TRJ Consulting Group News

DevCon Report: Reactor

Digital Fusion's "Reactor" is one of the coolest plugins to come out of DevCon this year. The Reactor plugin gives you the means to build customizable, dynamic interfaces in FileMaker solutions. No longer are you constrained by the static fields and buttons that come as standard layout tools in FileMaker. Reactor leverages the power of the web viewer by enabling the web viewer to update data and run scripts in FileMaker.
What that means is that anything you can build in HTML/AJAX or Flash can be used as an integral part of your solution. So as you might expect this makes the Fusion Reactor Very Powerful. Click here for more information.

Off to DevCon

I'm taking off for DevCon on Sunday. Will give a detailed update upon my return.

Creating an ERD diagram

Documenting your FileMaker Pro database is an important part of the development process. Picture your project like a waterfall. Most of your planning should take place at the top while the water is calm. Trying to fix errors at the bottom of the waterfall is much harder. Use tools like Omnigraffle for the Mac, or Microsoft Project on the PC to sketch out how each part of your business will come together. Database developers define this as Entity-Relationship Diagrams or ERDs.

Data/Interface Separation -

Data/Interface separation is using at least two files for your solution. One file is for data storage and the other for the interface. SQL databases make use of this concept, whereas FileMaker utilizes both the interface and the tables in a single file. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

This article from FileMaker Pro Magazine discusses on how you can utilize the separation model within your own FileMaker solution.
Click here to view.

FileMaker and Quickbooks integration

Did you know that FileMaker can connect to Quickbooks? Although this is only available with FileMaker Pro on the PC, the FM Books Connector plug-in provides FileMaker Pro access to every record stored in a QuickBooks company file.  Using this plug-in you can freely and easily exchange data between these two powerful applications.  For more information on this or if you're looking for development assistance, click here.

Dreamweaver tools and FileMaker

FMWebschool, Inc. announced the Dreamweaver CS3 version of FMStudio. Now FMStudio supports Dreamweaver MX, Dreamweaver 8 and Dreamweaver CS3 on both Mac and Windows platforms.

FMStudio is a live connection between FileMaker and Dreamweaver. FMStudio enables rapid site development without hand coding PHP.

Dreamweaver and FileMaker Pro

SQL Connectivity

Another great new feature with FileMaker 9 is the ability to connect to an external SQL data source.  Some  developers are calling this feature one of the best new technologies to come out with FM since 7.  There are 3 SQL sources that have been certified to work (although other SQL sources may work as well) - Microsoft® SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft® SQL Server 2005, Oracle 9i and Oracle 10g, and MySQL 5.0 Community Edition.  Connecting to these database sources are as easy as setting up an ODBC connection. 

Dual Monitor setup with FileMaker 9

Having come from the editing world in post production, I have used 2 monitors for quite awhile now.  Along with my Mac Book Pro, I'm using a 19" Samsung monitor.  My additional monitor allows me to take advantage of some new features in version 9.  FileMaker Pro has made some changes in 9 namely the ScriptMaker.  No longer must you open then close a ScriptMaker window before you can do anything else.  ScriptMaker can be open during practically any FileMaker instance.  You can also open multiple ScriptMaker  windows from different database tables or files.  With monitor prices at an all time low, there is no reason not  to add this to your desktop setup.

Maintenance

We all love FileMaker but it seems like FileMaker is coming out with a new version every 6 months to a year.  Don't get me wrong, every new version has some great new features, but having cough the money can be hard on the pocketbook.  This is why I am really pushing FileMaker's Database Maintenance Program.   

If you had been in the Maintenance program since FileMaker Pro 7, you would have received 3 upgrades.    

• FileMaker Pro 8: August 29, 2005
• FileMaker Pro 8.5: July 10, 2006
• FileMaker Pro 9: July 10, 2007

To get all 3 versions during the same period, you would have had to pay three times as much if you had upgraded versus       if you had joined the FileMaker Maintenance program.

The maintenance costs vary on the number of copies owned or to be purchased.  If you are interested in this program, call 1-800-725-2747.  Or you give me a call at my website for additional assistance.