September Meeting Wrap Up

Thanks to all who attended our September meeting. It was obvious to me that people are getting to know one another and enjoying the time to discuss FileMaker. People came early and stayed late! I’m happy that local FileMaker developers are able to connect with one another in this manner.

A special thanks to Gordon Shewach of Desktop Services in Ann Arbor for his presentation on Common Database Elements. Also, thanks to Tom Lewis for sharing his DevCon 2011 experience and to Brad Bechstein for bringing the projector!

Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 4. Tom Lewis and Brad Bechstein will discuss FileMaker and External SQL Sources (ESS).

September Meeting

I hope your summer is going well.  September is around the corner and that means that we will once again meet monthly for our Northwest Ohio FileMaker Pro Users Group (NWFMPUG).  Our next meeting is in two weeks on Tuesday, September 6, 5-7pm at the Wingate Hotel in Sylvania.    

Agenda:
1. A discussion of DevCon, the FileMaker Developer Conference recently held in San Diego.  Did anyone go?
2. A discussion of a recent challenge you had with FileMaker and how you solved that challenge. 
3. Common Database Elements - Gordon Shewach

Our main presenter will be Gordon Shewach of Desktop Services in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Gordon has worked as an independent FileMaker consultant for 17 years and has been involved in a vast array of projects.  Gordon is also a regular member of our FileMaker user group.

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Common Database Elements by Gordon Shewach

While custom database development is just that — custom, there are certain elements that are common to most of my databases, including:

• a single record table to maintain settings and preferences
• date and time fields for record creation/modification that can be disabled prior to a developer performing global changes
• scripts for printing, privilege testing, establishing a cross-platform file path for saving files, etc.
• relationship graph legend

I’ll demonstrate these techniques and bring a sample database for distribution that includes these techniques.

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Please register early so we know how many people plan to attend.  Also, you may recall that the Wingate hotel fee is $85/meeting.  Therefore a free will offering is welcome, though not required.

Finally, help spread the word about our user group.  Certainly let other FileMaker users know about the group.  FileMaker may also be a great discovery for people storing data in spreadsheets or word processing documents or even people using enterprise systems who need something for smaller projects and/or reporting.

Upcoming Meetings (always the first Tuesday of the month, from 5-7pm, currently at the Wingate Hotel):
Tuesday, September 6
Tuesday, October 4
Tuesday, November 1

Mark your calendars!

Summer Hiatus

We had a full house at our June meeting.  Thanks to all who attended.  We will not meet in July or August.  Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 6, from 5-7pm at the Wyndam hotel in Sylvania, Ohio.  (Remember, our meetings are always the first Tuesday of the month.)

If you have questions or comments about the Northwest Ohio FileMaker Users Group, please post them below or contact me directly.

June Meeting

This is a reminder that the Northwest Ohio FileMaker Pro Users Group (NWFMPUG) will meet in two weeks, on Tuesday, June 7 from 5-7pm at the Wingate hotel in Sylvania. We will discuss the Relationship Graph as well as Scripting. Here is a tentative outline of both topics:

RELATIONSHIP GRAPH

1. Approaches to graph organization/methodology (e.g. Anchor-Buoy, Sessions Model, etc.).

2. Naming conventions.

3. Multi-key/Multi-predicate relationships.

4. Portal filtering (new in FMP 11 and closely connected to multi-key relationships).

5. Commenting.

SCRIPTING

1. Commenting scripts.

2. Script organization.

3. Different methods for passing parameters.

4. Indirection (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indirection).
Where it works:
- Variables
- Set Field By Name
- Go to Layout
—————-
Where it does not work:
- Go To Related Record (GTRR)
- Export
- Sort

5. Debugging with Script Debugger and Data Viewer.

If you would like to add something to either list, please let me know.

RSVP for the meeting here: http://www.fmpug.com/scheduleMeetings.php

Feel free to bring friends and colleagues. You can find us on the web at
http://fmpug.com/blogs/ohio/
http://www.meetup.com/ (topic/interest: FileMaker)

June 7th Meeting

Our next meeting is Tuesday, June 7 from 5-7pm at the Wingate hotel in Sylvania. Topics will include managing the Relationship Graph and Scripting. RSVP here: http://www.fmpug.com/scheduleMeetings.php

NWOFMPUG now on Meetup.org

NWOFMPUG is now on meetup.org. Check out our calendar at http://www.meetup.com/nwofmpug/

Inspector Pro Analysis

At our last meeting we mentioned two analytical tools for FileMaker databases: Inspector Pro and BaseElements.  Kirk Bowman from Mighty Data, a Texas based FileMaker firm, has written an analysis of the former: http://www.mightydata.com/blog/inspecting-inspector-pro/

Meeting Recap

Thank you to all those who attended our meeting last night.  We had a nice discussion about the new features in FileMaker GO as well as FileMaker Pro 11 in general.  We briefly discussed web publishing, both Instant Web Publishing (IWP) and Custom Web Publishing (CWP).  And I gave a quick demonstration of CNS barcode, a barcode app for the iPhone/iPod Touch.  This app reads a barcode via the iPhone/iPod Touch camera and uses the FileMaker URL protocol to open a FileMaker GO database and, if desired, run a script that may include a script parameter.

Throughout the meeting I mentioned various resources.  Here are links to those resources:

CNS Barcode

FileMaker Analysis
Inspector
Base Elements
These are great tools for FileMaker analysis.  They will take your FileMaker metadata (i.e. data about your FileMaker solution) and provide information.

Document Management
SuperContainer
DocuBin
Both products by 360Works which makes outstanding products and plugins

Custom Web Publishing
Books:
Web Publishing by Jonathan Stark and FileMaker 9
FileMaker WEb Publishing: A Complete Guide to Using the API for PHP
FileMaker API for PHP by Todd Duell

Video tutorials:
http://www.vtc.com/products/Filemaker-9-PHP-Foundations-Tutorials.htm
http://bit.ly/iEHmF4

Screencasts:
I have a couple of CWP screencasts on my YouTube site.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, June 7 at the Windgate hotel in Sylvania.  We will discuss the relationship graph and scripting.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me:

Daniel Shanahan
daniel@newleafdata.com
http://newleafdata.com
(419) 367-5236

Agenda for May 3rd meeting

Here is a tentative schedule for our NWOFMPUG meeting next Tuesday, May 3rd at the Wingate by Wyndham hotel in Sylvania, Ohio from 5-7pm:

5:00 - 5:15 Introductions.

5:15 - 5:30 Thoughts and comments regarding the inaugural NWOFMPUG meeting.

5:30 - 6:45 FileMaker GO 1.2. On Wednesday, April 20, FileMaker announced an updated version of FileMaker GO. The new version supports native FileMaker charts, printing, and signature capture.

6:45 - 7:00 General discussion.

Next Meeting

Our next Northwest Ohio FileMaker Pro User Group meeting is set.

Make sure to RSVP on the link below.  Also, it would be great to use an LCD projector - anyone have one that we can borrow?

Content is still undetermined.  Some people wrote content suggestions on the survey cards from the inaugural meeting.  If you would like to add other content suggestions, please add them as comments to this blog article.

Finally, I was not able to find a free room given the restraints of consistency of both time and placy.  The Wingate by Wyndham will make a nice meeting room, though it is not free.  Therefore, a freewill offering will be accepted at the meeting.