Search in FileMaker Calculations and Custom Functions

MBS FileMaker Plugin 8.0 was released last week with the new search functions for various text areas in FileMaker.

We add Command-F shortcut to show find bar in any text view in FileMaker. Your calculations got long and you can’t find a word? No problem, now you can search for it. The standard search bar on macOS offers controls to find text in a text view. You may have seen the find bar already in TextEdit application and others. Optional you can enable replace and replace text:



MBS FileMaker Plugin 8.0 or newer adds this great feature for everyone who has the plugin installed. No license required (but appreciated) as this is one of the many free features included with MBS Plugin. You can turn the feature on and off in our preferences dialog.

So here is a calculation dialog with search:



In general this works for every text view in FileMaker. In custom functions window we saw redraw issues with focus ring, but that doesn’t change functionality, so please ignore the blue lines. When working right, it looks like this:



Like all our additions to the FileMaker Development tool, we use very defensive programming techniques. The plugin registers the command-F shortcut here. If FileMaker ever itself needs Command-F, FileMaker comes first, so the plugin would no longer get the key press event. When we get it, we check if focus is on a text view, so for any other control, we just exit. Finally we check if there is a find bar, so if FileMaker ever starts registering one with the text view, we exit and don’t do anything.

Another little thing added with the Command-F is the Command-Option-C shortcut to copy the formatted text of the calculation. This helps to copy calculations and paste them in a forum or on a blog.

Download new plugin here. Let me know if you like it!

FileMaker Stammtisch Rhein-Main

Der nächste FileMaker Stammtisch in Rhein-Main findet diese Woche am Donnerstag, den 1. Februar 2018 in Hofheim-Wallau statt.

ca. 19 bis 23 Uhr im Ristorante BELLA BARI - Hessenstraße 1 - 65719 Wallau.

Themen diesmal FileMaker Konferenzen in 2018 und gerne auch Fragen an mich zum MBS FileMaker Plugin 8.0.

Gerne könnt ihr eure FileMaker Lösungen mitbringen und bei Probleme und Fragen direkt vorführen. Eventuell hat jemand in der Runde ja eine Lösung für euch.

siehe Denkform Webseite

Zur MBS Plugin Schulung am 1. März 2018 sind noch Plätze frei.

MBS FileMaker Plugin registration dialogs

Sometimes you may see a dialog from our plugin with a message about your license for our plugin. You can read the message carefully and see what the problem is. Usually it's not difficult, but to help, here a few common dialogs:

This dialog simply tells you that no license key was used and Register function never called. The dialog includes the version of the plugin "8.0.0.11", the name of the function called "SystemInfo.HostName" and a few numbers. First number is how often Register was called and here it's zero. Sometimes it shows a high number, if a script tried to register with an invalid or expired key very often.


The second dialog shows you that your license key expired. To help you find the script, we include the key there for reference.


The third dialog shows that you called Register really often, here eight times. Better check scripts on what is going on. We recommend to check with MBS("IsRegistered") = 0 to make sure you only register when needed.


The forth dialog shows you that a license key is not allowed for the current platform. e.g. iOS license in FileMaker Pro, a Server key in a Runtime or a RunTime key on a server. If you need, you can always upgrade to our ProDeveloper license which includes servers, iOS, Runtimes and clients.

If you have trouble, please do not hesitate to contact us. In fact, with a valid license key, you should never see those dialogs.
see also: Properly register MBS FileMaker Plugin

Java with MBS Plugin

As you may know we support loading Java in both Xojo via MBS Java Plugin and FileMaker via Java functions to call java code. Due to a change in Java 9, the existing plugin doesn't find the jvm.dll on Windows automatically. You can of course just pass the right path to the functions to load it and bypass the automatic.

For Mac and 32-bit applications, you can install Java for OS X 2015-001 and if you run our examples, they will simply work and return java.version with "1.6.0_65".

