Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

PhillyFMTalk discussion mailing list

By: Colin Keefe

This is a side note – nothing to do with the upcoming meeting on the 26th (you have rsvped for that, right? Details here and RSVP here ).

Andy Gaunt at FMPug has generously offered to set up a second listserv for us, for group members to engage in discussion. It’s called PhillyFMTalk.

It’s opt-in; you won’t get on the list unless you explicitly send a subscribe email. Use it to talk about FileMaker, network, suggest meeting topics/agenda, post availability for work, or…whatever you like, really. The point is to get you all engaged with each other outside of the monthly meetings. It’s not meant to replace the FMPugTalk mailing list or Technet – this is meant as a purely local, group oriented resource.

The existing listserv will remain announce-only, so if that’s all you’re interested in, you don’t need to do a thing.

To subscribe to the new list, look for the subscribe links in the sidebar to the right.

On another note: I’ve set up a tab on the blog for Members (right overhead, yep, right…there!) and am mulling over what to do with it. So a good first topic for the PhillyFMTalk list might be what I should be doing with this space.

2009 Bonanza Meeting Recap; 2010 Goals

By: Colin Keefe

Since a large part of our December meeting was given over to a discussion of the goals and direction of the group, this recap post serves the added function of discussing some of those goals and how we plan to work toward them.

Recap!

Two dozen FileMaker enthusiasts converged on the the IT Solutions office for the 5th Annual PFUG Year End Bonanza on December 15th.

We continued our annual tradition of vendor discussions and giveaways, of course – congratulations to Dan Stein, Todd Chronister, Walter Burns, Preston Cabe, Tim Lynott, Mike Ahern, Bryant Minard, Gale Raspen and Michael Reddy for winning bonanza prizes from our generous sponsors! And a big thanks to SolutionMakers, Ben Waldie, ProofGroup and Seed Code, Thorsen Consulting, 360Works and Real EVO for participating and contributing to our event.

Our 2008 predictions for 2009 were, as usual, mostly wrong, but I don’t think anyone can be faulted for not guessing all the twists and turns 2009 held in store for us.  We’ll have to wait until December 2010 before we can weigh in on the latest batch – though I somehow doubt “BJ and the Bear” will make it to the big screen this year (sorry, Jason).

Continue reading ‘2009 Bonanza Meeting Recap; 2010 Goals’

Join us October 27: Matt O’Dell of FileMaker, Inc. – The Power of Automation – Exploring Script Sequences in FileMaker Server 10

