Brilliant Scoops

Curated Technology News with a focus on FileMaker and WordPress

FileMaker 18 is Here! – The Full Scoop

FileMaker is the world’s leading workplace innovation platform. FileMaker allows you to design and create great business solutions, securely share it across multiple devices, and integrate with a multitude of different platforms and technologies. Ultimately, FileMaker allows you to be more effective, productive and profitable.

This article aims to be the compendium of FileMaker 18 information…with some excellent content and links to other resources around the interwebs.

FileMaker DevCon 2018 Highlights

Jon Lung
The 2018 FileMaker DevCon was great for many of the same reasons it was great in the past. We were able to meet many wonderful people from all over the world that share the same passion for FileMaker.

The New Way to FileMaker

The biggest new feature of the FileMaker platform is a command line tool for developers called the FileMaker Data Migration Tool. It’s a tool that lets you quickly move data from one FileMaker file into another clone file.

Opening the correct version of FileMaker Pro with FMP URLs on macOS

If you don’t need multiple versions of FileMaker installed on your computer, we recommend uninstalling the old version(s) when you install a new new major version. But there maybe reasons to have more than one version installed. If you are a developer, you may need to support multiple versions for different clients, for example. If you do have multiple versions of FIleMaker Pro [Advanced] installed on your computer, you may notice that fmp URLs (links that start with fmp://… that open a FileMaker Pro custom app, and optionally perform a script) do not open in the version that you are expecting. You may ask yourself, “How did I get here?” …and you might not even be listening to the Talking Heads.

FileMaker Go Pizza Counter for iPad 2.0

One of the great things about FileMaker is it’s ability to quickly create useful solutions quickly. That’s why FileMaker is the #1 rapid application development software in the world. Our local FileMaker Developer Group in the Twin Cities (FMPUG-MN) has monthly meetings and orders pizza for the group for our lunch. With about 30 people in attendance on a regular basis, it’s a challenge to order the right amount of pizza and the kinds people want the most.

FileMaker Data Migration Tool – Game Changer

Today we bring you an article by a guest writer, one of our colleagues in the FileMaker community, Kirk Rheinlander. You can connect with Kirk online here or at his blog. We are excited to bring you this content, because it reaffirms our feelings about the FileMaker Data Migration Tool that we spoke of in a previous blog post: The New Way to FileMaker. As Kirk says, it really is a game changer.

The LuminFire Rap is Here

To celebrate summer we created the coolest LuminFire rap video ever.

The idea was sparked during a conversation around the Millennium Falcon one day (our version of the water cooler). Our office assistant Angie immediately got to writing lyrics. Then the creativity started as the whole team got into the idea.

Connect FileMaker to Cloud Storage with fmFlare

You’re also risking database corruption in transferring such a large file. What’s the best way to fix this? You can use externally stored container fields. That solves part of the problem of getting the actual file out of the main database file…but it is still time consuming to backup and transfer.

Sending Transactional Email from FileMaker with fmFlare

The answer is to use a cloud-based email sending service. You would use FileMaker to create app-generated emails (or transactional emails) in response to a user’s behavior. They play a critical role in acquiring and retaining customers. You can also get powerful email analytics of bounce, open, and click-through rates that can indicate if there are any serious email delivery issues. These email sending services are designed to help digital marketers and application developers send marketing, notification, and other transactional emails. They are reliable, cost-effective services for businesses of all sizes that use email to keep in contact with their customers.

Create a JavaScript Timeline Web Page using FileMaker

Several years ago, Doug Alder of HomeBase Software posted a FileMaker solution that allowed a FileMaker user to easily compile and export interactive timelines for use on the web using a nifty JavaScript library from Knight Lab. With Doug’s blessings, LuminFire has updated and modernized the solution. The new version features many improvements, including:

FileMaker 16 native JSON functions.
New in v1.1: FileMaker 17 native “create directories” exports.
Outputs up-to-date code using Knight Lab’s latest codebase.
New user interface.
A few bug fixes. 😉

Making Sense of all the FileMaker News – BrilliantScoops.com

We’ve been “scooping” news on a link sharing service since 2012. Scoop.it “FileMaker News” has seen nearly 100,000 views and contained links to over 1,300 articles. This curated news source attained Gold Level on Scoop.it for being the best curation on the topic of FileMaker!

fmScoreKeeper Free Sports Score Keeper App for FileMaker

I got the idea for this app while watching my daughter play a volleyball tournament recently. Because of the way the seats were positioned I couldn’t see the scoreboard behind me…so I needed to track the score for myself. fmScoreKeeper was the answer.

FileMaker and GIS / Mapping with fmFlare

Mapping your data in FileMaker is complex and we’ve made it easier with fmFlare. Using simple script calls you can find your current location using GPS or IP address, validate and geocode addresses, lookup zip codes, and most importantly add static and interactive maps to your layouts. fmFlare maps are highly customizable supporting single and multiple points as well as dozens of different basemaps and widgets.

October 2018 Apple Event: There’s More in the Making

MacBook Air

Apple led with the computer that Mac users love to take everywhere. This redesigned MacBook Air brings the design and specs in line with the rest of Apple’s notebook lineup with a Retina display, Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C ports (2 of them!), Touch ID, a Force Touch trackpad, and upgraded processors. And it’s one of Apple’s greenest products, with the enclosure made from 100% recycled aluminum.

Sending SMS from FileMaker with fmFlare

SMS (Short Message Service) is the transmission of short text messages (no more than 160 characters) to and from a mobile smart phone.

Twilio is a great service to help make this happen. fmFlare makes it easy to send Twilio text messages using FileMaker.

Taking Payments with FileMaker using fmFlare

Your FileMaker solution may need to accept and process payments for invoices
and purchases. Stripe or Paypal are likely the answer. Both are web development services for processing credit cards over the internet.