Fav Icons make identifying Web Apps clear in Browsers, Bookmarks, and saving to the Home screen. Generating Icons is easy! Read More…

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. Read More…

Gets a semaphore and attempts to acquire to prevent code from running more than one time. Read More…

Retrieves the GPS coordinates of the Browser. Read More…

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! Read More…

When developing Xojo Web Apps you have several choices to make like what type of database and how to store documents and photos. Storing files in the database results in large databases which are difficult to maintain. Storing files on your Xojo Web App server means keeping an eye on free disk space. Amazon S3 solves all these issues with inexpensive and practically infinite storage. The MBS Plugin has Amazon S3 support, so we created an easy to use Amazon S3 Xojo Class. Read More…

Pivot Tables will change how you view your data. Recently, I was working with someone who opened an Excel document and created a Pivot Table with the data. I was immediately in shock how fast and easy it was to visualize the data from different perspectives. Read More…

Xojo makes coding really easy, but there are times you need to dig in and debug. One way is to use MsgBox which works great when you only need to check a few values. While there are many ways to check values as you debug, Web Apps have the ability to write information to the Browser Console. Read More…

CampSoftware is excited to announce the release of SpeakerCue, a confidence monitor for professional producers and presenters. This handy communications tool is a simple, streamlined way for a presenter or speaker to monitor their time and for an assistant or producer to provide them with invaluable information. SpeakerCue requirements are simple; a Mac or PC for the person who is controlling the time and messaging, and an external display within view of the speaker to receive those messages. Read More…

We've been developing Apps with Xojo since 1998. November 2018 will mark 20 years of using Xojo! Over many of those years we've also used and relied on the Monkeybread plugins for Xojo.

Many of those years, Xojo has been releasing updates quarterly with new features and bug fixes in each release. This means we don't have to wait a year or more to wait to have something fixed or wait a long time for handy new features. It also means that we need to keep track of which plugin version work with which particular version of Xojo. In our case, we used many plugins in the past but now we're only using the Monkeybread plugins. Read More…

Xojo's 2016 Developers Conference Overview

I flew back from the Xojo Developers Conference ( XDC ) on Saturday. After reflecting on the three day event, I couldn't be happier about developing software with Xojo. The Xojo Keynote covered the what is planned over the next year. Afterwards, fellow Xojo-er's presented their sessions including my session on 'Database Driven Design'. I discussed Xanadu, our code to make Xojo development using databases faster. All of the sessions were well put together as I learned something in each session I attended.

The following is what was discussed during the keynote and what that means regarding what we can do for you. Read More…

Xanadu for Xojo is now available on GitHub!

Next week I'm speaking at the Xojo Developer Conference about "Database Driven Apps". The session will show how we're using Xojo to build multi user Apps where users access CRM type data such as Contacts, Invoices, and more. In the session, I will discuss "Making Xojo Database Apps Easier for Everyone, especially for FileMaker Developers" in the form of Xanadu, a Xojo Web App. Read More…

I've been using Xojo since Version One of what was then called REALBasic in 1998 and have created a bunch of apps since then. At first, I wrote shareware apps and the occasional app for the companies I worked for. In the past two years, I've realized that I can use Xojo to create Multi User Web Apps for small businesses that are incredibly affordable due to Xojo's rapid development and licensing focused on developers, not users. Our team has been developing solutions mostly using FileMaker for the past two decades, but we've had Xojo in our back pocket and never realized it. Here are some reasons why we like Xojo so much…
Read More…

We started on Art Licensing Manager 3 a bit more than year ago, but our attention was needed on another project to rewrite a FileMaker solution to a Xojo Web App. We're getting back to working on ALM3 now which also happens to be a FileMaker to Xojo rewrite.

We'll get into the why and and discuss our journey starting with this post. Read More…

FileMaker 15 was released last week. The update has caused quite a bit disruption in the FileMaker Community. FileMaker 15 adds some features along with a new licensing method that is extremely confusing to the developer community. Read More…

That's right. We updated our site yet again.

It's been very frustrating finding a web site publishing system that is crazy fast AND easy to use. Over the years we've tried several systems, but I think we're now would the right solution for us.

