-28 with a second session October 21-23. Attendees will have a one-on-one interview before immersing themselves in learning the basic tools of FileMaker development, including data modeling, layouts, scripts and security. A final individual review will help would-be developers apply what they’ve learned to their specific area of business.

Path to Certification is a more in-depth five-day course, designed to prepare developers who already have an understanding of FileMaker development for the FileMaker Certification exam. Like the Developer Essentials program, this training series is book-ended by one-on-one meetings, where the conversation will be tailored to the needs of each aspirant, in order to address specific areas which may require polishing ahead of the Certification exam.

For many businesses, mobility is the next big investment in their IT strategy. Some organizations are already implementing mobile strategies, whether it is officially supported by the company or employees using their personal devices for work tasks without the IT department's knowledge. Unsurprisingly, Apple devices are the first choice.

According to the most recent quarterly report by enterprise mobile services vendor Good Technology, Apple's iOS platform holds an 88 percent market share when it comes to business apps. When it comes to the devices themselves, Apple remains on top, at least with the more than 5,000 companies that were interviewed. The iPhone makes up 51 percent of activated smartphones, while the iPad accounts for 90 percent of tablet activations. Combined that is a 67 percent share.

The report also found 70 percent of enterprises believe that providing mobile devices and support to employees will be a "high" or "critical" priority over the next 12 months.

"We see more spending shift to software for mobile applications and middleware as well as the necessary management solutions to provision and manage mobile applications," the report reads. "At the end of the day, we may talk about mobile devices, but in reality it's all about the apps."

This means more companies can benefit from quality mobile applications and Apple has several. At the top of the list is FileMaker, the popular custom database solution that is designed for mobility and comes with a free app version called FileMaker Go, that is only available on an Apple iOS platform. The right FileMaker developer can help any company optimize the software.

One certainty of technology is that at some point it will fail. Computers and mobile devices are machines that run complicated software solutions that require updating. Eventually that hardware will start to break down and a software upgrade will have a glitch that causes it to start acting screwy. In most instances they can be easily fixed and the impact is minimal, however, that is not always the case.

A recent article from RT covered a press briefing that was given by U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf. She spoke about the problems that the U.S. Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) at the State Bureau of Consular Affairs have had that caused consulates across the world to lose the ability to issue visas.

According to Harf, the problem was born out of a system update. For several months the database had been experiencing technical issues but remained functional. On July 20, 2014, a software update was issued to fix the problems but had the opposite effect. For the next three days, the database was completely offline and was only partially brought online.

"We believe the root cause of the problem was a combination of software optimization and hardware compatibility issues," Harf said. "We believe there was no malicious intent. It's hardware and a software issue that we are working to fix."

During this downtime, over 200 U.S. consulates from around the world were unable to issue visas. This impacted businesses, personal travel, vacations and much more.

It is critical for companies to find and deploy the right custom database software. With the help of a solution provider that can design and maintain the system, any company gains a hand to avoid potential glitches.

Whenever you get like-minded people together that work in the same industry, there is going to talk about who is the best. There is a lot of this going on at large industry conventions and the recently held FileMaker Developers Conference was no different. However, it did declare a winner and handout a championship belt to the winner.

Part of the convention is the DevCon Developer Cup. This competition had 16 participants that competed in five rounds of challenges. Using all of their skills, competitors created quick and elegant solutions to common problems that all FileMaker developers face. One person who fought for the cup this year was Kyo Logic's co-founder Tim Neudecker.

There to attend the entire conference, Neudecker competed against the best developers in the industry but joked that he needed to remember how to code. After two rounds, he found himself in third place and kept up the solid performance to avoid the cuts and make it to the final challenge. In the end, he fell just short of winning, coming in second.

Besting was Christopher Schmitz, an application developer from Skeleton Key, one of our FileMaker Academy Partners. He takes home the championship belt, his name was added to the trophy and he gets bragging rights for eternity. While Neudecker did congratulate his colleague, he did flame the fires of competition with a tweet.

"We'll I was the first of the losers, 250 points behind Chris from #Skeletonkey congrats Chris. Next year I will take you down Rocky style."

Kyo Logic is extremely proud of Neudecker's performance.

Whenever a popular technology system is upgraded, it is going to take some time for individuals who are familiar with the previous incarnations to learn all of the new features. During times like this, professionals seek research materials that help explain the changes and any new features that set the upgrade apart.

