The Context Podcast: Recent Episodes
Todd Geist
This podcast is about workplace innovation through technology, with a special focus on Claris FileMaker and the Claris Community.
Featuring:
- Andrew Lecates, Chief Product Owner for Claris FileMaker
- Todd Geist
- Ernest Koe
- Corn Walker
Description:
Get ready for a special new episode of The Context Podcast! Join us as we sit down with our special guest, Andrew Lecates, Chief Product Owner for Claris FileMaker. In this episode, we discuss Claris's strategic shift towards a refocused Claris platform as Claris prepares to transition Claris Pro functionally into the FileMaker line, and deprecate Claris Pro (including Claris Go, Claris WebDirect, and Claris Server).
Corn Walker, Todd Geist, and Ernest Koe delve into the fascinating realm of technology and AI as it relates to the Claris platform, both present and future, while also gaining insights into Andrew's new role and its implications. We also dig into the seamless integration of FileMaker, Connect, and Studio, and unpack the implications for the platform. Plus, stay tuned for some sneak peeks into the exciting plans for Claris Engage 2024.
Check out all the changes Claris is making here: https://content.claris.com/claris-community-products-roadmap-proof+geist
You can also find this podcast on YouTube.
Featuring:
- Martha Zink
- Todd Geist
- Chris Rogers
Description:
In this episode of The Context Podcast, Martha Zink and Todd Geist from Proof+Geist sit down with a special guest, Chris Rogers, the mastermind behind TourPro—a revolutionary software shaking up the dance event management scene. In this episode, Chris takes us on a journey through his remarkable transition from building a small side project to the creation of TourPro, a game-changing event registration and management tool for dance enthusiasts.
With approximately 1,000 events a year, Chris and his team have mastered the art of making a complex technical product accessible to non-technical users. As Chris puts it, he's got "enough knowledge to be dangerous with FileMaker," and he's using that power to empower event organizers worldwide.
What sets TourPro apart is its clever design—a user-friendly mobile app that lets you run events offline, keeping things seamless and efficient even without an internet connection. Chris dives into the technical magic that allows users to operate within the app, and then sync up once they're back online. Join us in this episode as we explore Chris Rogers's journey, laugh at relatable anecdotes, and gain valuable insights into the world of innovative software creation. Stay tuned, because this episode is your backstage pass to the captivating world of TourPro and the brilliant mind behind it.
You can find this podcast on YouTube or your favorite podcasting platform.
Links:
https://tourprosoftware.com/
Featuring:
Todd Geist
Cris Ippolite
Description:
In this episode of The Context Podcast, join Proof+Geist CTO, Todd Geist and Cris Ippolite, founder of iSolutions, as they dive into the fascinating impacts that AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) are having on our industry in general, and the FileMaker community in particular.
Cris was an early proponent of using Machine Learning and AI with FileMaker. In fact, this is the third time we have had Cris on the pod to discuss this topic. The first was Episode 34, back in May of 2020, and the second time was Episode 71 in September of 2021 – way before ChatGPT was a thing. Now that LLMs and ChatGPT are the elephants in the FileMaker room, we thought it would be a good idea to have Cris back on the Podcast for an updated conversation on what this all might mean for how we do our jobs, and solve problems for our customers with our favorite platform.
Hear how Cris and Todd think AI might revolutionize the way we build applications and systems with FileMaker, while preserving the essence of creative thinking. They discuss the upcoming Apple WWDC 2023 conference on June 5th, and their expectations on how Apple will shape the trajectory of AI. Plus, get an introduction to Proof+Geist's Front Radar Plugin—and stay tuned for the upcoming blog post on that.
Featuring:
Martha Zink, The Context Podcast Host & Proof+Geist Director of Marketing
Todd Geist, Proof+Geist Co-Founder/CTO
Matt Navarre, FileMaker Talks Co-Host
Episode Summary:
Join Martha Zink, Todd Geist, and Matt Navarre from the FileMaker Talks podcast as they discuss changes coming to FileMaker, the Claris Platform, and strategies that businesses can use to benefit from the changes.
Description:
In September, Claris announced that the Claris FileMaker platform would shift to the cloud, making it more accessible and powerful.
This new platform can be used to create rich UIs and apps for public-facing client and customer portals, which was previously only possible with custom web publishing. This is what we think of as Modern FileMaker.
For those who need to use previous versions, they’ll be maintained for a while longer.
Learn more in this episode of the Context Podcast. Available on Transistor.FM and Youtube.
Other Links:
Claris Webinar Recap
Claris Webinar Link
FileMaker Talks Podcast
Join Martha Zink, Todd Geist, and Matt Navarre in this episode for a crossover podcast with 1 of the 2 Matts from the FileMaker Chat podcast. They discuss events led by the FileMaker Community, including AutoEnter Live and PauseOnError.
You can also view this podcast on Youtube.
Links:
AutoEnter Live
Rome FileMaker Week
PauseOnError
EngageU
In this episode, join Ernest Koe and Martha Zink as they discuss the design thinking methodologies that informed Mizu, how it complements the modern FileMaker concept, and how the context of evolving user interface design and engineering principles will continue to shape Mizu’s iterations.
What is Mizu (水)? It’s a material-inspired, lightweight FileMaker theme and helper file for FileMaker developers. Mizu is part of an overall design system at Proof+Geist that emphasizes the use of underlying structures (grids), design patterns, and reusable components to enable more consistent, collaborative work.
Join our hosts as they cover topics like:
- What is ‘capital D’ Design and how is it foundational to the modern FileMaker concept?
- How can Mizu make your mental load lighter by taking on the UI, and why does that help development?
- How can constraints help remove friction in your development process?
You can also find the video version of this podcast on YouTube.