In the past, we've tried Drupal, Wordpress, FileMaker with FMWebFrame, and EverWeb, and even coding our own as a Xojo Web App. On Friday, my friend Tim Dietrich suggested RapidWeaver. Read More…

Google Sheets

If you haven't used Google Sheets, you're really missing out. Google has something called Google Docs that allows you to create files via your web browser that mirror Microsoft Office. Google Docs has Docs, Sheets, and Slides which are like MS Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Read More…

My friend Tim Dietrich and I work on a bunch of projects together. Although we live hundreds of miles apart, we talk during the day quite a bit and today we were talking about an interesting article: Transfer Your Notes from Evernote to Apple Notes

Read More…

Fuzzy Vision

For some time, we struggled with how to visualize word of mouth referrals and marketing sources for one our favorite clients. We knew that both word of mouth and the advertising were doing something, but it was hard to see the which was stronger with standard reporting tools. Read More…

Introducing Xojo Xanadu

Xanadu is the name for our Xojo Web App which we'll use to start our Web App projects for folks we work with. It's still in its infancy but it's quickly evolving into a fantastic foundation for database solutions. We're in love with the Xanadu logo that Ntstuan on Fiverr created for us. If you need an icon created, try out his services! Read More…

Platforms Galore, Pics Below

We did some preliminary testing of the Art Licensing Manager 3 on Mac, Windows, iPad, and Android and it's looking great.

You may notice that we're showing two pics for iPad. In 'iPad Safari' we launched Safari and then typed in the server address. After that pic, we saved that web page to the iPad Home Screen 'iPad Saved to Home Screen' as we show in the video for GoLaunch for FileMaker page. That simply saves a bookmark to the home screen, but it also hides the address bar, which saves a bit of space as you can see in the 'iPad Home Screen' pic.

Read More…

Xojo WebStyles

Xojo Styles are VERY powerful. Specifically, we're using Xojo WebStyles for our Web Apps. You can define just about everything you need. Below you can see a Style that defines that the background for the color '6495EDFF' which is also known as 'Blue Cornflower' as an Official HTML Named Color.
Read More…

FileMaker to Xojo

We're still working to convert the Art Licensing Manager, our FileMaker Runtime based solution, to a Xojo Web App. It's a high priority for us since FileMaker Runtimes are listed to be deprecated, although we have several years as building Runtimes are available in FileMaker version 14 and will also be included in the 'next' version according to FileMaker Inc. We plan to have the Art Licensing Manager 3 available well before then.

Read More…

Making Progress

We just wanted to share a quick video on the progress we've made on Art Licensing Manager 3. So far...

Read More…

But Mac's are Secure!

Yes, Mac's are very secure, but there is some malware out there. Just the other day a friend of ours couldn't web surf due to a nasty bit of malware.

Read More…

Field Labels can be Excited

Just like a microwave excites water molecules, you can excite your field labels.

Normally we all place field labels to the left of our fields but that takes up a ton of space. That works and will continue to work, but when I was visiting ClaraLabs.com last night I saw a very nice animated way to handle a field label.

Read More…

Summer Vacations and Thinking

It's been a few months since the last post about converting the Art Licensing Manager to a Xojo Web App. It's been a busy summer between working on projects for clients, going on RV camping trips, and thinking about the best way to convert our FileMaker Runtime to a Xojo Web App. One of my favorite 'work' days this summer was working on the web app from our travel trailer campsite while enjoying the weather.

Read More…

Getting Started

This is the beginning of a series of posts discuss converting our Art Licensing Manager product that runs as a FileMaker Runtime to a Xojo Web App. We'd love suggestions, feedback and more than willing to answer any questions about the process. We plan to get into a little detail, but not too much and some sample code.

Read More…

FileMaker 14 was released a month ago and it's a nice update. Here's what we found interesting...

Read More…

We'll be blogging more about this next week. For now, we suggest that you don't upgrade for at least a month until we see if there are any issues with the new release.