For a number of tech solutions, professionals have been turning toward the Missing Manual series. This popular book catalog from O'Reilly Media acts as a "______ for Dummies" for a software systems like iOS, OS X, Windows, Microsoft Office, Adobe and Photoshop as well as hardware including all the iDevices, Kindle Fire, NOOK, and the Galaxy S5.

According to a recent press release from O'Reilly Media, it has now added FileMaker 13 to that list of "Missing Manual" titles. It covers a list of the new and old features including:

• A basic walkthrough of FileMaker
• Using FileMaker Go for mobile solutions
• Combining data tables into a singular solution
• Using calculations and scripts to quickly crunch numbers
• Creating professional documents with charts
• Sharing a database across a secure server with FileMaker Pro Advanced and FileMaker Pro Server.

While picking up a book like this can be helpful some professionals, it does not match the hands on learning that happens when a company partners with a FileMaker development firm that is certified in FileMaker 13. Instead of trying to interpret what the book is describing, individuals gain the knowledge of an experienced FileMaker professional that can walk through the entire solution and dive deeper into a personalized software solution that meets your specific needs.

One of the biggest challenges of data management is creating a smart way to access it. FileMaker is one of the top solutions on the market, and the way businesses are benefiting from using it shows why.

A recent article from ITR News profiled transportation company Ninatrans. In an effort to improve its operations, the company deployed a FileMaker Pro solution to better track and plan its controls and routes.

According to Benny Smets, the director of Ninatrans, the company started using FileMaker as a bill and order tracking system. The system performed so well that when the time came to upgrade other systems, the company transitioned them to FileMaker. This led to the creation of a transportation management solution that is used for recording data on employees, fleet customers, maintenance and controls.

One of the benefits that made FileMaker the obvious choice as a backbone solution is flexibility. With FileMaker Pro and Go, the business can create an in-depth database that can be accessed in real-time from a computer, iPhone or iPad. Ninatrans was also able to create a customer goods database tool that was client facing. Now, any customer can log on to the database and see exactly where their goods along the supply chain. This is a level of customization most systems do not offer.

Every client wants to have access to their data, whether it’s in weekly reports or instant data. With FileMaker, it is possible to offer all of this and give consumers the experience that keeps them coming back.

With the help of a FileMaker developer, any company will be able implement the software in an effective manner.

When most people think about core business software solutions, one of the key systems that comes to mind is Microsoft Excel. This popular spreadsheet software has been in existence since 1982 and has become synonymous with business reporting since 1988. If you were to walk into nearly any company and ask to see a sales report, there is a good chance that it will be handed to you in the form of an Excel spreadsheet.

While this seems to make the case that every business should be working hard with Excel, there are actually other systems that should be deployed that can make running a business much simpler. One of the most common is FileMaker.

A recent article from the Santa Fe New Mexican features an interview with David Jondreau, a FileMaker developer who previously helped organizations run through Excel. Because of the number of issues that companies were having trying to use basic spreadsheets as a core business system, Jondreau searched for a new manner of doing business and found it in the form of customer FileMaker development. This was a way to cut through the headaches and alleviate some of the struggle that companies face when using just spreadsheets.

"FileMaker is more than a glorified Excel program," Jondreau said. "FileMaker can produce more specific reports, such as a list of which customers frequent a business and what they buy. It's possible to generate such a report via Excel but it's challenging and requires a greater time investment."

He added that FileMaker can seem like it is nothing more than a lengthy list of unrelated items, but to an expert like Jondreau, it represents distinct graphics and rows, tables and categories that are easy to manage and do not overload users.

Small businesses are perfect for FileMaker

When it comes time to upgrade to a new software solution, many smaller organizations may be hesitant to make the the jump. Because they have limited resources, justifying any kind of investment is difficult. This especially true when words like "custom database" are thrown around. Company decision makers hear it and immediately start to hear a cash register ringing which causes them to hold the wallet tight.

However, FileMaker is a perfect solution for small businesses. It is an easy investment for a system that is user friendly and provides immediate benefits.

Jondreau said that his ideal client to work for is a smaller, local businesses. In just a few weeks and with a moderate investment, he is able to create a database from the ground up that meets the specific needs of a company and helps push operations to a new level.

Making this decision to invest in FileMaker can be easier said than done. However, there are quality software development firms out there that make the process easier. These organizations audit the existing solutions and business needs, before laying out a plan that specifically addresses these areas, while also adding benefits to other processes that were not expected at the beginning.