Other Links:
- Mizu on Proof+Geist GitHub
- Proof+Geist on GitHub
The Context Podcast: Expanding the Possibilities of Modular & Decoupled Development with OData
Featuring:
- Martha Zink, The Context Podcast Host & Proof+Geist Director of Marketing
- Todd Geist, Proof+Geist Co-Founder/CTO
- John Renfrew, Independent Developer & Owner
Episode Summary:
The recent release of FileMaker 19.5 introduced a new feature for those with FileMaker Server for Mac and Windows: OData (Open Data Protocol). Originally created by Microsoft, OData is an open protocol that allows for the creation and consumption of queryable and interoperable REST APIs in a simple and standard way.
Description:
The recent release of FileMaker 19.5 introduced a new feature for those with FileMaker Server for Mac and Windows: OData (Open Data Protocol). Originally created by Microsoft, OData is an open protocol that allows for the creation and consumption of queryable and interoperable REST APIs in a simple and standard way.
In this episode, join Martha, Todd, and John as they explore OData and its many wide-ranging impacts: What benefits – efficiency gains, programming ergonomics, and scalability – does OData offer? How does OData compare to and improve upon other methodologies like the Data API, ODBC, and PSOS? Before diving into OData, what are some tradeoffs and cautions we should consider? And perhaps most centrally, how does OData open a door to new ways of modular and decoupled development in modern FileMaker?
You can also view this Podcast on Youtube.
Links:
OData Documentation
FileMaker 19.5 Release
The Context Podcast: New Features in FileMaker 19.5
Featuring:
- Martha Zink
- Todd Geist
- Angelo Luchi
FileMaker 19.5 comes with hundreds of bug fixes–some of them small, and some of them game-changing. In this episode of The Context Podcast, join your host Martha Zink in conversation with Todd Geist and Angelo Luchi as they discuss these various changes. Hear about new support for Unbuntu 20.04, added OAuth performance, Live Text integration on macOS, and important Data Migration Tool changes— just to name a few things. Dive into the conversation as they go over the 400+ bug fixes and various changes in FileMaker 19.5.
You can also watch this podcast on Youtube.
Other Links:
- FMComparison came out with a new version and all licenses are reset so anyone can run a new free trial even if you already have before! Check out the new version here.
- FileMaker 19.5 Release Notes.
- Check out our previous podcast: Protecting Your Data Hosted with FileMaker Server.
Martha Zink, The Context Podcast Host & Proof+Geist Director of Marketing
Angelo Luchi, Proof+Geist Director of Infrastructure
Todd Geist, Proof+Geist Co-Founder/CTO
From the outside, hosting with FileMaker Server can seem simple and straightforward. But behind the scenes, there’s a whole lot more going on! Whether you’re hosting on-premise or in the cloud, on your own or through a hosting provider, it’s important to keep a few things in mind to protect your data and your business from risks. Ransomware or malware attacks, accidental or intentional internal threats, file corruption, and various data center, network, or internet issues can jeopardize not only your mission-critical data, but potentially your business as a whole. Join Martha, Angelo, and Todd in this episode as they share their experiences and recommendations around backups, monitoring, documentation, and access/user management that can help safeguard against costly risks to your data and your business.
General Links:
- The Context Podcast: Ransomware For Claris FileMaker Developers (Featuring Wim Decorte, Heidi Porter, and Chris Moyer)
- Ottomatic
- Otto
S3-compatible immutable offsite backup providers/services:
- AWS
- Wasabi
- Backblaze
Network/infrastructure monitoring tools/platforms:
- AWS CloudWatch
- Zabbix
- New Relic
- ZeroTier
Deployment platforms:
- Linux
Documentation tools:
- ClickUp
- BookStack
Peter Nelson, Claris Vice President of Engineering
Andrew LeCates, Claris Director of Platform Evangelism
Martha Zink, The Context Podcast Host & Proof+Geist Director of Marketing
Ernest Koe, Proof+Geist Co-Founder/CEO
Todd Geist, Proof+Geist Co-Founder/CTO
On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, Claris hosted a webinar on the future of their technology. In this episode of The Context Podcast, Martha, Ernest, and Todd are joined by Peter Nelson and Andrew LeCates from Claris to discuss not only the exciting changes in store for the Claris platform that were unveiled in the webinar but also the intention and focus behind those decisions and the implications for the Claris platform in the years to come.
Links:
Claris Updates Webinar - April 26, 2022
The Context Podcast on the Modern FileMaker Revolution
Problem Solvers Circle
PauseOnError
AutoEnter Live
Martha Zink, The Context Podcast Host & Proof+Geist Director of Marketing
Todd Geist, Proof+Geist Co-Founder/CTO
John Renfrew, Independent Developer in the UK & Proof+Geist Affiliate
As the FileMaker platform grows and changes over time, so too will our views, approaches, and recommendations. In this episode, Martha, Todd, and John explore multi-file solutions from a broader perspective. As Todd and John posit, contrary to what most might expect, the number of files in a system is not a good proxy for how complex the system is – a complex system can comprise one file, just as a simple system can comprise multiple files. Also, optimizing systems and workflows using multi-file solutions – in doing so, breaking free from the ‘everything-in-one-file’ mindset – allows for an iterative approach to development that measurably improves and rebuilds systems with new models over time.
Join Martha, Todd, and John in this episode as they re-envision best practices and delve into how multi-file solutions and the FileMaker platform can help us build value in new and better ways.
This podcast is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/RQQcA5T8R-k
Corn Walker’s presentation (FMDiSC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dztdZrHdrUQ
Otto, Superpowers for your FileMaker Server: https://www.ottofms.com
Ottomatic, A Modern FileMaker Hosting Platform: https://www.ottomatic.cloud
LedgerLink: https://www.geistinteractive.com/products/filemaker-quickbooks-online-ledgerlink/
FMPerception: https://www.geistinteractive.com/products/fmperception-fast-filemaker-analysis/
(Audio updated with improved post-production: 03/14/22. Thank you all for your feedback and patience. Live, learn, adjust.)