For Mac and 64-bit application, you can of course use Java 1.6. But we prefer to use version 9. You simply install version 9 and now you see the plugin still loads version 6 unless you fix JavaVM framework manually. But a better fix is to pass in a custom path of the jni library. e.g. in Xojo:

JavaVMMBS.SetLibraryPath "/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-9.0.4.jdk/Contents/Home/lib/jli/libjli.dylib"

But for next plugin version we added code to find the latest Java version and load it's library automatically. So you don't need to pass in the path.

For Windows in a 64-bit app you get "9.0.4", if you get the Java 9 library loaded and query java.version system property. To have this work better, we improved the loading code there, too.

So for the upcoming version 18.1 (Xojo) and 8.1 (FileMaker) of our plugins, you should be able to use Java 6, 7, 8 and 9 easily without hassle. If you want a specific version, you can always pass in the file path.

If you like to try it soon, you can always contact us for a test copy of the plugin.

MBS FileMaker Plug-in 8.0 - Über 5000 Funktionen in einem Plugin

23. Januar 2018 - Monkeybread Software veröffentlicht heute das MBS Plugin für FileMaker in Version 8.0, mit inzwischen über 5000 Funktionen eines der größten FileMaker Plugins überhaupt. Hier einige der Neuerungen:

Für MacOS und iOS haben wir neue Funktionen für die Spotlight Suche innerhalb von FileMaker. Sie können den Suchbereich festlegen und die Suchbegriffe bzw. eine Formel, die verschiedene Attribute mit Werten vergleich. Damit können Sie nicht nur einfach Dateien finden, sondern auch die Metadaten aus dem Suchergebnis auslesen.

Wenn Sie Ihre FileMaker Lösungen auf MacOS entwickeln, können Sie von einigen Erweiterungen im Skript Arbeitsbereich profitieren wie unsere Farben in Skripten und Berechnungen. Neu in dieser Version ist die Tastenkombination Befehl-F um in diversen Texten zu suchen. So können Sie Texte in Formeln und eigenen Funktionen suchen und ersetzen. Mit Befehl-Alt-C können Sie formatierte Texte aus Formeln kopieren und zum Beispiel im Forum posten.

Für iOS unterstützen wir viele neue Funktionen. Dabei sind jetzt PDFKit Funktionen um PDFs zusammenzufügen, AVExport Funktionen für den Video Export, CGImageSource Funktionen für HEIF Bild zu konvertieren, Zwischenablage Funktionen und Events Funktionen um Kalendereinträge und Erinnerungen zu erstellen, auszulesen und zu bearbeiten.

Unsere DynaPDF Funktionen haben eine verbesserte DynaPDF.ExtractText Funktion um den Text einer Seite zu extrahieren, optional auch innerhalb eines Rechteckes. Die DynaPDF.RenderPDFFileEx Funktion kann jetzt alle PDF Seiten in einem PDF Dokument in einen Ordner als Bild schreiben.

Für CURL bei Windows haben wir die Unterstützung für IDN Domains eingebaut, so dass auch Umlaute problemlos funktionieren. Das funktioniert bei Windows Vista oder neuer. Bei Windows XP bekommen Sie eine Fehlermeldung. Beim Mac übergeben wir jetzt alle Optionen mit Dateipfaden korrekt kodiert als UTF-8.

Die XL Funktionen können nun Bereiche von Zellen lesen und schreiben, so dass Sie Daten im Block auf eine Seite schreiben können. Beim Laden geben wir bessere Fehlermeldungen zurück und wir erlauben das teilweise Laden eines Dokumentes um nur einige Daten auszulesen.

Unsere CSV Funktionen zum Einlesen bzw. Importieren erlauben jetzt neben Komma und Semikolon auch Tab als Separator und verarbeiten mehrzeiligen Text besser.

Der Webviewer bei MacOS in FileMaker 16 kann jetzt von JavaScript aus FileMaker Skripte aufrufen. Sie definieren Ihr Message Handler Skript und rufen ihn dann vom JavaScript aus auf.

