As you can see, longer content – such as very long names – don’t fit within the allotted space.  Ordinarily you could just set anchors to have the field grow to the right, but in this particular use case, we already have one anchored field – Notes – set to grow rightward.

In this type of situation, I can call on Conditional Formatting to save the day.  I actually got the inspiration for this one by using the calculator on my iPod Touch.  Type a number and it appears in the calculator, pretty large.  If you keep typing digits, then number gets smaller to fit in the area of the display.   Brilliant!

How can we do this with conditional formatting?  It’s relatively simple; the technique involves setting multiple conditions to a format based on Length().  See the screenshot below:

The conditions are evaluated in the order they are listed, so as the length of the contents of the field gets longer, I apply a smaller and smaller font size.  In addition I like to use the ‘Condense’ feature.  This writes the characters just bit closer than normal.

The final result is shown below.

This technique can be used on list views and also on printed reports.  It is so natural that your users won’t even know you are doing anything sophisticated!

Enjoy this guest post by our friends at Skeleton Key in St. Louis.

I used to use the keyboard shortcut in previous versions of FileMaker Pro to get to the “object info” window. One of the things I didn’t like about FileMaker Pro 11 is not being able to get to the inspector without using the mouse. Then I found the shortcut. You may have known this from the start, but if you did shame on you for not telling me

While in Layout Mode on Mac OS X you can use Command+1 to go to the Position tab of the inspector. Command+2 takes you to the Appearance tab and Command+3 takes you to the Data tab. Use Control instead of Command on Windows. Once there, the tab key will navigate you through the items on that inspector tab.

Also if you have multiple inspectors open at once (one showing each tab), then these keyboard shortcuts will switch inspectors for you instead of switching tabs on the current inspector window.

Thought you might want to know about this hidden gem!

Chad Adams, FileMaker Certified Developer at Skeleton Key

Recently I was on a family trip to Pittsburgh.  We were walking around the campus of Carnegie Mellon and I saw this memorial brick;

It got me to thinking about some of the monster databases that I have had to take over for clients.  When I take over a project, often I am spending a great deal of time just trying to figure out what the developer was trying to do.

Our earlier posts on this blog are generally concerned with improving the user experience(better printing workflow) or getting more out of your data (One Report two sets of summarized data).  Today I would like to return to that lowly person, the developer.  Anything that I can do that can make my job easier will make be a better developer and ultimately make my customers happier.  Or as my grandfather would say to my grandmother, “What would you do if I got hit by a bus?”

When I create a new script, I always try to write the outline in the comments before I add any code.  By writing the comments FIRST, I am sure that they are there when I am done the script, saving me from having to go back and add it to the code.

The hardest part is knowing what to comment and what not to.  I have seen developers that comment almost every line, and some who don’t use comments at all.  The trick is to comment the broad strokes, I like to think of them as the ‘Turns in the Story’.  You want to comment those things that you think you are most likely to forget.  Also those things that are not obvious.

My rule of thumb is to try to always start with the basic pattern.  Each script is written in the following pattern

1. Permission. Can this script be performed at all.  Check for User status, appropriate setting, appropriate record.  Examples, only Super Users can perform this script.  This script can only be run on a particular layout, or this script can only be done on a record with certain fields filled in.
2. The body.  This is the heart of the script.  Make the report, make the changes etc.
3. Cleanup.  Be a good Boy Scout.  Leave only footprints and take only pictures.  Make sure you are on the right layout, the right found set, the curser is the right place.  And any globals used are reset.

With this in mind, almost every script I write starts with 4 lines.

With this as a starting point I can begin to fill in either write the script from here or start putting in some comments.

Here is an example of a complete script.

Note that by just focusing in on the comments, in bold, you get the idea of what the script is doing.

Obviously not all scripts can fall neatly into this structure, but you will be surprised at the number of scripts that can.  Using this as a starting point will also help you to keep your scripts understandable.  Another example.  Right after the Permission section, just after the ‘Done Error Trapping’ comment in my scripts.  I will almost always set all the globals and variables I will need for the script.  Doing this task at this point assures I will always know where to look the next time I visit the script.  If I am feeling partially generous, I will even put in a comment for the exceptions.  That is any variables that can’t be set at the beginning.  For example a variable that can’t be defined until the user answers a dialog box.

The idea is to make sure you always know where to go to find out what a script is doing.  This will make it easier for you to trouble shoot any problems months after you have forgotten why you wrote the script in that particular way.  Using this framework will also help you identify things that are out of the ordinary.  These are the things that will most likely need a comment.

- Jerry Salem

The status toolbar is the gray area located horizontally across the top of aFileMaker Pro 11 window and can be easily customized to suit your needs. If you’re using older versions of FileMaker, the status toolbar combines all of the functionality of the old status area, which was located on the left side of the window, and the optional standard toolbar, both of which existed in versions prior to FileMaker 10. By default the status toolbar comes loaded with commonly used features, such as record navigation (the book), Show All, New and Delete Record, and Find. Depending on how you use FileMaker, there may be other buttons that make more sense for you to have on the toolbar. With a few clicks, you can set up your FileMaker toolbar however you’d like.