*The Modern FileMaker Revolution*
Featuring:
Martha Zink, Host & Director of Marketing of Proof+Geist
Ernest Koe, Co-Founder/CEO at Proof+Geist
Todd Geist, Co-Founder/CTO at Proof+Geist
What is the ‘modern FileMaker revolution’? How can vast networks of apps, tools, persistence layers, databases, experiences, workflows, and more be leveraged to create value using Claris FileMaker, the platform we love?
In this episode, Martha, Ernest, and Todd discuss how Proof+Geist is redefining FileMaker in the context of today’s business needs, modern development practices, and a rapidly changing technical landscape.
Highlighting the growing shift toward a more decoupled, lightweight approach to development, Ernest and Todd share how a new set of ideas, skills, and technologies are directly informing how we build value using FileMaker today.
Links:
- Otto – Superpowers for FileMaker Server
- Ottomatic – the modern FileMaker hosting platform
- Working with JSON functions in FileMaker
More information about Ransomware.
- https://www.knowbe4.com/ransomware
- Methods of attack: https://attack.mitre.org/
- Email attack example: https://youtu.be/v-ITcpD1KcQ
- https://www.nomoreransom.org/en/index.html
- https://www.cisa.gov/stopransomware
- https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ccips/file/872771/download
- https://www.nsi.org/2021/02/15/employee-cyber-security-awareness-ransomware-wave/
- https://www.coveware.com/blog/ransomware-marketplace-report-q4-2020
- https://www.cybereason.com/hubfs/dam/collateral/ebooks/Cybereason_Ransomware_Research_2021.pdf
- https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CISA_MS-ISAC_Ransomware%20Guide_S508C.pdf
knowbe4.com
Ransomware | KnowBe4
Ransomware history, prevention tips, removal, FAQs, information on different strains, current news and KnowBe4's ransomware guarantee. (422 kB)
https://www.knowbe4.com/ransomware
YouTube | Kaspersky
How does a computer become infected with ransomware?
The No More Ransom Project
Home | The No More Ransom Project
Ransomware is malware that locks your computer and mobile devices or encrypts your electronic files. When this happens, you can’t get to the data unless you pay a ransom. However, this is not guaranteed and you should never pay!
cisa.gov
Stop Ransomware | CISA
TIPS & GUIDANCE Ransomware incidents can severely impact business processes and leave organizations without the data they need to operate and deliver mission-critical services. The economic and reputational impacts of ransomware incidents, throughout the initial disruption and, at times, extended recovery, have also proven challenging for organizations large and small.
If you get hit, you can try available decryptors
- https://noransom.kaspersky.com
- https://www.avast.com/en-gb/ransomware-decryption-tools
- https://www.emsisoft.com/ransomware-decryption-tools/
- https://www.nomoreransom.org/en/decryption-tools.html
Reach out to PauseOnError through their website.
Listen to the previous episodes about PauseOnError 2021.
Reflections Ep 1
Reflections Ep 2
Reflections Ep 3
Ryan Gold is an Application Developer at Proof+Geist.
Becca Ingram-Bryant works at Seedcode.
Taylor Sharpe is President of TMS Software, LLC.
Kimberly Carlson US Regional General Manager for Direct Impact Solutions
Today these four people join us:
Steven Ritchie of Proof+Geist.
Heidi Porter & Chris Moyer of The Moyer Group
Mike Ross of Ross Digital, LLC
Heidi mentioned the book The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain, by Annie Murphy Paul. It's a great read. Pick it up here or at your local bookstore.
Makah works at Soliant Consulting and has recently spoken at Claris Engage Beyond.
Jonn Howell is an inhouse developer. You can find him all throughout the community.
John Newoff is at Portage Bay Solutions.
Information about ProofEDU is found here.
Our topics today include:
1. The Party Model (see below for relevant links)
2. Table Hopping Performance issues.
3. PubSub
Here's some great Party Model discussion links:
- FMBUG 59: Damon Casey presents
- Dave Graham shares in a recent FileMaker DevCon
- Geist Interactive's implementation of the Party Model
- The definitive guide to Party Model
Did you know FileMaker has been featured in sports? Specifically an app built by today's guest appeared all around that world as one of the best apps in a particular segment. This amazing feat, making predictions about how individual players in the league would do garnered a lot of attention from inside the league and outside. And now Claris has featured the app in a great video highlighting how this app performed so well.
Cris Ippolite from iSolutions joins me today to talk Machine Learning in FileMaker. He's worked extensively with this idea, first as a hobby and now as part of what he does to use the Claris FileMaker platform to make predictions about all sorts of things. In this episode, Cris and I talk about how Machine learning works, what we can do with it, and its implications. He gives us many examples; I even stumble on some of those, and we discuss how machine learning is used all around us.
Cris also shares the story behind this powerful prediction model he's built that has been featured in many places.
Machine Learning is a powerful and exciting/scary tool. And Cris is here to highlight the power and the scariness.
Links:
The Claris Video highlighting Cris' application
Cris Ippolite at iSolutions
iSolutions Links
- Core ML and FileMaker
AI Examples:
- Open AI
- GitHub Co-Pilot
You can start using the JS Dev Environment here, found here: https://github.com/proofgeist/js-dev-environment
And a blog post describing its purpose: https://www.geistinteractive.com/2021/06/29/writing-js-better-for-fm/
Jason Young at Seedcode talks about how to work with a JS Dev environment in WebDirect here: https://www.seedcode.com/filemaker-19-hosted-webviewer-add-on/
Here's the link for the Office Hours: https://calendly.com/jeremy-evangelist/js-dev-environment-office-hours
The FileMaker platform keeps introducing new ways to send and receive data from other files or from another service. IN the latest versions, oData was introduced. Many developers think the use of oData now is a game changer.