Für LDAP haben wir neue Funktionen, bei denen die Daten im JSON Format übergeben werden. Für die QR-Codes in der Schweiz haben wir ein neues Beispiel. Die Druckerdialog Funktionen am Mac haben eine neue Funktionen um die aktuelle Konfiguration zu speichern und wieder zu laden.

Außerdem haben wir auf Xcode 9.2 aktualisiert, CURL auf Version 7.57.0, OpenSSL auf die Versionen 1.1.0g und 1.0.2m, DynaPDF auf Version 4.0.15.42 und SQLAPI auf Version 4.2.1.

Alle Änderungen in den Release Notes.

MBS FileMaker Plugin 8.0 - More than 5000 Functions In One Plugin

Nickenich, Germany - (January 23rd, 2018) -- MonkeyBread Software today is pleased to announce MBS FileMaker Plugin 8.0 for macOS, iOS, Linux and Windows, the latest update to their product that is easily the most powerful plugin currently available for FileMaker Pro. As the leading database management solution for Windows, macOS, iOS and the web, the FileMaker Pro Integrated Development Environment supports a plugin architecture that can easily extend the feature set of the application. MBS FileMaker Plugin 8.0 has been updated and now includes over 5000 different functions, and the versatile plugin has gained more new functions:

For MacOS and iOS we have new functions to do spotlight search within your FileMaker application. You can specify the search scope and the search expression and than you can query not just the file paths but also metadata about found items.

When you use FileMaker for development on MacOS, you can benefit from our syntax highlighting and various enhancements to the script workspace. New in this release is the Command-F shortcut for various windows to search text within a custom function or calculation. Using Command-Option-C you can copy the formatted text of a calculation and post it to a forum.

For iOS a lot of more functions are now supported. This includes PDFKit functions to merge PDF files, AVExport functions to export videos, CGImageSource functions to convert HEIF images to PNG or JPEG, Clipboard functions and Events functions to work with calendar items and reminders.

Our DynaPDF functions got an improved DynaPDF.ExtractText function to extract text of a page, optionally inside a rectangle. The DynaPDF.RenderPDFFileEx function writes images for all pages of a PDF file to a given folder.

For CURL on Windows we added support for IDN domains, so you can use umlauts and other special characters in domain names there. This requires Windows Vista or newer and will return error on Windows XP. On Mac all file paths passed into CURL functions are now properly encoded, always as UTF-8.

The XL functions can now read and write areas of cells, so you can batch write data to the sheets. For loading, we better return errors and we allow to load files partially to faster query only some data.

Our CSV Split and Import functions now supports tab character as separator and better handles multi line texts.

The Webviewer on MacOS in FileMaker 16 can now send messages from JavaScript to trigger scripts in FileMaker. You can register your own script message handlers with a given name to trigger scripts from JavaScript.

For LDAP we have new JSON based functions to pass LDAP records or query them as JSON data. For switzerland we got a new sample database to show how to make swiss QR-Codes. Our PrintDialog functions on Mac can now store and restore the configuration, so you can save the printer setup.

Finally we updated to Xcode 9.2, CURL library to version 7.57.0, DynaPDF to version 4.0.15.42, OpenSSL to 1.1.0g and 1.0.2m and SQLAPI to version 4.2.1.

See release notes for a complete list of changes.

Sign up for MBS Newsletters

You can sign up for MBS Newsletters on our website.

We keep you informed about new plugin versions, local events, conferences and special offers. Emails are sent out in average once a month, so it shouldn't fill your mailbox.

If you provide an address, we can make sure we include you for local events in your area. Like when we attend meetings, we usually email people 100 km or miles around to let them know we are coming.

Looking for a trial license key?
You can get one here: Trial License Request Form.

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 8.0pr9

New in this prerelease of version 8.0 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin: Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

Circle crop images in FileMaker with MBS Plugin

Once again a client asked for some help with image editing in FileMaker. An imported picture should be scaled to a given size and than be cropped to a round image. Of course there are no round images, just images with alpha channels to give the illusion the image may be round.

We created the following example script to first read in the image from a container field. We create a temporary image with transparent background of the source size and composite the existing image into that. Next we scale it to the requested size. 

