We needed to quickly know how often various databases were being opened on a client’s server. If you have Access logging enabled and are using a Mac OS based system, this shell snippet will give you a nice summary of how often each database has been opened: awk -F” ‘{ if($3 == ” opening database […]

Improve security on a Mac OSX based FileMaker Server with Fail2Ban.

I was trying to test out some HTTP post transactions with the curl command, and things weren’t working. One glitch was due to how the curl command parses its options. All characters, including spaces can be significant, so “-X POST” is not the same as “-XPOST”. This difference might be hidden if calling from the […]

Besides being a bit of a mouthful, debugging Apache configuration issues has gotten slightly more complicated after Apple released the Server 2.2 update for Mac OS X Server. Formerly, you could do a basic configuration check this way: apachectl -t

I wanted to code sign a runtime to avoid issues with users who had the higher security level set on their 10.8 based systems. Although lowering these permissions or holding down the control key when the app is launched will all help with this issue, code signing seems a reasonable and desirable, and removed the […]

Consider the humble button. We lavish design and development attention on fields, portals, tab controls, web viewers – virtually every interface element except the unassuming button. Several new techniques are available in FileMaker 12 to greatly enhance a button’s appearance, behavior, and meaningfulness. The button’s simplicity will help us isolate and demonstrate several modern UI and UX concepts, which we’ll then be able to apply not only to buttons, but throughout our interfaces.

Creating a great solution begins with the most basic of tasks. Don’t let your experience and technical knowledge get in the way. The Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) can wait!

In FileMaker 12, here is how you can dynamically slice off a set of values from a repeating field in a related table, like you would grab a column of values in a spreadsheet.

The bBox plug-in now supports XPath queries. Here are some basics on its use.

We’re pleased to announce Beez who earned the title of FileMaker 12 Certified Developer. FileMaker 12 Certification is the official credential offered by FileMaker, Inc., certifying a developer as achieving an "essential level of knowledge, experience and skills in developing FileMaker solutions."

It’s hard to believe it’s been only a few months since SQL was introduced as part of FileMaker 12. In the short time since, developers have quickly put this new capability to use with style and passion, publishing FileMaker SQL tutorials, demos, and development tools almost too many to number. With all this activity, it’s easy to forget that our use of SQL in FileMaker solutions is still in its early stages. We’re just getting our toes wet in the vast ocean of SQL. This is a very good thing: The best is still to come…