YouTube has become a juggernaut since its launch in 2005. It is now by far the most popular platform for video consumption on the internet. Unfortunately, watching YouTube videos for their information content can sometimes be a frustrating exercise, especially when the content creators don't optimize their videos. Here are some tips and tricks to make your experience better.View the full article
Scripts to look up Foreign Exchange rates seem to be something of a recurring item on this blog. It is because the Internet keeps changing and what worked last year, doesn’t necessarily work this year. Also, this time, I had a need for looking up foreign exchange rates on a specific date. I found another […]View the full article
Cory has had a passion for electronic music for quite a while and has bought and sold many electronic gadgets over the years and was noticing all the plastic and e-waste that gets produced. His goal with this project was to make something that made interesting music and when its life cycle is ended, can be taken apart easily and most of its components recycled. Hence the use of wood and aluminum in the design.View the full article
This could be useful for designing a custom set of text boilerplates to quickly add to an email or in a data entry situation. These panels allow you to create a set of custom buttons that can perform a variety of tasks, from typing pre-defined text to executing scripts or even launching applications. I realize […]View the full article
ChatGPT is a better FileMaker Programmer Than Me
So, I decided to ask ChatGPT to re-create the script that I had worked so hard on. In a few seconds, the way it does, it came back with a much simpler way of doing the task.View the full article
With plenty of time and patience, I might have been able to figure this out myself after much searching for code samples and tweaking to get it to work. Instead, I asked the AI-based ChatGPT to write me a bookmarklet. In 30 seconds, I had my response. I added the Bookmarklet and it works! Call me pretty impressed.View the full article
Download Demo File Recently, I was explaining the Pick List technique for a friend and thought there might be a good example online, but couldn’t find one, so here is my version. This is a pretty simple technique and can be adapted to many different aspects of a solution. Whenever you want to get data […]View the full article
A reader, Pierre Boucher, asked if I had tried using AppleScript to send SMS. I hadn't but a quick web search revealed a fairly straightforward approach, so of course I had to see if I could make it work.View the full article
I have written about this multiple times in the past and thought I was done with this, but apparently not. A reader from Germany reported that there was a problem with a certain type of export and could I just tweak the script to make it work.
Why fix something minor, when I can rewrite the entire script?View the full article
I couldn't find any articles about going outbound from FileMaker to Apple Shortcuts. It turns out that Apple's Shortcuts app support a url scheme, similar to what I used in my FileMaker to SMS demo.View the full article
What I was looking for though, was a free and non-server based option, something that could be done from a standalone database on a Mac computer or an iPhone in the field. This method could also work in a networked setup, it is send only, any responses are not going to show up in FileMaker magically. View the full article
A Simple Solution to avoiding a paywall: Turn off Javascript in Safari (Safari Menu, Preferences, Security Panel, toggle 'Enable Javascript') and then the reload (Command R) the web page. Remember to toggle Javascript back on, because so much of the display of the modern web relies on it, that it really isn't very functional without Javascript turned on. This works for casual use, but if you find yourself avoidi paywalls often, you may want to go the next step. View the full article
This Shortcut method gives a one-click method of displaying your Vaccine proof card if you want to go to a restaurant or recreation activity, etc.View the full article
The web browser plugin we developed is now available on the Chrome store. This plugin was prototyped in FileMaker. We also have it available for Firefox and hope to have a Safari version soon. Please have a look at it and see if it would be useful to you.View the full article
Try this, email an .ics file to yourself and then attempt to add it to the Calendar app on your iPhone or iPad. Does it work? It didn't for me as of 2021-07-31. Seems like it used to work. A web search suggests that other people are having the same problem. Possibly for security reasons Apple turned this feature off?
Anyway, this has an impact on a FileMaker Go demo database I made a while back that exports .ics files. Recently a reader, Nellie, wrote to say:
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Building this plugin was a passion project for me. I found myself searching the same web sites for things like computer products or royalty-free music, video and photos. I wanted it a way to search once and have many tabs open all in one go with the search already composed and ready to go. I looked around but could not find anything that fit the bill. First I built it in FileMaker and it was useful, but I wanted it in my browser, so it was always handy. View the full article
In this time of the COVID-19 epidemic, many people are working from home. FileMaker is often an important part of a workflow, even when homebound. Wouldn't it be great if you could launch your FaceTime, Skype or Zoom calls right from a database screen? View the full article
In this time of the COVID-19 epidemic, many people are working from home. FileMaker is often an important part of a workflow, even when homebound. Wouldn't it be great if you could launch your FaceTime, Skype or Zoom calls right from a database screen? View the full article
Someone asked: In a word processor you can highlight text and then hit a button to change formatting, line BOLD, UNDERLINE, COLOR...etc. In Filemaker you use the format drop down menus, but does anyone know how to make a button to change the format of the currently highlighted text? View the full article
Someone asked: In a word processor you can highlight text and then hit a button to change formatting, line BOLD, UNDERLINE, COLOR...etc. In Filemaker you use the format drop down menus, but does anyone know how to make a button to change the format of the currently highlighted text? View the full article
With Apple phasing out 32-bit applications in the next macOS (Fall 2019), a number of important applications will stop working. One of the most notable and useful is Apple's QuickTime 7 Player. Also disappearing is support for a number of popular codecs (or file formats). Here is how to find and convert these files before you lose your chance.
View the full article
With Apple phasing out 32-bit applications in the next macOS (Fall 2019), a number of important applications will stop working. One of the most notable and useful is Apple's QuickTime 7 Player. Also disappearing is support for a number of popular codecs (or file formats). Here is how to find and convert these files before you lose your chance. View the full article
Straying from my usual FileMaker blogging routine here, I decided to do something on the Camera app on iPhones for a change. Wouldn’t it be great to have an app that launched your camera app and put you immediately in video mode and start recording immediately? If you are a biker and concerned about crazy […] View the full article
