I believe in the power of single consultants to produce remarkable, reliable solutions and make their clients productive and happy. However, I wouldn't want my own wisdom and ingenuity to be the limit of what I can offer, and so I believe in drawing on the experience and knowledge of other FileMaker consultants. And If I ever decide to quit building solutions, or (heaven forbid) I take a long vacation, I want my clients taken care of by people whose work I know and whose professional ethic I can count on. To that end, I'm always looking to build alliances and friendships with other developers. If you work with FileMaker and care to chat, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Custom Functions
Visit
Brian Dunning's Website for a killer inventory of Custom Functions. All
of my own functions go there. (See
my custom functions)
Templates & Technique Files
Audit
Trails 
Inspired by Ray Cologon's SuperLog technique, this method requires a
bit more setup, but overcomes the limitations with drag-drop editing
and modifications made by script. It also includes some pretty color-coding
for improved readability.
Softlocking
Fields
FileMaker field validation rules make it hard to revert changes to a
protected field without losing work done in other fields. This technique
uses eventScript (www.softs4humans.com/FMPro_Plugins.html)
and data logging techniques to provide a way for users to roll back
changes to individual fields. (compatible with fmp 8 and higher)
PseudoPortals
Showing related data in a FileMaker report usually boils down to a choice
between FM portals or a layout built around the related data (with various
subsummaries). However, both approaches have certain limitations when
it comes to sliding or using multiple columns. This technique uses repeating
calcs to emulate portals that can slide or be arranged in a variety
of ways. (compatible with fmp 8 and higher)
Who Knew?
Even after years of developing in FileMaker, I occasionally stumble
across something I never knew (but should have) about a FileMaker command
or function. Here are my most recent "aha" moments:
Enter Key in Layout Mode: I'm a keyboard shortcut fanatic and so I'm always thrilled when I learn a new one. For years, I've been mousing back to the text edit tool whenever I want to edit the text of a button (because if you double click the button, you of course get the script dialog). Turns out that just by hitting enter on my numberic keypad (fn+enter on the macbook) I can toggle between the last tool I was using (usually text edit) and object selection. Who knew?
Delete Record as a portal script step: In a portal row, I've always used "delete portal row" to delete a related record. Turns out that "delete record" works just as well if called in the portal context (I always assumed it would delete the parent). Who knew? (probably lots of people)
Omit record in Find mode: Apparently, if you call this script step in Find mode, it sets the current request to an "omit" request. Who knew? (probably anyone who happened to read the help file on this script step).