Next we create a new image where we draw the cirlce for the mask and we apply this mask to the scaled down image. Next we compose this image into our final image to apply the mask and write it to a container as PNG image file: 

# Read in source image

Set Variable [ $SourceImage ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.NewFromContainer"; Clip Image::Input ) ] 

Set Variable [ $sourceWidth ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.GetWidth"; $SourceImage) ] 

Set Variable [ $sourceHeight ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.GetHeight"; $SourceImage) ] 

# Scale to dest size

Set Variable [ $sourceSize ; Value: If($sourceWidth > $sourceHeight; $sourceHeight; $sourceWidth) ] 

Set Variable [ $destWidth ; Value: GetAsNumber ( Clip Image::Width ) ] 

Set Variable [ $destHeight ; Value: GetAsNumber ( Clip Image::Height ) ] 

Set Variable [ $destSize ; Value: If($destWidth > $destHeight; $destHeight; $destWidth) ] 

Set Variable [ $tempImage ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.New"; $sourceSize & "x" & $sourceSize; "transparent" ) ] 

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.CompositeXY"; $tempImage; $sourceImage; -($sourceWidth-$sourceSize)/2; -($sourceHeight-$sourceSize)/2; 1) ] 

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.Scale"; $tempImage; $destSize & "x" & $destSize ) ] 

# Build mask

Set Variable [ $clipImage ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.New"; $destSize & "x" & $destSize; "transparent" ) ] 

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.SetFillColor"; $clipImage; "black" ) ] 

Set Variable [ $radius ; Value: $destSize/2 ] 

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.DrawCircle"; $clipImage; $radius; $radius; 0; $radius ) ] 

# Apply mask

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.CopyChannel"; $tempImage; "Opacity"; $clipImage; "Opacity") ] 

# Create destination image

Set Variable [ $destImage ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.New"; $destWidth & "x" & $destHeight; "transparent") ] 

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.CompositeXY"; $destImage; $tempImage; ($destWidth-$destSize)/2; ($destHeight-$destSize)/2; 1) ] 

Set Field [ Clip Image::Output ; MBS( "GMImage.WriteToPNGContainer"; $destImage) ] 

# Memory cleanup

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.Destroy"; $SourceImage) ] 

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.Destroy"; $tempImage) ] 

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.Destroy"; $destImage) ] 

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "GMImage.Destroy"; $clipImage) ] 

 
As you see this is a multi step approach and looks complicated, but sometimes you need to prepare an extra image for the mask (or alpha channel) you like and compose things together as needed.

You can extend this and draw some text on top, some border around or watermark it with a logo. 

PS: Looks like MBS FileMaker Plugin has more GraphicsMagick functions than FileMaker has built-in functions for calculations.


Prices for FileMaker Developer Conference 2018

As stated in the FileMaker community, registration will open in February. The training on Monday 6th will cost $399. Keynote will start later that evening, probably at 6pm and is followed with the welcome reception.
Prices for the conference are $1299 Early Early Bird - through March 15, $1399 Early Bird - through May 31 and $1499 USD Standard.



August 6-9, 2018 | Gaylord Texan Resort | Grapevine, Texas

This is a fantastic conference hotel with 1500 rooms, 10 restaurants, several pools indoor and outdoor. And as may know this was my guess for the conference hotel.

Registration starts end of February 2018. Rooms can be reserved on the hotel website ($189 +tax per night). As you can cancel rooms and they may run out of them, you better reserve now a room and block the week in your calendar! See you there at the MBS booth.

FileMaker und Xojo Stammtisch in Passau

On my next visit to Passau, I'd love to make another FileMaker & Xojo developer meeting:

Wer hat Interesse an einem FileMaker Entwicklertreffen im März 2018 in der Nähe von Passau?

Einfach in gemütlicher Runde treffen in einem netten Restaurant und beim Abendessen was über FileMaker und/oder Xojo schnacken. Vielleicht habt ihr ja auch Fragen und Probleme, wo ich helfen kann?