Our Guest, John Renfrew, gives us all the details about oData and makes it clear it is a game changer. At first it seemed kind of scary and new and incomprehensible, but his clear description of its strengths and uses demystifies this new feature. At the end of this episode, I personally, realized OData's potential and decided, indeed, it is a game changer.
John is here to let us know that FileMaker developers of every experience level can have success in using Odata to perform all manner of record-related tasks. I'm glad he was able to clear up the new feature for me.
Read the OData Spec here
Steve Senft-Herrera at Beezwax shares examples and ideas with OData.
Part 1
Part 2
In this episode we speak about the JavaScript library JSONata.
Kevin Frank is found at kevinfrank.com and fileMakerhacks.com
The query language we're working with is called JSONata.
Check out Kevin's post: FileMaker 19 + JSONata
Check out Jeremy's post: Towards a Better JS Development Environment
Kevin used data from restcountries.eu
The JSON exerciser is a useful tool for the query language.
And of course, json.org is a vital site for us to visit and read.
Today’s episode involves no technical content about FileMaker. We’re not gonna talk about virtual lists or repeating fields or even javaScript. Instead, we talk about how to run a FileMaker business by the leader of one of the longest running and award winning fileMaker consultant shops in the world. David Knight, founder and CEO of Angel City Data joins me today to share how his company has lasted all these years with some impressive statistics. His simple-to-understand and yet powerful philosophy–the four Cs–guides all that happens in his business. Along with those four Cs, he share other insights and mindsets all those at Angel City Data share. David’s guiding principles must be effective, and he gladly shares them with us.
David is part of FMDisc. Their past meetings are found here. Join the Meetup and attend where ever you're at.
Andy talks with us about the following topics:
INTRO: 00:01:12
Community & Learning: 00:10:21
Claris Engage Beyond: 00:54:08
Claris' Agile Process: 01:13:24
You can find more info about Claris Engage Beyond here.
We mention some great learning resources:
RC Consulting and Productive Computing, But there are many more out there!
Our main goal as Claris FileMaker developers is to solve problems for clients or for ourselves. Our secondary goal is to build systems which perform very well. Of course “perform very well” is subjective. For one client, a technique may perform well, but for another one, the technique is slow and untenable. Though it has different meanings for different contexts, performance should be on the top of our heads as we develop.
NIck Lightbody joins us to lend his experience and perspective to this idea of Performance. For most of his career he’s spent exploring the ideas of performance for apps. Starting with, of all things, developing for iOS, he’s played with techniques that he’s found keep performance high throughout the entire development process. Let’s explore his perspective about keeping FileMaker apps running smoothly.
Links:
This episode is brought to you by FMPerception.
Nick's extensive forum posts are found here.
If you have a performance issue, you can reach out to the community to report an issue.
This episode is brought to you by Otto. Join Dave Graham for Office Hours, learning more about Otto.
If you choose to learn another technology, JavaScript is a great thing to learn.
Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Say hi, and give your feedback on Apple Podcasts. Email us at thecontextpodcast@proofgeist.com for episode topic ideas and to be a part of the conversation on the podcast.
Today's episode is brought to you by FMPerception.
HEre's a list of the stuff we mentioned:
Modular FileMaker
Claus' episode on Modular FileMaker
React and React Training
Seedcode's articles on JavaScript and Web viewer work in WebDirect
Today's episode is brought to you by FMPerception (and FMComparison)
Download the 14-day trial (macOS & Windows) and see how intelligent it makes you (about your FileMaker files).
And sign up for FMPerception Office Hours, every Thursday at 4pm EST. Stay as long as you want.
Kate Waldhauser, Development Lead at Portage Bay Solutions. Follow them on Twitter
Her Claris Connect user group is found here. Check there for monthly meetings. Next one is March 17,2021.
Tony White is at twdesigns.com
Check out Tony's infographics and other resources.
And follow him on Twitter.
Here's the resources you can use to find local (or across-the-world) user groups:
Tony White's source, and here's a list of the user groups Tony is a part of.
Chis Moyer of the Moyer Group's list
Check out the new Claris Connect user group
Finally you can find a list of events here at Claris' website
Today's episode is brought to you by Proof+Hosting (the + is silent). Email us at info@proofgeist.com for more info.
Molly Connolly of Thorsen Consulting joins me.
Molly has used many hosting providers in her time depending on her clients' needs. Here's a list of the ones she mentioned:
Soliant.Cloud
FMPHost
360Works
And here's more Claris FileMaker 3rd-party hosting providers. Click on "Hosting" to see those companies that offer this service.
Follow us at ProofGeist on Twitter, ProofGeist on LinkedIn
And follow Jeremy Brown
This Episode is brought to you by FMPerception and FMComparison.
Jake Johnson is Director of Design at Angel City Data.
Stuff we talk about:
Apple Human Interface Guidelines
No UI: how to build Transparent Interaction
Today's episode is brought to you by FMPerception and its companion product FMComparison (in beta, for registered users of FMPerception).
Here's the pieces we point out:
Communities:
Claris FileMaker Community (and all the JS questions)
The FMSoup
FMForums
Social Media:
FB FileMaker Pro Users/Developers Group
FB FileMaker UI Design Group
FB FileMaker Pro Tips Group
Follow us on Twitter
Podcasts:
The Context Podcast
Fireside FileMaker
FileMaker Talk
Off The Record
Partner Videos & Blogs:
Productive Computing's Add-on Videos
FileMaker Magazine
Appworks FileMaker Cool Tricks
Soliant Consulting Blog
DayBack Calendar by Seedcode
Claris Platform:
FIleMaker 19's FIrst Open Release
Add-ons
FileMaker 19 New Features
Claris Engineer Blog
Claris Engage:
AutoEnter (read about it here)
Claris Engage videos (panel and onDemand sessions)
Claris Engage Lessons Learned
Today's episode is brought to you by Otto.
