FileMaker News

• FileMaker @ Zend Expo 2006
• FileMaker and QuickBooks Plug-in
• Take the FileMaker 8 Certification Test for Free
• FileMaker Pro 8.5 is MacAddict's Editor's Choice
• FileMaker Workgroup Bundle

Don't miss out on your last chance for upgrade pricing on FileMaker Pro 8.5!

Last Chance Ever to Save US$120 FileMaker Pro 6 customers can upgrade to FileMaker Pro 8.5 and save money.

When you upgrade, you'll get three versions worth of new and improved features because you'll get all the new features in FileMaker Pro 8.5 plus all the features of FileMaker Pro 8 and FileMaker Pro 7!

Act now because this offer expires on December 20, 2006!

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Introducing the FileMaker Themes Pack

Receive a set of 10 pre-designed layouts ready to use!

Start building beautiful databases today - without having to spend a lot of time! Simply copy and paste a layout into your database, modify it to fit your needs, add your data, and in just minutes you’ll have a database that looks like it was designed by a pro. Hurry - don’t delay! Offer valid on purchases made between October 2, 2006 and December 22, 2006.

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The FileMaker Pro 8.5 Charting Example Database

Imagine adding a bar or line chart to your database for tracking product sales. Or add a pie chart with each section of the pie representing a different geographical region. There are countless practical uses for charting your data.

Download the Web Viewer Charting Example Database and see how you can combine data from your FileMaker database with Flash-based HTML charting to create charts that can be viewed using the FileMaker Web Viewer. There are several types of charting examples in the database, ranging from introductory to advanced.

Learn more »

Haven't tried FileMaker Pro 8.5 yet?

Find out what you're missing by trying FileMaker Pro 8.5 today. For 30-days, you can start building databases in FileMaker Pro 8.5 and become familiar with the new features. If you decide to purchase, you'll be able to continue using those solutions built with the trial version.

Download now»

FileMaker in the news: Federal Computer Week

The Pipeline

FileMaker has done it again. The venerable maker of database software recently released a new version of FileMaker Pro that will help you work more productively than ever. The whiz-bang feature in Version 8.5 lets users connect to live Internet data directly from the FileMaker Pro interface.

“We put in a unique feature that has caught the eye of some of our customers: We have a Web viewer directly within the application,” said Stephen Gallagher, senior director of sales and systems engineering.

Read more »

Tell your story to the world!
Are you excited about the new features you are using in FileMaker Pro 8.5 or FileMaker Pro 8.5 Advanced and would like to tell the world about it? You can! We're eager to let you tell your story on our Customer Stories pages.

Support Corner

Need a question answered?
FileMaker Customer Service is dedicated to providing our customers with the best non-technical service possible. Non-technical service includes pricing, product availability, pre-sales questions and promotions.

Simply go to the FileMaker Knowledge Base. and ask away!
The FileMaker Support Team

Tips and tricks

Replace Field Contents
Compiled by Stuart Gripman
Here's how to change the values of one field in a bunch of records simultaneously.

If you use a database long enough, you're bound to encounter a situation where you need to change the values of one field in a bunch of records at the same time. If you've ever gone from record to record making the same change over and over again, surely you've thought there must be a better way. There is.

The Replace command is a powerful tool for updating many records at once. Effectively, Replace deletes the contents of the currently active field and inserts the data of your choosing for every record in the found set. It's important to exercise caution when performing a Replace. It always operates on the entire found set of records -- and you can't reverse it by using "Undo." I routinely save a back-up copy of my database before a Replace. It's the only way to go back if you make a mistake.

Replace with current contents
Replace has three methods of operation. The first Replaces the field data in all records to match the current record's value. Click into a field and choose "Replace Field Contents…" from the Records menu. If you click on "Replace," all the records in the found set will now contain the same value as the active record.

Replace with serial numbers
This option lets you apply serial numbers to the Replace field. The initial and increment values must be integers. If the field you're replacing in is defined as a serial number field, the "Update serial number in entry options" checkbox will be available. Checking it will update the field's serial number settings to ensure that records you create after the Replace action will have appropriate serial numbers. One word of caution: No matter which record you invoke the Replace from, the initial value will be applied to the first record in the found set.

Replace with calculated result
Here lies the true power of Replace. Choosing this option opens a standard calculation dialog box. If you can calculate it, you can Replace with it. One very common application is to append information to an existing field. Say you have a notes field and you want to add "Sent Summer 2006 Card" to the notes of each record without overwriting the existing notes. The calculation below would do the job:

notesField & "¶Sent Summer 2006 Card"

This calculation simply retains the existing contents of the notes field and adds the text on a new line at the bottom.

For more on calculations, see Susan Prosser's articles in Issue #2 2006. Subscribers can read them online at http://My.Advisor.com/doc/17636 and http://My.Advisor.com/doc/17640.

Replace gotchas
It's not all roses and sunshine with the Replace command. It bears repeating that you can't undo a Replace, so be sure to save a backup before every significant Replace.

You can perform a Replace in a script, but be aware that the field being replaced must be available on the current layout at the time the script is run. If the target field isn't available, the Replace won't take place and FileMaker won't generate an error message. Write your scripts to go to an appropriate layout before invoking a replace.

Finally, you can perform a Replace on a networked database, but it can be slow. FileMaker Pro has to move a lot of data across the network for each record involved in the Replace, so even a few large records can take a long time. More importantly, when multiple users are connected to a database, Replace can't update records that are being edited by other users. Under these circumstances, you will get an incomplete Replace that skips those records locked up by other users. Although FileMaker Pro will alert you to such an error, it will not tell you exactly which records could not be updated. Generally, if you need the Replace effect in a multi-user database, a looping script is a better choice.

Get more basic tips for FileMaker Pro 8.5»
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Try a free issue of FileMaker Advisor Magazine»

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