fmAutoMate

Towards a FileMaker IDE

Look out FileMaker Developers!

fmAutoMate is here and now!

A new tool from MrWatson to automate your Filemaker Script Workspace.

It's a Proof-of-Concept - showing that we CAN usefully turn FileMaker into an IDE (integrated Development Environment)

You are a few clicks away from a more productive day:

1. Download it from GitHub https://github.com/mrwatson-de/fmAutoMate !
2. Open fmAutoMate.fmp12
   
3. Press the [fmAutoMate] button
   
4. Open a Script in the Script Workspace
   
5. Right Click on a script step
6. Enjoy the power at your fingertips
   

It's open source, open to edit ... and open ended.

Let me know the great things you do with it / want to do with it.

Happy fmAutoMating!

MrWatson

The Homepage and Download pages have been revamped to make it easieer to find the information you need. Download the latest fmWorkMate Bundle (Mac) straight from the home page, or jump directly to the fmWorkMate YouTube channel! On the download page you can now find various versions of fmWorkMate for older operating systems.

I'm FileMaker Certified !

Again !

fmCheckMate-XSLT has just gone open source!

Download the latest version from GitHub

Get it - use it - like it - transform your work - love it!

MrWatson

demonstrates the

POWER

of the

Download the

#PSBN Module

Check out the

Hello World Example File

Unleash the

FORCE

of

Perform Script By Name

THE FUTURE

is up to you…

The fmCheckMate Layout Analyser finds your FileMaker layout errors - FAST!

Broken Buttons

Broken Calculations

Floating objects

Objects lost inside containers

Quoted or copied object names

Local CSS

Problem anchoring

and more

and more

and more

and more

Check it out here.

Get fmWorkMate + fmCheckMate XSLT from the downloads page

fmWorkMate Bundle

Instant power at your fingertips

It has never been so easy to get started with fmWorkMate…

…and it has never been so worth it.

Check out the power

Download

Install

Get started

Hi folks,

hm ... something went wrong with the last release .... it seems like runtimes with FM 15.0.2 may have a problem starting, so I have created the fmWorkMate runtime again using FileMaker 14.

Please let me know (at the conference) or using the contact tab on this website, if you have further problems.

Happy & Smiling 

MrWatson

A Just-In-Time-Update ready for the start of the german FileMaker Conference in Salburg!

fmCheckMate Improved

• The fmCheckMate text result is being improved with search + replace functions and search-term highlighting as in the XML editor (work in progress).
• fmCheckMate Layout Analysis has been improved - find objects lost in sliders and tab controls.

FMK 2016

Check out my sessions today at the FMK 

• 11:00 - 12:30 "Surviving the Themes and Styles Jungle” / Überleben im Design- und Stil-Dschungel
• 14:00 - 15:30 Ein serverseitiges Script (SSS-)Framework

I wish everybody at the FMK 2016 a great experience! 

MrWatson

Prettier, smarter, more useful than ever before!

After two years since the last official release, the new fmWorkMate doesn't just have a pretty face, but is packed with powerful, unique and indispensable tools to make your daily File-Making more joyful, make you more productive and make your product more polished.

Layout Analysis

The new fmCheckMate Layout Analysis function is the king of analysis tools for instant layout analysis!

Find broken field references, commented out calculations, duplicate object names, floating objects, anchoring errors, editable value lists, and much, much more!

Find more errors in layouts than you can possibly imagine - almost instantly with a copy and a paste!

What's the difference?

 The revamped fmTextDiff tool compares your code more easily and intuitively than ever.       

- Compare text or FileMaker objects directly from the clipboard
- Drop files to compare their contents automatically.
- Diff fmxmlsnippets, or analysis results directly from fmCheckMate.

...and a pile more stuff!

The Mac version is online now; I hope to get the windows version ready for my presentations at the Developer Conference in Salzburg.

Happy Making FileMaker Work!

MrWatson

MrWatson is now a certified FileMaker 15 Developer.

Note: The FileMaker Certified Developer logo is a trademark of FileMaker, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

MrWatson is now a certified FileMaker 14 Developer. 

Thanks to Christian Schmitz of MBS plugins (and my great ideas) the FileMaker Workspace is getting a seach function and a go to line function!

Just install the MBS plugin (at least version 5.4.0.02) and you'll see two new input fields and a button:

1. To jump to a specific line just type a number in the Go To field and press return
2. To find a specific word or phrase in the script, just enter your search word in the MBS Search field and scroll until you see yellow highlighted lines
3. To copy the script text to the clipboard just press the [copy script] button

happier-than-ever FileMaking!

MrWatson

There is ONLY ONE WAY to make FileMaker themes to be updateable across multiple files!

Just follow these SIX golden rules, and you will not get painfully stung!

 ,-._.o-´`:´`-o._.-,

1. DEFINE THEMES AND STYLES IN *ONE FILE* ONLY

2. SYNCHRONIZE THEM TO OTHER FILES ONLY BY IMPORTING AND REPLACING THE THEME:

EITHER

LAYOUT MODE > LAYOUTS > CHANGE THEME... >  [IMPORT THEME...] > [REPLACE]

OR

FILE > MANAGE > THEMES... > [IMPORT...] > [REPLACE]

3. NEVER COPY AND PASTE THEMES

4. NEVER DEFINE THEMES AND STYLES BY HAND ANYWHERE ELSE IN YOUR SOLUTION

5. NEVER RENAME A THEME

6. BEWARE OF THEME AND STYLE IMPOSTORS AT ALL TIMES!

This release of fmWorkMate has a whole bunch of new stuff including support for fm13 themes!