The button section of the status toolbar is completely customizable so you can remove buttons you don’t use and add functionality that you use often. You no longer have to click through the menus to find your favorite features. The changes you make are specific to your copy of FileMaker, so your favorite buttons are the same no matter which database you have open and don’t have any effect on other users logged into the same database.

When using FileMaker on Windows, right-click in the button section of the status toolbar and then click the Customize button. The Customize dialog box will appear and you can then move the existing buttons to different positions by clicking and dragging them to the new location. Remove buttons by simply dragging them off of the toolbar. On the Commands tab, select buttons from the Customizable or Standard categories. Add new buttons to the toolbar, by dragging them from the dialog box to the desired position. On the Toolbars tab, click Status Toolbar and then the Reset button to restore the toolbar back to the default buttons.

When using FileMaker on a Mac, the process is very similar to Windows but looks a little different. Control-click (or right-click) on the status toolbar and select Customize from the shortcut menu to display the sheet that contains all of the customizable buttons. To add elements, click and drag buttons, spacers, or separators to desired locations on the toolbar. To remove them, simply click and drag them away from the toolbar. To restore the default toolbar, click and drag the entire default rectangle from the sheet. You can also change the toolbar to include text only, smaller icons, or the default large icons.

While toolbar customization cannot be programmed, as it is specific to each user’s FileMaker installation, the button names can be changed using Custom Menus. Since each button corresponds with a menu item, any change to the name of the item will also change the button on the toolbar. Also, if privilege settings prevent a user from accessing a menu item, the corresponding toolbar button will appear gray and be inoperable.

If you have any questions about customizing toolbars in FileMaker or would like more information, feel free to contact Jason Mundok at jason.mundok@itsolutions-inc.com.

five different types of charts to your FileMaker layouts including vertical and horizontal bar charts, line charts, area charts, and pie charts. At IT Solutions, we’re very excited at the ease at which we’ve been able to use the new FileMaker Charts feature to build very rich dashboards in existing FileMaker solutions.

What data can you chart?

Any FileMaker data can be represented using one of the five chart types as long as the data can be represented in a data series. The data series is simply a list of value pairs that represent the two axes on your chart. For example, if you were charting total sales over four quarters, your data series would include four value pairs: Q1 $23,000, Q2 $18,000, Q3 $28,000, and Q4 $24,000. If these values were represented on a line chart, the left side of each pair would make up the X-axis or bottom of the chart and the dollar amounts would make up the Y-axis or left side of the chart.

FileMaker offers several different ways to access data in a series. You can use data from related fields, data from fields in the current record, or data from fields in the current found set. The third option can be extended to include summarized data (the groupings on a summary report) when the data is sorted appropriately.

Transforming data into the appropriate form for a desired chart can be tricky. Start with the end in mind by considering what the data series should look like based on your goals with the chart and figure out where the chart will be located (on which layout in your database). Based on that layout, first make sure you can see the raw data in the correct form. If you can, then the chart will be a breeze.

Dashboards

A dashboard is an overview of the data in your system, often originating from different data sources, for the purpose of seeing a bird’s eye view of your organization. Unlike a single chart on a layout or report, dashboards are often a collection of different charts and/or lists of data that can come from a variety of sources, either different databases, or different tables within the same database. As a result, one dashboard may utilize different types of charts that access data from different sources in different ways.

This is an example of a four-panel dashboard that has been added to a simple project tracker solution built exclusively with the FileMaker Chart tools. Each chart is based on data from different tables in the database and the layout is based on a “system” table. None of the data represented on the dashboard is stored in the system table. Different techniques are used to transform the data from each source into the proper data series structure for each chart. Together the charts make up a high level overview of four different parts of the system.

The next example is a dashboard from our own internal project management solution. This dashboard mixes charts and data elements to create a robust overview of our open projects. The bottom of the dashboard is dynamic; a project is selected in the drop down and the data elements and four charts are updated to show only data pertaining to that project.

Conclusion

FileMaker Charts is an exciting new feature that allows developers to take FileMaker solutions to a whole new level, without the use of any third party tools. All FileMaker Charts are fully customizable to match the look and feel of an existing solution. By combining data and charts from a variety of data sources, robust and comprehensive dashboards can provide an executive overview of an entire organization on one FileMaker layout.

If you have any questions about FileMaker Charts or dashboards and would like more information on how we can add dashboards to your solutions, feel free to contact Jason Mundok at jason.mundok@itsolutions-inc.com.

Other exciting new features in FileMaker 11 include:

• Enhanced Table View for quick spreadsheet like reporting.
• Snapshot Links to preserve a found set of records including layout and sort order, or to email a link to a specific set of records in the database.
• Recurring Import to automate imports for an Excel spreadsheet or text file every time you open your database or visit a particular layout.
• Quick Find allows a browser-like search for data across all fields on your layout without leaving browse mode.
• Inspector takes layout mode to a whole new level combining all of your favorite design tools in one efficient palette.

For more about FileMaker 11 visit www.filemaker.com.