John Sindelar of SeedCode joins us today to talk about DayBack Calendar
Here's the video of John and Todd coding. It's a highlight reel of three days of coding.
Check out Pause on Error's Suitcase Protocol
John Sindelar is CEO of SeedCode, makers of the DayBack Calendar (a new version for FileMaker 19!)
Kimberly Carlson is President of AppWorks.
Stephan Casas is found in the Claris Community. Follow him there.
This episode is brought to you by LedgerLink.
Check out the Add-ons blog post series starting here:
And review videos about them from Claris.
We have an entire framework that you can use to create add-ons.
And we have some JS utilities you can use in your own work.
My three guests today are
Michael Layne CTO of Gearbox Solutions Find him on Twitter or LinkedIn
Mary McCassey of Butterfield Technologies Inc.
Andrew Duncan of Databuzz
Check out FMComparison.
It is in beta, and is free now and forever for licensed users of FMPerception.
Follow FMPerception on Twitter.
Follow Dave Ramsey on Twitter.
Check out Dave's Podcast with Joe Simpson: https://project-update.com/
Today's episode is brought to you by FMPerception
Wim participated in two panels during Claris Engage.
Check out Soliant's Cloud Services
Wim and others at Soliant have written much about this topic.
This week's episode is brought to you by LedgerLink
Check out Andrew Duncan at Databuzz.com.au. Take a look at his products and services.
Claris Engage 2020 is over, but the good times and reminiscing is not. We at Geist Interactive are still celebrating the event with a once-in-a-year 20% off Sale. Check it out.
Todd spoke in two sessions. His first was on JS and Add-ons. His second was a panel about add-ons. They're found in the Claris Academy
The Solving FM Use Cases with JavaScript on-demand sessions (9 videos) is up now in the Claris Academy. Find "Engage On-Demand" and click on the "Integration" section.
Stephen Dolenski and Steven H. Blackwell 's paper called: The NEw Add-on Feature: Caveats, Cautions, and Nuances 1.0.1 . There's a lot of great info here about what to consider.
My guests today are
Stathis Askaridis of Sicoa
Will Loving of Dedication Technologies, Inc
Deborah Zempel of Deborah Zempel Consulting
The learning resources these folks mentioned are:
- John Mark Osborne of Database Pros and Philosophy of FileMaker
- Matt Petrowsky of Filemaker Magazine
- Geist Interactive
- The Support Group
- The FileMaker Training Series
Allison works at Skeleton Key
Ignasi is found in FMForums
Mike works at MainSpring
The learning resources mentioned include:
- Productive Computing's PCU
- The old FileMaker Training Series (beloved by many)
- The Claris Community (long ago called "The Technet"
- And for historical reference: Susan Prosser's Missing Manual book series.
This episode is brought to you by LedgerLink.
Here's the question Jeremy asked a long time ago.
The book Database Design for Mere Mortals is an excellent read about all things data Structure.
This episode is brought to you by Otto.
Claus Lavendt is part of Datamanix. Follow them on Twitter
He has a new free tool called DM InsertText Helper
Apple's Human Interface Guidelines are found here.
GoZync and other products try to solve the syncing process, but it is still hard.
Alexis Allen talked with us previously about Workflow based design.
Here's some good resources about FileMaker Go:
- FileMaker Go 19 Development Guide
- NFC on FileMaker Go from Skeleton Key
- NFC Scanning with FileMaker Go From Soliant Consulting
- iSolutions and CoreML
Mike Duncan works at Soliant Consulting
David Wilkstrom runs CamelCase Data
Beverly Voth is very active in the community. Follow her. She's got lots of great knowledge.
Today's episode is brought to you by LedgerLink.
In a very old video, Todd talks about Selector Connector.
Jason Young of Seedcode also worked out Selector Connector.
We use our Karbon Framework, which supports the idea of separation of concerns and business / UI logic.
This episode is brought to you by FMPerception. Check it out. Download the 14-day trial and see how awesome it works in FileMaker 19.
Todd is leading a webinar for Claris on JavaScript and Add-ons. You can register to join one of the two sessions here:
Cris, of iSolutions, brought us a lot of information, and he's done a lot of work on the topics of Shortcuts and NFC. Check out his youtube channel.
Check out his links:
- iBeacons
- NFC Read/Write app
- NFC Tags
- Siri Shortcuts Youtube Video
- NFC Youtube Video
- NFC for iPhone
- LinkedInLearning: FileMaker 19 and Shortcuts
- LinkedInLearning: FileMaker 19 and NFC
Thomas and Teresa Mokwa are of Pro File Developers
Jesse Roberts owns and runs N2O Solutions
Greg Lane is Vice President of Skeleton Key
Today's episode is brought to you by LedgerLink.
We've got a lot of information coming up about the topics covered in this episode. Stay tuned to Geist Interactive's blog site for those posts.
Here's some details and learning resources (more to come at www.geistinteractive.com):
- JavaScript contains Synchronous and Asynchronous functions.
- The new FileMaker.PerformScript() function is only available on the window.
- https://www.1-more-thing.com/javascript-performscript/
- A community post about JavaScript running asynchronously.
- A community post about making sure the FileMaker object is loaded.
- FMwutils library.
Todd will be leading a webinar about JavaScript for Claris.
Modernize your apps with data visualization, maps, calendars and more.
Open up a new universe with Claris FileMaker apps and JavaScript. Learn why JavaScript is such a good fit for the Claris FileMaker 19 open platform. See several compelling business examples, and find out how you will be able to use JavaScript add-ons for things like kanban boards, calendars, photo editors, animated graphics, and more. The possibilities are virtually endless.