Read More…

Generating and getting a custom SSL Certificate for FileMaker Server is much more complicated than it should be. Last year, I personally spent much more time that it should have taken to get it to work. Unfortunately, FileMaker Inc doesn’t provide detailed instructions on how to get through the process.

Read More…

FileMaker released an important security update yesterday. However, you REALLY need to devise a plan to install the update.

The short story is DO NOT UPDATE FileMaker Pro or Go UNTIL you update FileMaker Server. If it's not done in the right order, you'll find yourself NOT ABLE TO CONNECT to your database.

Read More…

Does your organization have an app?

Creating an app is easier than you might think. We use Xojo to create iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Windows, Linux. For Android, we use the Android Developer Kit. Xojo cannot create Android apps yet, but they do have plans.

Read More…

Always Learning

We've been using Xojo since 1998 and are still learning about it all the time such as the Observer Pattern. Last year, Paul Lefebvre posted about the Observer Pattern.

Read More…

Time to Move

Yep. We moved from WordPress to FileMaker. It sounds insane, but it's working great all due to FMWebFrame by Tim Dietrich. Of course we didn't do this overnight and without reason. Our site was running on Wordpress and while it was working, we noticed that it was sluggish and we had added several plugins for things we really didn't need. It was time to simplify.

Read More…

Last week we released Reference for FileMaker our iPhone / iPad App that makes looking up FileMaker details quickly.

Not only is it one of our first apps, it's one of the first iPhone / iPad Apps created with Xojo! Xojo is really amazing. With it, we can create real apps for Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, and now iOS ( iPhone / iPad/ iPod ). Xojo is also working on adding Android to the list, but no dates have been set for the release date.

Read More…

Tim Dietrich and I have been experimenting with the FileMaker and the Web recently using Custom Web Publishing. One thing led to another.

Read More…

IFTTT ( If This Then That ) added the ability to send Twitter searches to a Google Spreadsheet.

This will let you store tweets of things that interest you. I have one set up to store FileMaker Tweets.

Read More…

NOTE: We really like this method, but it won't work in FileMaker Go since it requires an Extension. If the ExecuteSQL function had INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE or if we could run a script in the calculation engine, this would work.

For years, we’ve had problems with Filemaker unstored Fields. Don’t get me wrong, unstored fields are great for having related data available in related FileMaker tables. However, unstored fields don’t work so well for Finds, Sorts, or Relationships.





Read More…

This is really neat. Apparently, on Windows OS, you can drag windows to the sides or top to have the windows automatically resize. Window Magnet does that for Mac OS!

Read More…

Sometimes I need to keep an eye on the time and I normally use Weather Clock, this this is very nice as well: Work

Read More…

FileMaker Inc released FileMaker 13 today! From the press release...

Read More…

A friend just sent me a link for HopTo and it looks very useful, so I thought I'd share it... One thing that I miss on iOS is a Mac like experience where I can access my files, no matter the app. On iOS, we have to think about what app created the file, then go to that app. It's backwards thinking... Maybe someday iOS will have a place we can access all of our files in one place.

Read More…

From the description of JetScanner:

"JetScanner is an ideal solution for both professional and casual use. It is one of the easiest ways to convert images on your iDevice into easy to use, view, and share PDF files."

Read More…

Brian Schick posted on Twitter a link on how to open additional instances of FileMaker, or any other application on your Mac. This was also mentioned at PauseOnError this week several times.

Read More…

Which do you like better:




Read More…

Sometimes while developing FileMaker databases, we need to perform repetitive tasks, but you can save time by using tools to automate!

Read More…

I've had a Keurig Coffee machine for a while now. But, as a FileMaker Developer, I couldn't leave well enough alone.

While the Keurig coffee is more expensive per cup than a regular coffee pot machine IF you don't finish the entire pot, I never have to drink old coffee that's been sitting on the burner for hours. We can almost always find k-cups for about 50 cents each. Plus it's still cheaper than driving around for a $4 coffee.

Read More…

A client needed a method to quickly input voltage reading into FileMaker Go on iPad and David Burton came up with this method of entering the data. The key was to not use the built in iOS keyboard, but rather provide on screen buttons that offer probably choices.

