FMDump Migrator was able to generate Xanadu PHP code to import data from FileMaker into existing MySQL tables today!

I've migrated tables manually quite few times and wanted to automate for a while. The automation took a bit, but I think I could now migrate a bunch of tables in a day depending on how much it needed massaging. In Step 2 you can see five massages.

It's so easy now. FMDump from FileMaker to MySQL Create/Insert statements. Load the Dump files to MySQL. Then Migrator can use the Create statements to generate the SQL for new columns and PHP to set and massage the data.

I recently was helping a client with a migration and they refused to have a migration process since the import was a "one time thing". ...

Today on a FileMaker Reddit Post, I was asked what the code looks like. I start with a selected Contact record and starting with index.php, I show an over view of the code path and the code for the Contacts Info Card.

It's interesting to hear similar stories from fellow Developers like on that Reddit Post. FileMaker and Xojo have both, but separately, raised pricing. No official announcements have been made from ...

We've been converting FileMaker databases to Xanadu Web Apps over the past few years. One conversion category is Reports. Reports vary, but there are four types:

• 'Simple' with zero or minimal parameters with a simple query.
• 'Flexible' reporting on ad hoc record sets with a simple query.
• 'Forms' with data placed at specific coordinates.
• 'Customized' with complex formatting, more than one format, or multiple queries.

For most reports, we use mPDF, a popular open-source PHP library for generating PDFs. We'll create a header, footer, and body in HTML using CSS for the styling and applying ...

NOTE: Since posting this, we've made Xanadu semi-private.

Xanadu is reincarnated as a Web App developed in PHP / HTML / CSS / Bootstrap / Javascript. If you haven't heard of Xanadu it's a framework for developing Database Driven Web Apps.

It's been a long road, but Xanadu is a good place now. If you haven't heard about the speed bumps we hit with FileMaker and Xojo, we posted a bit about it last year. Not much has changed with FileMaker and Xojo since. FileMaker is still very expensive for Small Businesses as they focus on Enterprise. Xojo released Web 2.0 over the past year in pre-alpha quality. While Xojo has been ...

It's been a while since my last blog post. There's a reason for that. Software Development has been disappointing, but after five years, I'm ecstatic again!

Why? I think it has to do with greed along with a lack of communication. I'm just glad to see the pattern and have the technical ability to change development platforms.

As developers, what do we need? That depends on the app. Some apps are hardware generic while other apps need specific hardware features. We primarily develop database apps where folks view/edit data, print to paper or PDF, and document management. There aren't many specific hardware feature we need other that being able to work offline when internet isn't available.

There are lots of app types: Desktop ...