By: Colin Keefe

Highlights:
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October 27th Meeting:
- Matt O’Dell of FileMaker, Inc: The Power of Automation – Exploring Script Sequences in FileMaker Server 10
— About the Presenter
- Stump the Chump on holiday!
Other News:
- October 29th: FREE FileMaker Seminar from IT Solutions; iPod Shuffle giveaway (details below)
- New Training Classes from IT Solutions
- FMPug News: “The Everything Reference 3″ available to all as a FREE download, free PRINT version with new FMPug Membership
- About the Philadelphia FileMaker User Group
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Greetings FileMaker Enthusiasts,
Our next Philadelphia FileMaker User Group meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, October 27th 2009 at 6:00 PM.
The meeting will be held at the IT Solutions Fort Washington Office:
+  414 Commerce Dr., Suite 150, Fort Washington, PA 19034
+  Google Map: http://tinyurl.com/37mhhh
As always, pizza and soft drinks will be provided.
Please RSVP here if you are planning to attend this meeting:
http://www.fmpug.com/rsvp.php?eventID=945
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Matt O’Dell of FileMaker, Inc: The Power of Automation – Exploring Script Sequences in FileMaker Server 10
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Matt will be covering different ways of using the new FileMaker Server 10 feature of Script Sequences. This feature allows developers to schedule command line scripts in tandem with FileMaker scripts. The presentation will includes examples of setting up data files for a server import, managing performance monitoring within FileMaker, swapping a hosted file with a clone file, and more.
About the presenter:
Matt O’Dell is a Systems Engineer with FileMaker in the Northeast. He has 10+ years experience using FileMaker and building web solutions. Along with being a certified FileMaker Developer, he also is an authorized FTS trainer and a certified MySQL 5.0 developer. Prior to working for FileMaker, Matt was an application developer, trainer, tech support with Soliant Consulting in Chicago.
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Stump the Chump – Sit down with an expert for advice/troubleshooting
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The Stump the Chump session is on holiday this month.  If you’d like to be a Chump, please get in touch and I’ll slot you in; in the meantime if anyone has questions or challenges to present we’ll tackle them in roundtable fashion!
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October 29th: FREE FileMaker Seminar hosted by IT Solutions:
“Streamline Work Flow & Increase Productivity with FileMaker”
FREE iPod shuffle; eligibility details below
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Integrating fragmented data systems in an organization is one of the first steps in streamlining work flow for any organization. When the same data are entered in multiple systems, errors are inevitable. On the other hand, if all of your data reside in a single system ,but users don’t have access to it when they need it, bottlenecks can occur and work flow suffers. At IT Solutions, we’ve been working with our clients for years to increase productivity by removing road blocks in work flow. We have collected a number of different features that we’ve recently implemented in FileMaker systems and would like to share these features with you at an October 29th client seminar.
Streamline Work Flow & Increase Productivity with FileMaker will be an information-packed ½ day seminar at the Hub Cira Centre, conveniently located right next to Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. The keynote speaker for the October 29th session will be IT Solutions’ Certified FileMaker Developer/Trainer Jason Mundok and topics will include:
System Integration: connecting FileMaker to other applications in your organization
Direct Communication: messaging and alerts from within FileMaker
Indirect Communication: dynamic onscreen alerts for “at-a-glance” status reporting
Transparency: queues and filtered lists for prioritizing next action
Streamline Work Flow & Increase Productivity with FileMaker will be held from 9:30 am to noon, with registration starting at 9:00 am, followed immediately by a Starr Events-catered buffet lunch at the Hub.  IT Solutions staff will be available during lunch to answer additional questions and provide more details on any and all FileMaker topics.
The first 10 people to register themselves and a colleague from another business will get a FREE iPod shuffle. Space for the complimentary seminar is very limited so sign up as soon as possible to reserve your seat. To register quickly and easily online visit: http://www.itsolutions-inc.com/who_we_are/events2.html. For more information contact Andrea Leadbeater at andrea.leadbeater@itsolutions-inc.com or 866.PICK.ITS.
We look forward to seeing you in October!
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New FileMaker Training opportunities at IT Solutions Consulting
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IT Solutions has announced its fall Training Schedule, available here:
http://www.itsolutions-inc.com/who_we_are/events.html
In addition to our 101 and Intermediate Training offerings, we’ve added new, more focused courses so you can selectively train on particular features or technologies – all of them single day trainings, which makes them much easier to fit into a busy work schedule. If you haven’t given our course listings a look recently, it’s worth a visit.  I’m especially excited about the FileMaker-In-Action Workshop!
11/2/2009 – FileMaker 101 for FileMaker 10
11/3/2009 – 11/4/2009 – FileMaker Intermediate for FileMaker 10
11/10/2009 – FileMaker Focus Series: Data Modeling (FTS curriculum)
11/17/2009 – FileMaker Focus Series: Working with Layouts (FTS curriculum)
11/19/2009 – FTS Extras: Advanced Techniques and ESS (FTS curriculum)
12/8/2009 – FileMaker Focus Series: Calculation Functions (FTS curriculum)
12/15/2009 – FileMaker Focus Series: Scripts (FTS curriculum)
12/17/2009 – FTS Extras: FileMaker Server and Web Publishing (FTS curriculum)
Dates to be announced – FileMaker-In-Action Workshop
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FMPUG News: “The Everything Reference 3″ available as a FREE download!
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The kind folks at FMPug have made The Everything Reference 3 available for free as a PDF download. The Everything Reference series was created to bring together the most needed reference materials for FileMaker developers into a single easy-to-use source. The Everything Reference 3 is completely compatible with FileMaker 10 and includes such useful tools as a modifier key cheat sheet, Unicode charts, FileMaker error codes, a FileMaker functions quick reference, and much much more. There are even articles from some of the top names in the business, such as John Mark Osborne and Steven Blackwell.
Visit http://ref.fmpug.com/ to download your free copy today!
As a bonus, if you register to become a new FMPug member before November, you’ll receive a free PRINT version of The Everything Reference 3!   Visit http://www.fmpug.com/ to become a member.
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About the Philadelphia FileMaker User Group:
____________________________________________________________________
The Philadelphia FileMaker User Group was founded in 2004 as an initiative by FileMaker Business Alliance Platinum member IT Solutions Consulting.  The group’s goal is to provide an open forum for FileMaker developers and those interested in FileMaker to meet, brainstorm and network.
We hold meetings the 4th Tuesday of every month at 6PM, in the office of IT Solutions Consulting, Inc., at 414 Commerce Drive, Suite 150, Fort Washington PA.
Meetings are open to all, regardless of background and there’s no charge to attend.
Please subscribe to our Mailing List to get announcements on upcoming meetings. The list is set to Announce only, so the volume is typically between one and 2 emails a month.
http://fmpug.com/mailman/listinfo/philly_fmpug.com/
You can read our blog to get updates and meeting recaps:
http://www.phillyfilemaker.org/
We’re also an FMPug Chapter:  http://www.fmpug.com/  Consider membership today, especially if you purchase training, plugins, 3rd party products, or web/filemaker hosting – FMPug membership affords considerable discounts across a range of offerings.
Finally, The Philadelphia FileMaker User Group is hosted by:
IT Solutions Consulting, Inc.
Employee ownership – fueling our innovation, strengthening your business.
http://www.itsolutions-inc.com/
- Learn about our new FileMaker support offerings: FMAssist and FMAssure!
- www.itsolutions-inc.com/our_solutions/application_development/fm_assist.html
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October 27th Meeting

- Matt O’Dell of FileMaker, Inc: The Power of Automation – Exploring Script Sequences in FileMaker Server 10
— About the Presenter
- Stump the Chump on holiday!