Best of all, you don’t need to know JavaScript.
You will learn:
• What JavaScript brings to the Claris FileMaker.
• The advantages of FileMaker custom apps built with JavaScript add-ons vs. SasS alternatives.
• How to get started with helpful resources.
Join us for this 45-minute webinar lead by Todd Geist, Geist Interactive, a Platinum Claris Partner. The presentation will include an overview, demo, and a Q&A session.
Note: this presentation will be in English only.
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Duration: 45 minutes
Times: 8:00 AM PT, 11:00 AM ET, 3:00 PM GMT, 17:00 CET
RSVP now >
https://content.claris.com/amr-webinar-fm-javascript-06232020-reg-8am
Times: 4:00 PM PT, 7:00 PM ET, 9:00 AM AEST (Wednesday, June 24, 2020)
RSVP now >
https://content.claris.com/amr-webinar-fm-javascript-06232020-reg-4pm
Makah, Martha, Sara, Alycia, and Anastasia all are at Soliant Consulting.
Anastasia came to the platform through 42 Silicon Valley.
This episode is brought to you by FMPerception.
We've written about the FileMaker Execute Data API script step to return records or to get metaData.
And We've written about how to create add-ons.
Kristine Anmark is part of SquareMoon in Stockholm, Sweden.
Josh Willing is found in the Claris Community.
Mark Richman is founder and CEO of Skeleton Key.
Other Links:
LinkedIn Learning (Lynda.com)
Database Pros (John Mark Osborne)
This episode is brought to you by FMPerception.
Cris Ippolite is our guest. He's the Founder / Head Coach / Trainer of iSolutions.
Cris has courses on LinkedIn Learning. Check those out to learn more about Claris FileMaker 19.
Things we talked about:
1. Todd's thoughts on the Open Platform Release.
2. Blog post the Perform FileMaker Data API script step, as it returns records in JSON or metaData.
3. CoreML at Apple.
This episode is brought to you and completely about FMPerception.
Dave Ramsey is found at on Twitter.
We also wrote about FMPerception's latest features here.
Today's episode is brought to you by FMPerception, which is ready for FileMaker 19!
Todd writes up his thoughts about this new open platform. Check those out here.
Jason Creager is of Geist Interactive.
Lisette Wilson is the CEO of Informing Designs.
Bryn Behrenshausen works in-house and is in the Claris Community.
Today's origin stories comes from:
- Sarah Stickfort
- Barb Levine
- Dave Graham
We mention the WITFm Claris Engage Scholarship
Sarah is working on integrating Dayback and LedgerLink together
Dave's working on learning JavaScript and our API First mentality.
Here's a list of what we talked about:
Cris Ippolite of iSolutions
42 Silicon Valley
Dave Sullivan
Send an email to info@geistinteractive.com to set up a time to share your origin story.
Ping Jeremy via Twitter to set up an interview time.
Here's some things we talked about in the episode:
Concepts of FileMaker
The first JavaScript article I read by Mike Duncan
The Web Viewer Integrations file I wrote many years ago, and my current writing on JavaScript.
The Claris Community including FileMaker Today, FMForums, FMSoup.
Say hi to Jeremy on Twitter.
Josh Ormond is also on Twitter.
Mark Baum can be reached at mbaum@soliantconsulting.com and in the Claris Community.
Jonn Howell runs a Presentation Coaching Meet up.
Mark's FileMaker DevCon 2019 session, of which we raved about the demo file, can be found here. Check that out.
Claris International put out a blog post describing their response.
join::table also described their joint initiative.
Use Social Media to reach out to folks who are fighting this pandemic on the front lines. Reach out to people you know and let them know the Claris community is available for them.
Today's episode is brought to you by FMPerception.
John Renfrew is found on Twitter. Everyone tweet at him and say hi.
John mentioned the Myers Briggs personality test and the Strengths Finder test.
Here's some great blog posts from which you can get great sample files:
- Geist Interactive
- Soliant Consulting
- Seedcode
- DBServices
- MainSpring
- FileMaker Magazine
... and many more. In a future episode, we'll do a review of those sites and more.
This episode is brought to you by Otto: Automatic Server-to-Server File Migration
Alexis' website is: https://www.fmdesignuniversity.com/
Her new Facebook Page is: FileMaker UI/UX Design Community
She was interviewed for Claris, International recently.
Alexis spoke about Workflow Based Design at the last FileMaker DevCon. Breaking Out lof List and Form View: Workflow-Based Design for the Modern World.
Other Sessions:
The Math of Visual Design: FileMaker DevCon 2016
This episode is brought to you by FMPerception.
More about Claris Connect is found here.
Download the 15-day trial.
Mike Beargie, Senior Application Developer and Product Manager of MainSpring was our guest today.
Mike will speak at Pause on Error at the end of March, 2020 about Claris Connect and will hopefully also speak at Claris Engage.
He's part of the two Facebook FileMaker user groups: FileMaker Pro Users/Developers and FileMaker Pro Tips
This episode is brought to you by: FMPerception
Matt's Previous DevCon SessionsBuilding Prototypes
Building Polished Interfaces: Hands on Lab
Resources
A Book Apart
Apple Interface Guidelines
Android Guidelines
Resources for PrototypingAdobe XD
Paper / Pens
Figma: Collaborative online interface design tool
Mural: online tool for digital whiteboard with post-its
Service Blueprint
Journey Maps
Adobe Color
WITfm exists to provide visibility, community, and resources for women involved in FileMaker development, services, and business.
Their scholarship fund is designed to pay for the registration and hotel for up to four women who've never attended the conference.
Please consider donating to the scholarship fund so that more women and attend Claris Engage for the first time.