Read More…

One of the new features in FileMaker 12 the ability to perform SQL Select statements against FileMaker data. SQL Select statements can be simple and can easily get complicated and difficult to read. This is just one way to make it SQL statements easier to read.

Read More…

Mountain Lion for Mac OS X, 10.8, was released yesterday. I've been looking forward to using the new Mail VIP feature for a while now. It allows you to mark contacts as a VIP. My goal was to somehow move less important emails to a folder or smart mailbox.

Read More…

We're working on a project for a client who gathers and formats data in a FileMaker database. The goal was to create a complexly formatted PDF file where the main content needed to be two columns. So, we tried a few things and found that Microsoft Word could format data in two columns very easily.

Read More…

This week we needed to gather data from a website and store the result into a FileMaker database running on Mac.

Everything worked great when we manually tested it in Safari, so when we tried it in using the FileMaker Web Viewer we were surprised that the page would not load as it did in Safari. We also considered the script step 'Insert from URL', but that wouldn't work since navigation of the site is required.

Read More…

While working on a FileMaker/php project recently we came across an interesting situation. Though our solution was connecting to our database properly and displaying the data we requested we were seeing a lot of Deprecated Messages being returned by the FileMaker API.



If you’re running PHP 5.3 or greater there are several methods in the FileMaker API that are deprecated, that is, they won’t be supported in future versions of PHP. While it’s good to know that your solution may have some trouble down the road right now it’s a bit of an annoyance to see all of the deprecated warnings. It also makes debugging a touch difficult.

The good news is you can turn all of the deprecated messages and still be able to see the rest of the errors that you will need for debugging. In the head of your document (or in a file that’s included in every script) add these lines of code:

This little snippet should hide the deprecated messages and still give you the notices and errors that you need to build and debug your site.


Read More…

If you use iChat to communicate with others you can use it to talk to friends on Facebook too!

Read More…

Thanks FileMaker! Our GoLaunch solution [dead link] was mentioned in the May FileMaker eNewsletter!

GoLaunch [dead link] makes it easy to to create iOS device home screen buttons that let you launch your FileMaker Go databases with a single tap!

Read More…

While we backup the FileMaker databases on our server every hour of the day, we've been bad about backing up our FileMaker databases from our hosting provider, Foxtail Technology. Don't get me wrong! Foxtail creates backups for us automatically, but when it comes to backups, I want and need a copy of the backups at my disposal. Most hosting providers will let you download your backup files via FTP, so this solution addresses that need.

Read More…

This morning, FileMaker Go was updated to 1.2.1 for both iPad and iPhone. Download http://bit.ly/FileMakerGoiPad or http://bit.ly/FileMakerGoiPhone

The 'What's New' list included the following items. Looking at the list, you can definitely see the focus on adding what is needed to increase productivity and what enterprise customers need.

Read More…

We had the need for sometime to automatically print documents with our document management system using SuperContainer. In the past, we'd open the documents so the person using the system could print.

Read More…

If you have an iPad or an iPhone it's really easy to print using AirPrint Activator!

Just install the software, delete your Mac OS X Printer, add the Printer back and in minutes, you can print from your iPad and iPhone!

Read More…

Alex Brophy and I attended the FileMaker PauseOnError 2011 NYC and brought our Pulse Pens. We thought you may like to listen to the sessions that we attended.


Read More…

We began writing about FileMaker in the i.Business Magazine to get more information about FileMaker in the hands of small businesses that need to hear about FileMaker.

In the first issue, we discuss several ways FileMaker can be accessed.



Read More…

Today we were pleased to see that our FileMaker Signature Capture solution was profiled in the FileMaker eNews.


Read More…

Have you made a New Years Resolution to keep your computer clean? If so, you may want to check out Hazel which as a free 14 day demo.

What does it do? In short, it helps to automate cleaning up your files.

Read More…

This week we take a look at a quick and simple way to distribute FileMaker Runtime Solutions for the Windows Operating System. Using Inno Setup you can create a one-click installation process that can make distributing your runtime solutions a breeze.

