Learning Claris FileMaker

A brief explanation of Context.

This video is for newbies/intermediates to FileMaker™ and is the 1st in a series explaining key concepts in an entertaining and easy-to-understand way.

For a detailed explanation of context, you can read my White Paper on the subject at:
https://michaelrocharde.com/context/

In this video we take portal filtering to a new level, perhaps one that even some experienced developers might not have considered.

In this two part podcast, John Mark & I, are once again joined by Marc Larochelle (CEO of Productive Computing) for a discussion about the tools that are available to FileMaker developers at all levels.

This part mostly covers the internal tools and options that are available inside of FileMaker and in Part 2, we'll be discussing some of the external (commercially available) tools that could enhance your development efforts.

We hope you find the discussion interesting and enjoyable.

... a development framework that can be used by any developer for any project.

Too often, people abuse the capabilities of a spreadsheet when they should be using a database, like FileMaker.

We’re hoping that our discussion will help clients and developers alike choose the right tool for the right job.

In this podcast, we’ll cover subjects like multi-user sharing of information, security, limitations and much more.

If you’ve ever wondered when to use a spreadsheet and when to use a database, this talk will answer your questions and help you to make the best decision.

Businesses all over the world and of every size and type spend countless hours every day typing the same thing over again.

Contracts and legal documents are classic examples of this.

The tools of choice are word processors and spreadsheets, every one of which is an individual document that has to be filed using a complex hierarchical filing system designed so that any document can be, relatively, easily retrieved.

Copying and pasting, from one document to another is commonplace but often it is easier to just type something again than find it in another document.

But why would any business or person want to type the same thing over and over again.

Apart from the time wasted, and time is the most valuable commodity any of us has, it is frustrating and fraught with errors, not only spelling ones but inconsistency because somebody wasn’t paying attention.

The reason that businesses do this and use Microsoft Word or Excel is that they simply do not know there is a better way of doing things but there is.

It’s called FileMaker and is the most powerful tool for business that you’ve probably never heard of.

Read more on Michael Rocharde's website ...

For any piece of FileMaker™ functionality to work properly, there are, often, a lot of different steps that have to be completed for it to look easy.  

Since most people who don’t work with FileMaker™, or any database program for that matter, are completely unfamiliar with what is happening behind the scenes or, as we developers refer to it, ‘under the hood’, I thought that I would take you through what is actually involved in adding functionality to an existing system.

Read more on Michaelrocharde's blog

Why should you work the way that a program (or programmer) has decided.

It's your business and you should be able to run it the way you want to and the programs you use should accommodate that.

In this short video, we discuss the different types of portals and show how they can be used in a highly effective manner

This short video explains the term 'paradigm shift' and then illustrates two ways that NautilusFM shifts the paradigm in developing with FileMaker.

Just because it's always been done that way doesn't mean it’s the best or only way to do something!

NautilusFM is a new development framework for FileMaker where everything happens on a single screen.

The fundamental principle of it is that "if you never leave home, you can't ever get lost." It has been released under an Open Source license (BSD) to the community and has already been downloaded in 25 countries.

"What if?" is, perhaps, the most important question that you will ever ask yourself.

It's the starting point for all our FileMaker development!

We ask ourselves this question all the time when faced with challenges. It’s a philosophy for creating the best FileMaker solution possible.

It enables you to create faster, better and simpler code that ultimately benefits your client with a more sophisticated FileMaker solution.

Come join as we discuss how FileMaker is the best platform out there for trying out new concepts and getting immediate feedback.

Fireside FileMaker™ is a podcast collaboration between John Mark Osborne and Michael Rocharde discussing FileMaker related topics.

We’ll guide you through the ins and outs of complex FileMaker decisions within the warmth and comfort of a campfire discussion amongst friends.

Download an episode and try us out & please leave comments.

We would love to hear your thoughts on existing podcasts or suggestions for future FileMaker related episodes.

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Context is everything!

Haven’t you ever had something you said taken out of context and then tried, desperately, to figure out how to get yourself out of the hole you just, inadvertently, dug for yourself?

The same goes with relationships.

In life, as in FileMaker, they can be tricky and, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you can get yourself in a whole mess of trouble.

This article is really for newbies to FileMaker; anybody who has been working with FileMaker for a while will, or should, know this stuff so it’s very basic but, hopefully, it will have some value.

Want to know what really sets FileMaker™ apart from its competition? Watch this video.

FileMaker & You

A Fast & Practical Way to Learn & Master FileMaker™

by Michael Rocharde

This book is available for download with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device.

Multi-touch books can be read with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device.

Books with interactive features may work best on an iOS device.

iBooks on your Mac requires OS X 10.9 or later.

Written primarily for novice to intermediate FileMaker developers (and especially for those who work in house), this book is full of sample projects and step-by-step case studies to help you work your way through your own projects. 

Included video tutorials, example files that you can tear apart and many expert level tips, tricks and techniques that you can quickly and easily implement in your own solutions.

While this book is not written for experts, there are advanced techniques and concepts and the professional developer may well find something they either didn’t know about or had forgotten.