The Day Functions are a set of three very handy, built-in FileMaker functions, which, when combined with a few other functions, add the ability to manipulate the day portion of a date: The Day (Date) function hands back the numerical date of the date in its parameter. Put like that, it probably sounds a bit useless. If you’re […]
A nice example of using text functions to isolate data from a field by Stuart Gripman of FullCityConsulting: The past few posts have covered an array of text parsing functions. There are countless scenarios where you may need to manipulate text in FileMaker, but the two I most often encounter are data migration and data […]
Something new to learn over at FullCity Consulting: a way to use the Sign function to optimize code: How about a real-world example? We can use Sign in combination with our friend the Choose function to generate a message to appear on an invoice or statement. This calc will show an appropriate message whether the customer owes you […]
The Count function is a scripting staple for FileMaker developers, and it is used in a variety of ways, usually as a way to count related records as some sort of a test. But as Stuart Gripman points out, it is really handy in the same table, as well: Count simply tells you how […]
Stuart Gripman’s post on GetNthRecord explains the function better than any other I’ve ever read, and the examples are clear cut and straight forward: This is exactly as straight forward as it seems. Replace fieldName with the name of a field in the local table and recordNumber with any number (within the total number of records in the […]
I had to read this post twice to understand it, and liked it once I got it through my head. Here’s the scenario: Many times a client will want to select multiple line items in a portal and then run a script with the chosen set of related records. Or maybe just to make it easier to see […]
Stuart Gripman, of FullCityComputing, delves into TextStyleAdd, a function that let’s you apply text formatting via calculations. I’ve not yet found a use this function as most of the time text is formatted on the layout, but never say never: The one time you need it, it will be indispensable. I do see one good use: […]
GetContainerAttribute: This function has 35 different arguments that you can send to it to get specific information about the item in a container field. FullCity Consulting gives us the use of the few of the more fun ones, and the full list is below: New in FileMaker 13, and previously fawned over in this very blog, is the GetContainerAttribute function. […]
I like this function–it’s easy to use and can be called as a modular subscript if you send a variable or script parameter to it when invoked: WindowNames Simple database systems may be easily contained within a single window, but you don’t have to get too terribly complicated before popping a new window makes a […]
File this one under “something useful I learned today that someday will come in handy.” Somehow I did not remember (or perhaps really understand the use of) the use of the FieldComment function. But I have had times where having the comments available in the data viewer when in layout mode would have been helpful. […]
One of the most frustrating situations in FileMaker is when you get a “?” in your calculation instead of the answer to the calculation. Stuart Gripman of FullCityConsulting has a very elegant solution for tracking down the error code lurking behind the “?” using the EvaluationError function: When FileMaker is faced with this, or any, unsolvable […]
FullCityConsulting features a function I have never used. Dang it. Now I’ll have to find a way: As functions go Choose is dead simple, but there are some things to watch out for. The first result is result zero. Even if you never expect a result less than 1, you must provide something for result zero. The […]
THIS WEEK’S function from FullCityConsulting has a twist, and can help track down where errors occur in complicated calculations: Unlike all previous functions of the week, EvaluationError wasn’t created to give you information that your database uses. Rather, it’s a troubleshooting tool for developers. Take the function Pi; when you call it in a calculation, […]
MANIPULATING TEXT IS USUALLY a big stumbling block for beginning developers. Mastering those functions (LeftWords, RightWords, Position, PatternCount, etc.) will make your life much easier. FullCityConsulting’s explanation of the Substitute function starts with a simple example: Substitute simply examines some text for a specific set of characters (called a searchString) and replaces them with a new set of […]
Joan Subirós: But, there's no example to download ?
Don Clark: Doesn't look like Jan put up a file for download.