This episode is brought to you by Otto
This episode is also brought to you by the Geist Interactive Team. Reach out and let us rebuild your app!
This episode is brought to you by FMPerception: The only Real-Time Developer Intelligence tool out there.
Follow Ernest Koe on Twitter. His company is The Proof Group.
Here's what we talk about:
1. Virtual Offices
2. Search and Find (from Ernest's DevCon 2019 session).
3. Let FileMaker be what FileMaker is.
4. Which is a better word to use: App or System or Distributed apps?
And a bunch of other stuff.
Online Forums:
Join the FileMaker Community here.
Join the FM Forums here.
The FBA (FileMaker Business Alliance) is now the Claris Partner Program. Consider joining here.
Beverly Mentions her FileMaker Mentors:
- John Mark Osborne @ Database Pros
- Dr. Ray Cologon @ NightWing Enterprises
- Wim Decorte @ Soliant Consulting
- Kevin Frank @ FileMakerHacks
Beverly has written many posts at FileMakerHacks.com
Beverly published a book: FileMaker Pro 6 Developer's Guide to XML/XSL.
Check out Spikeball here.
Logan spoke at FileMaker DevCon 2019. His session is found here.
Logan talks about using the Insert from URL script step. Check out our handling of the set up of this step.
Paul Jansen's website: https://apjuk.com/
Kevin Frank at https://filemakerhacks.com/
Kevin's blog post of all the Virtual List posts:
This episode is brought to you by Otto: Automatic Server to Server File Migration
The last FileMaker DevCon happened in 2019, and the conference we’ve attended for many years is no more. Instead, Claris International brings us Claris Engage in August 2020, a conference where the theme is digital transformation using FileMaker, Claris Connect and everything else to which we can connect. Rosemary Tiege, Head of Community at Claris International sits with me today to talk about Claris Engage. She shares how the conference moving forward is different than DevCon. She also talks about Claris Engage speaker submissions. Rosemary shares with us what they are looking for in speaker proposals and what makes a successful session. And finally we discuss the community: its scope and its future.
The Geist Interactive team: Todd Geist, Dave Graham, Jeremy Brown, Barbara Cooney, and Jason Creager have a holiday party virtually. We talk holiday traditions and what we've learned and what we're ready for next year.
Visit One Spark Academy to view their mission statement, to see great pictures of life at the academy, and to watch a great video about the learning environment.
Donate on their web page or click here.
Here are other ways you can help.
- Become a “Friend of One Spark” with a monthly contribution of any amount.
- Shop on Amazon Smile. Same Amazon, but a small % goes back to your charity of choice. To sign up, enter One Spark Foundation Inc (Newbury Park).
This is just a short little update regarding the podcast. No we're not retiring. Instead, we are excited about what's happened so far with this podcast, and we're ready for more.
This episode is brought to you by Otto.
ON Twitter:
Follow Todd @toddgeist
Follow Jeremy @JLBmagic
Pick up the book Digital Transformation by Thomas Siebel
Todd talks in detail about the FileMaker Product Roadmap.
The beta for Claris Connect is now open. Complete this form to request access.
To request access to the FileMaker ETS Program, email ets@claris.com.
Today's episode is brought to you by: Geist Interactive Implementation Packages
Kevin Frank of filemakerhacks.com
Here's a list of posts from the site we mentioned.
Magic Key: Part 1, Part 2
Thinking about JSON
Virtual Lists
Determining if Two Date Ranges Overlap from Soliant Consulting.
Today's Episode is brought to you by Otto.
The FileMaker Product Roadmap webinar is found here.
We discussed the following topics.
JSON: Here are the JSON specs
XML: Beverly Voth's book
ODBC
Virtual Lists
Lookups
ExecuteSQL: Beverly Voth's Missing Manual post
Repeating fields
Named Variable Buckets: Wim Decorte's blog post
JavaScript: Our FileMaker & JavaScript stuff
SSL
Monitoring Tools: Zabbix (Wim Decorte & Mislav Kos' post and DevCon video)
We also mention Bob Bowers' 2012 DevCon Session: Advanced Reporting Techniques
Here are the concepts we talk about today:
- Transactions
- Record Life Cycle
- Scripting
- Parts of FileMaker
- Security
- Indexing
- Relationships
- Data Modeling
- Calculations
- Inputting data
- Reporting on data
- APIs
- WebWidgets
- Sharing the File
Todd and Jeremy mention the following modules and tools:
DBTransactions
And more on Transactions
Today's Episode is brought to you by Otto: An Automatic Server-to-Server Migration dev tool.
BigTom is found in the community here. He has a lot of good advice. Be sure and follow him.
Here are the links mentioned in this episode.
FMPerception
Dave Ramsey @designdb
FMComparison
Realtime Developer Intelligence Tool
Dave's podcast: Project Update with co host Joe Simpson
The three less-known features of FMPerception are:
- Auto-open XML Database Design Reports in FMPerception.
- Text Search area
- Flagged Functions
- (BONUS): Copy/paste Sidebar of a script or a field.
FMComparison
- Beta is out soon (macOS first, then WIndows)
- Current FMPerception customers will get access to the beta.
- Current FMPerception customers will get this tool for free.
Today's episode is brought to you by Geist Interactive. Hire us to complete tasks or provide advice or customize one of our products.
Our guests today areSusan Fennema, the chaos-killing, clutter-kicking, disorder-fighting maven of Beyond the Chaos
Vanessa Costanzo, Director, Business Development & Technology at Recruiting Pro Software LLC
Susan and Vanessa are part of the leadership team for Women Innovating Together, a nonprofit that serves Women in the FileMaker world.
Here's the list of topics we talked about:
- Scholarships. WIT provides scholarships to women each year for the Claris conference.
- People can donate to the scholarship fund anytime of the year
- WIT also offers mentorships for anyone. You can sign up and be a mentor or a mentee.