Zeit wäre ca. 18 bis 22 Uhr, so dass man auch später kommen oder früher gehen kann.

Bei Interesse bitte in die Liste eintragen.

Falls sonst noch Bedarf an Schulung, vor Ort Entwicklung oder FileMaker/Xojo Hilfe besteht, bitte wegen Terminfindung bald melden.

Farm Time, The Mini Movie

FileMaker Inc. started a new ad campaign #FarmTime to promote the FileMaker brand:

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 8.0pr8

New in this prerelease of version 8.0 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin: Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

FileMaker Stammtisch in Hamburg

On my next visit to Hamburg, I'd love to make another FileMaker developer meeting:

Wer hat Interesse an einem FileMaker Entwicklertreffen am 27. oder 28. Juni 2018 in Hamburg?

Einfach in gemütlicher Runde treffen in einem netten Restaurant und beim Abendessen was über FileMaker schnacken. Vielleicht habt ihr ja auch Fragen und Probleme, wo ich helfen kann?

Zeit wäre ca. 18 bis 22 Uhr, so dass man auch später kommen oder früher gehen kann.

Bei Interesse bitte in die Liste eintragen.

Falls sonst noch Bedarf an Schulung, vor Ort Entwicklung oder FileMaker/Xojo Hilfe besteht, bitte wegen Terminfindung bald melden.

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 8.0pr7

New in this prerelease of version 8.0 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin: Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

FileMaker Developer Meeting for Denver

Due to the Xojo Developer Conference, we will come to Denver, Colorado in April 2018.
So let's organize a FileMaker developer meeting!
Anyone interested?

Currently we'd like to know if there is interest for a dinner meeting or more?

Please fill the survey.
Dates is around 20th to 28th April 2018 on one of the evenings.

For a dinner, we would just meet in a restaurant and chat. If we get a bigger group, maybe get a separate room and with a screen and projector, so you an show something if you like.

If you are interested in some private consulting or training, let me know and we can arrange an appointment.

Disclosure Triangle in Button Setup dialog

The normal button setup panel in FileMaker 16 looks like the left picture here:



With MBS Plugin we optionally change the colors to be more black/white and make the panel resizable. This looks like this for version 7.5 in the right panel.

The disclosure triangle for the panel is difficult to see, so for the upcoming version 8.0, we color it light gray:



We highlighted the triangle in the right screenshot. Enjoy!

The dialog is localized and may look different depending on your language. But as we know the plugin function work independent of the texts, so it should work fine in any language.

FileMaker Developer Meeting for Stockholm

Due to the CURL conference, we will come to Stockholm in April.
So let's organize a FileMaker developer meeting! Anyone interested?

Currently we'd like to know if there is interest for a dinner meeting or more?

Please fill the survey.
Dates is around 12th to 16th April 2018 on one of the evenings.

For a dinner, we would just meet in a restaurant and chat. If we get a bigger group, maybe get a separate room and with a screen and projector, so you an show something if you like.

If you are interested in some private consulting or training, let me know and we can arrange an appointment.

MBS Booth for FileMaker Developer Conference 2018

Today we signed up for a booth for the upcoming FileMaker DevCon 2018. Please come by and say hello.



August 6-9, 2018 | Gaylord Texan Resort | Grapevine, Texas

This is a fantastic conference hotel with 1500 rooms, 10 restaurants, several pools indoor and outdoor. And as may know this was my guess for the conference hotels. As FileMaker DevCon grew to 1600 attendees, you need big facilities. FileMaker loves to use the Apple rates in Marriott hotels and as you may know there are not many huge hotels available for such a great event.

Registration starts end of February 2018. Rooms can be reserved on the hotel website. As you can cancel rooms and they may run out of them, you better reserve now a room and block the week in your calendar! See you there.

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 8.0pr6

New in this prerelease of version 8.0 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
  • Fixed bug search for FileMaker 15 to redraw table when editing search text to give instant search results (failed only in FMP15).
  • Added Socket.LocalPort and Socket.LocalIP functions.
  • The preferences dialog now warns if you run a beta version after release.
Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

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