Read More…

David Burton shows you how to convert a Mac FileMaker Runtime folder into a single file/application by turning it into a Package. Then David will show how to create an Installer for the Package so that it is installed in the Applications folder.

Read More…

If you follow the link below, you can receive free admission to the the Orlando Loop Business Expo. The Expo has been traveling around the US and will be in Orlando on December 8, 2010 at the Orlando Hilton Conference Center.

Register for the Free Registration. Feel free to share the link and the Agenda. You can also follow the news on Twitter.

Read More…

John Sindelar suggested that I include some more details about our FileMaker Pro/Go Signature Capture Method.


Read More…

Today FileMaker Go was updated to version 1.1.1 with several amazing features. Download FileMaker Go for iPad and iPhone. From the press release and the the kb with comments in bold. If you'd like to implement any of these, get in touch.

Read More…

Recently, I've been listening to live concerts via Podcasts and I thought I'd share three links.

Read More…

One of the things we need in FileMaker Go databases is the ability to capture signatures. I just wanted to say thanks to John Sindelar for the idea and to Todd Geist for mentioning that he was able to implement this! That got us motivated to get it working as well and to create the demo file.

Read More…

If you are using FileMaker 8 or Filemaker 8.5, the upgrade path will be ending on September 30, 2010. After that date, the upgrade price will no longer available. To move up to the current version of FileMaker it will need to be purchased at the full price.

Read More…

Today, FileMaker released FileMaker Go for iPad and FileMaker Go for iPhone! We're extremely exited to have this available. This year, we're going to see FileMaker in so many places now that it can become so portable.

Read More…

Today, we launched our flagship solution, FMSmallBusiness on FileMaker Go. Looks amazing and most items are working well too!

We've tried it with our database, but please be careful testing your database. FileMaker Go does not have the entire set of features that FileMaker on your computer does. Please read the list of the known issues.

Read More…

This week we created a fantastic solution using FileMaker for a client that needed a Location Search added to their website. Their customers would call the the office and ask 'where are your locations in my city'. The locations were in their FileMaker database, but they had no way to make that information accessible to their customers.

Read More…

Dr. Ray Cologon is a genius. He really is. He's created so many amazing FileMaker Demo files over the past several years. As listing of many of them is available on his Australian website:

Read More…

Today we completed development on our FileMaker Template for Developing iPad Apps. All it needs now is your business data. We started this template to save development time for ourselves and for our clients. The first app will be a Surgical Procedure Log.


Read More…

Last week, we took the FileMaker 11 Certification Exam and now we hold certification in FileMaker 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Read More…

If you have a Magic Mouse, you must get MagicPrefs! It's donation ware, so you can try it out first.

I just wanted a few few features like three and four finger clicks, but Magic Prefs does much more. I've set the three finger click to show all windows via Expose. The four finger click exposes the desktop.

Read More…

Ever since Apple decided to refuse running Adobe Flash on the iPhone and iPad, we wondered how much content is Flash and if it was really that bad. After all, in Safari on Mac OS X, it seems fine.

Read More…

This evening, I was cleaning up the files on our websites and deleted a folder of images for our WordPress website. I had a backup of course, but the folder that I deleted was from when I was testing WordPress. Since then, I moved the WordPress files to the root directory of our website. I could have fixed it by either:

Read More…

I was looking at copy and pasting over forty of the Favorite Hosts from FileMaker 10 to FileMaker 11. While I ended up having to copy and pasting them out of FileMaker 10, I created a simple FavHosts.fp7 database to generate the XML portion of the FileMaker Preferences File.

Read More…

FileMaker Inc. released FileMaker 11 today for both Mac and Windows. Read about the new features.




Read More…

I've been interested in adding items to my Things To Do list while away from my computer with out typing them. Typing is a pain. The steps to do this are:

Read More…

For some time now, FMSnippets has been fantastic for speeding development. Typing out simple abbreviations as save us so much time rather than pointing and clicking or typing out the functions.

Read More…

Learn how to create FileMaker fields and script statements in seconds with Clip Manger from myFMbutler and a bit of FileMaker code. This example uses FileMaker code to create FileMaker code!