- WIT can be supported by FBA partners through donations or encouraging staff to sign up.
Carson Lind, of Eagle Optimizations, joins us today to talk:
- How he learned FileMaker
- WidgetStudio
- FIleMaker DevCon
A list of what was mentioned:
- WidgetStudio Create, Customize, Deploy FileMaker WebViewer Widgets
- Carafe From Soliant Consulting. Easily Work with and Integrate JavaScript in FileMaker
- FMEZ Charts Clean and Intuitive UI for Creating JavaScript Charts with no Experience
- FileMaker and Industrial Robotics - Carson's DevCon 2019 session.
- Claris’ Visionary Keynote A sneak peak at the new JavaScript script step
- Node RedLow-code programming for event-driven applications
Reach out to us at support@geistinteractive.com if you'd like to join us for a conversation or if you have any topics you'd like us to discuss.
Today's Episode is brought to you by WidgetStudio.
Josh talks a bit, as we start, about how he learned FileMaker:
FileMaker Pro Advanced Help
FM Forums
FileMaker Community
Josh and Jeremy bring up a few external sources in their discussion of FileMaker Security. Here they are:
FileMaker Platform Security Infographic by Steven Blackwell
FileMaker 18 Security Overview by Steven Blackwell
Sarah Stickfort, FileMaker DevCon 2018: Building Security with a Blueprint
A Conversation about 2 Factor authentication
As we chat about security, we bring up the following topics:
The complete portfolio of FileMaker Security
Encryption at Rest (EAR)
Ersatz (home-grown FileMaker security)
Security by Obscurity
Today's Episode brought to you by:
Implementation Packages: Assign us Tasks
Our Guest today is Wim Decorte. He's a Senior Technical Architect at Soliant Consulting. He's been around for a long time, spoken at many FileMaker DevCons, and has worked with both Jeremy (as Jeremy's boss at Soliant) and Todd (working together briefly at New Millennium, now called Codence). WIm worked on a product called FMRobot which was used in the FileMaker 6-to-7 conversion days. Check out a cool blog post about it. It was also featured in a FileMaker white paper (Todd contributed to this paper as well).
Wim and Mislav Kos led a session on Zabbix. Wim summarizes the session and explains the importance and ease of using Zabbix to monitor your server. Wim and Mislav have a few blog posts out about it.
We spend some time talking about FileMaker milestones:
- FileMaker 3: Brought relationships to the app.
- FileMaker 7: One file with many tables
- FileMaker 9: XML API
- FileMaker 15 / 16: Insert from URL with cURL options - really opened the door to integrations.
- (Wim and Todd forgot to mention the WebViewer. Jeremy reminded them)
Once again we reminisced about FileMaker DevCon 2019 (the last one). Wim sees this is as a new beginning. There's nothing stale about FileMaker though it's been around for 30 years.
Finally, we talked about the DEFINITIVE context for the following topics: ( :) )
- Virtual Lists
- The While() function
- Unstored Calcs
- ExecuteSQL
- JSON
- Layout Calculation Tricks
Todd and Wim tell us and finally answer the question: when to use these.
Soliant Consulting is supporting a tool called Carafe. Check it out.
Today's episode is brought to you by FMPerception. The only realtime developer intelligence tool for FileMaker. Download a free 14-day trial at www.fmperception.com
If you're a nonprofit, Geist Interactive offers a discount for you. Email us at support@geistinteractive.com for further details.
In this episode we talk with the leaders of join::table and hear of their vision for the organization. The leaders are Makah Encarnacao (Soliant Consulting), Chris Kubica (Application Architects), and Jonathan Nicoletti (Acolyte Applications). We talk about FileMaker developers and non-profit organizations can get involved in the match up.
It's interesting to see that join::table wants to structure the projects as any normal project: single developers or a team, people from different experience levels and expertise coming together to give some time to a nonprofit who wants to use FileMaker to innovate in their workplace.
join::table is looking for nonprofits that need FileMaker or a workplace innovation platform and need developers to build them something. So please inquire if you need.
FBA partners can support the work of join::table in a variety of ways.
Stay tuned to the end for a little 'post-credits' bit. ☺
Host Jeremy Brown
Featuring Todd Geist, Founder & CEO of Geist Interactive
Sponsored by WidgetStudio by Geist Interactive. Find or Create. Customize. Deploy FileMaker WebViewer Widgets
"The Context" Podcast
This very first episode features Jeremy and Todd talking about the podcast itself: why is it named "The Context" and what we will talk about in future episodes. Jeremy talks about the name itself: as we were finding the name, "Context" really stood out because context is what we think about each day build a custom app. It's all about context. Not only inside of FileMaker, but context refers as well to the broader tech community: what integrations will we use and how will we use those. And finally we'll talk specific functions and their value in certain contexts.
*Claris Connect*
They talk a bit about Claris' upcoming product: Claris Connect. Claris Connect will take away some of the tedious or tough-for-newbies parts of connecting to different services out there. The product will make it incredibly easy. We'll talk more about Claris Connect in the future.
HTML Email
They talk a bit about an oft-requested feature: HTML Email as an example of FileMaker's power. It is so much simpler–for so many reasons–to connect to a service like SendGrid or Office 365 from FIleMaker, and Claris Connect will make it even easier. Since HTML Email is already done in those services, Claris engineers can focus their resources on other needs.
JavaScript
Jeremy, of course, is excited to talk JavaScript sometimes since, as we know, JavaScript is part of FileMaker.
The Last FileMaker DevCon
Jeremy and Todd also talk about FileMaker DevCon 2019. They talk about its disruptive nature and its future-focused nature. They're looking forward to Brad Freitag's leadership of Claris with their mission statement, values, and pillars and the renewed energy they see in Claris International.