Other News

- October 29th: FREE FileMaker Seminar from IT Solutions; iPod Shuffle giveaway (details below)
- New Training Classes from IT Solutions
- FMPug News: “The Everything Reference 3″ available to all as a FREE download, free PRINT version with new FMPug Membership
- About the Philadelphia FileMaker User Group

Continue reading ‘Join us October 27: Matt O’Dell of FileMaker, Inc. – The Power of Automation – Exploring Script Sequences in FileMaker Server 10′

Tips and Tricks: Start Script Debugger Quickly

By: Chad Sager

Have you ever been too lazy to click twice and select Tools>Script Debugger when you were about to run a script from the Script Manager? I thought so, because I am. A quick shortcut is to hold down the shift key as you click on the Run button. Voila! The Script Debugger magically opens and pauses on the first script step.

New FMPUG FileMaker Developer Group starting in Nashville TN

By: Colin Keefe

Just a quick post to mention that Bob Patin of Longterm Solutions is trying to get a local FMPug chapter going in Nashville.   “Music City FMPUG” is the name I last heard thrown around.  This is a fairly under-served region when it comes to FMPug representation, so this is a great thing for FileMaker and for Tennessee.

If you’re in the Tennessee region and are looking to hook up with other FileMaker developers, get in touch with Bob ASAP, so he can get an accurate gauge of interest level.

Bob Patin:

twitter account (bobpatin)

info@longtermsolutions.com

Free FileMaker Graphics Pack for any qualifying FileMaker 10 product

By: Colin Keefe

Just a heads-up: purchase a copy of FileMaker 10 (or 10 Advanced/Server/Server Advanced) between now and September 18, register your purchase, and you’ll get a free download link to the FileMaker Graphics Pack, a file stuffed with more than 1,000 icons to give your apps a more polished look and feel.

Details here: http://www.filemakeroffer.com/graphicspack/

Continue reading ‘Free FileMaker Graphics Pack for any qualifying FileMaker 10 product’

Thanks to Tony Celini; Design Critique and Discussion next meeting!

By: Colin Keefe

We’d like to thank Tony Celini of CAB Inc. for presenting at Tuesday’s meeting.

24 group members came by to listen in as Tony walked through an excellent case study of an integration project linking a custom FileMaker application with New Millennium’s Genesis Accounting System and World Sync’s SyncDek. He focused on three key factors for a successful project: process, controls and return on investment (ROI). These factors influenced the order in which modules were developed and provided justification for choosing certain applications over others.

Continue reading ‘Thanks to Tony Celini; Design Critique and Discussion next meeting!’

FileMaker 10 Certification Tests now available through Prometric

By: Colin Keefe

If you’re looking to pick up the latest FileMaker certification, as of today you can register for the 10 certification test through Prometric.  If you’re an in house developer, it’s a great way to emphasize your value to your organization; if you’re a freelance developer, certification these days is a tremendous help when making sales pitches to help establish credentials and authority. 

The FileMaker Training Series is an excellent way to prepare for your exam.  And we at IT Solutions offer the FTS as part of our training curricula.  Our next training date is August 3-6, 2009; price is $1499  - with a 10% discount for paid-up FMPug members.  More here:

http://www.itsolutions-inc.com/who_we_are/event_datesFTS.html

We're soliciting presentation proposals

By: Colin Keefe

We’re going to have an open presentation slot in July, and then September through the rest of the year.

If you’re interested in presenting, please get in touch with me.  We’ll consider any topic that fits the interests of the group.

Best, Colin Keefe

colin.keefe@itsolutions-inc.com

Join us May 26th: "FileMaker 10 In Action"; Jason Mundok of IT Solutions presents

By: Colin Keefe

 

Greetings FileMaker Enthusiasts,

Our next Philadelphia FileMaker User Group meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, May 26th 2009 at 6:00 PM.  

The meeting will be held at the IT Solutions Fort Washington Office:

+  414 Commerce Dr., Suite 150, Fort Washington, PA 19034
+  Google Map: http://tinyurl.com/37mhhh

____________________________________________________________________

Jason Mundok from IT Solutions: “FileMaker 10 in Action”
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Continue reading ‘Join us May 26th: "FileMaker 10 In Action"; Jason Mundok of IT Solutions presents’