Read More…

Date Picker jQuery Plugin to Fit in Your Web Application: Date Picker jQuery Plugin allows users select a date or a range selection of dates easily. It hasa lot of options and easy to fit in your web application. It supports multiple calendars in the component. We can mark dates as special, weekends, special days. More importantly, we can easy to customize the look by changing CSS. Implementation of DatePicker jQuery Plugin is easy. You just need to attach the Javascript and CSS files to your document. Edit CSS file and fix the paths to images and change colors to fit your site theme, and then select the elements in a jQuery way and call the plugin. Requirements: - Demo: http://www.eyecon.ro/datepicker/ License: License Free"

The Hills Screensaver: "The Hills screensaver is about the coolest screensaver I’ve seen for Mac OS X, but it’s not easy to get. The screensaver shows beautifully rendered rolling green hills covered in perfectly-manicured grass. You fly over them as though gliding in a silent helicopter. It’s utterly hypnotic — and very relaxing, especially on a big display."

Another cool screensaver for Mac OS X:

Read More…

From our Press Release:

Read More…

FMSmallBusiness - History | CampSoftware - FileMaker Development and Small Business Software by FileMaker Certified Developers: "2009/03/21 v1.2.2

Read More…

Bar Code fonts from dafont.com: "Need a barcode font? Check out this site. We like the Code 3 of 9 fonts." Read More…

Today we released version 1.3.1 of FMSmallBusiness (FMSB) which includes twenty five updates including new items, improvements, and updates.

The most exciting item is the use of the FileMaker 10 Server PHP Site Assistant which generates iPhone interfaces for FileMaker databases, like FMSmallBusiness. Videos and Screenshots [dead link] of FMSB are available including screenshots of our updated iPhone interface.

Read More…

We were in the need for an inexpensive/simple VPN. Brian Sakowicz suggested iVPN and so far, it rocks!

Read More…

If you have a FileMaker Server, you know how important it is to make offsite backups. The problem is setting it up. This technique should make it easy!

Read More…

Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard is shipping today. This is what we know about the FileMaker issues in plain English. See the links below for the details. Email us with any suggested changes to this...

Read More…

FMSmallBusiness - History: [dead link]

2009/09/01 v1.5.2 [3 Items] Note: Some Features are FileMaker 10 only. The next version WILL require FileMaker 10.

Read More…

Have you ever had the need to find data in your database or update fields without a Layout or even a Table Occurrence? It might not seem like a big deal, but this can really reduce the need for creating new windows to collect data when all you'd really like to do is perform a window-less query or set field!

Read More…

We just saw that Letterbox for Mail on Mac OS X 10.6.x now available and installed it. Seems to work well! I'm so happy to have a three column view back in mail...

Read More…

Yesterday, I recorded a QuicKey to export a FileMaker XML DDR. It automatically chooses the menu item, changes to XML, and unticks auto open, then clicks create leaving you at the save dialog.

Read More…

Tomorrow Windows 7 will be released and FileMaker just released two support documents which may help if you plan to use Windows 7 in the near future.

Windows 7 and FileMaker 10 products

Read More…

The FileMaker PauseOnError Portland unconference ended a few hours ago. Below you can download audio files for the sessions that I attended exported from my Pulse Pen. PauseOnError rocked! Well worth traveling the 2500 miles from Orlando!!!

Read More…

Have you ever wanted to Standardize a postal address to post office specifications? There's a great php script available here:

http://www.analysisandsolutions.com/software/addr/addr.htm

Read More…

The Logitech Touch Mouse is perfect when you forget your mouse back at the office or if you need to control your computer from a distance, like when presenting a talk...

Read More…

Recently I had the need to send alerts to my iPhone from my FileMaker system. I started using Twitter, and while that works ok, the alerts would get lost in my twitter stream. I needed something that would make different sounds based on what kind of alert was coming in.

I found a super simple solution. And it was almost free!
Read More…

It's interesting how website software is changing. First, we hand coded our sites. Then we moved to DreamWeaver. Then to Drupal. Now to Wordpress. It keeps getting easier.

The next several posts will be posts that we moved from Drupal to Wordpress...