Here is a summary of the recent improvements:

2 brand new tools!

• fmClipboardViewer - lets you browse the contents of your clipboard
• fmTextDiff - compares two files using an online service - for those of us who don't use TextMate ;-)

fmCheckMate now supports Themes!

• 4 new XSLT Transformations let you inspect, analyse and compare your themes.
• The XSLT Chooser has been REALLY simplified:
  
  
  
  
  
  
• With XSLTs categorized into Analysis / Change / Transformation, it is MUCH easier to find and identify the transformation you need.
• The object types are now named in plain english, and the function names are clearer (instead of CamelCase).
• You can also create your own XSLT Library! (or someone you know who knows a little XSLT 1.0)
  
  
• Just create a neighboring folder called "fmChekMate.YourNamespace.com", 
• add an xsl folder to it, 
• copy an XSLT over from fmCheckMate and 
• rename the file using the following format:
  
                       {InputType}_{OutputType}_NameOfTheFunctionUsingCamelCase.xslt
  
  You can see the existing xslt files for examples
  
  
• modify the XSLT // good luck ;-)
• Save the XSLT file
• In fmCheckMate open the XSLT Chooser and reimport the XSLT.
• For example:
  
  The file: ~/Documents/fmCheckMate.mrwatson.de/xsl/XMSS_Text.List_UnusedVariables.xslt
  
  Would display as:    Analyse   |   Scriptstep   |   Unused variables   |   mrwatson.de

fmSyntaxColorizer has had a major overhaul, is more dynamic and now has quick-switching between palettes. Enter f: to check out the function list!

And and handfull of other small improvements:

• fmTextConverter has a button to swap the Search and Replace fields
• fmPluginMate (fmp12) displays the plugin data more clearly & has clearer menus and shortcut-keys
• Simple Calculator has some new functions (UTF-conversion and (q:)oute function to convert an FM-calculation into a string)

To read about ALL the changes: please read the fmWorkMate_Changes.txt file when you download fmWorkMate

One more thing ...

All tools now have a built in online help function (at last!) - now I just have to fill out the help pages ;-)

Happy File-Making :-)

MrWatson

P.S. I've at last published my blog article "fmLogAnalyser - never miss another bug!" (from January) - Don't miss it!

A new release of (Mac version) fmWorkMate and the fmCheckMate XSLT library is available. :-)

2 new tools, and LOADS of improvements

More about it later...

Until now FileMaker plugin installation has been SUCH A DRAG :-( ...

...discovering what version you already have

...all those hidden extensions folders

...restarting FileMaker

…etc, etc. 

But now, with fmPluginMate...

...FileMaker plugin installation is JUST A DRAG :-)

Drag...

...Drop...

...Done!

Plugin installation has never been easier!

...and to discover what Plugins you already have installed, you have to do no more than LOOK + SEE

...and to get to those pesky Extension folders, you have to no more than CLICK.

fmPluginMate is just ONE of the FREE tools in the fmWorkMate toolbox, but because it is just soooo handy, it's also available as an extra download on the downloads page.

Happy Dragging!

MrWatson

Don't you just hate it when your code breaks when pasting code into FileMaker?

- especially when you don't notice for ages!

(...and when pasting between files, or across database versions things break ALL THE TIME!)

Maybe you've already heard of the import.log file? that FileMaker writes info and errors to when you paste or import code into FileMaker.

Well, it is a really neat feature, BUT ...

the import.log is a pain to trawl through for errors

- especially if you are using Notepad on Windows!

Can you believe it? Many FM-developers I know, know about it, but do not use it, because it is so difficult to read.

Sacrilege!

The import.log file is the

BEST RESOURCE FOR CAPTURING BUGS AT BIRTH

What you need - what every FileMaker programmer needs - is fmLogAnalyser!

fmLogAnalyser makes finding your pasting errors a piece of cake!

After pasting code into FileMaker, simply open your log file in fmLogAnalyser...

...and a huge button tells you immediately if everything is OK (green) or not (brown), and if not ...

fmLogAnalyser turns your log into a TO-DO list!

Just press the big button and work through the bugs one by one until they are all done. The location of the error (file, script name and exact script step position) are shown clearly at the bottom.

Together with fmSyntaxColorizer (and line #s) you can

find errors in a fraction of the normal time

Once you have corrected the issue, just tick it off in your to-do list log!

Moreover... 

fmLogAnalyser does not just show the errors,

it also highlights any warnings

and grays out cancelled imports

(which are all really difficult to read correctly in the import.log!)

For example, if objects are renamed when you insert them, or if FileMaker automatically adds a missing external reference (which may be an undesirable self-reference) warnings are flagged up.

Don't just think you are right, PROVE you are right!

 If fmLogAnalyser gives you a green light, it proves you are right*.

* or at least very nearly - there are some IMPORTANT considerations: 

- There are some limitations in the FileMaker clipboard, that you must know about and account for (Layout objects, custom functions, field calculation context, import records script step, themes), but I shall cover these in a coming blog entry. Nevertheless a green OK from fmLogAnalyser is way way better than a believed OK from your belly.

- fmLogAnalyser is NOT multilingual! To get want the most out of it, use english or german.

Happy - and good, clean - FileMaking!

MrWatson

Happy New Year fellow FileMaker developers!

With the new year comes a (slightly) new look to the webste. Although teething troubles are to be expected, it should make getting updates out to you easier (and hopefully more frequent)...

Watch this space...

...there are some good things coming soon.

Next release of fmWorkMate to appear shortly

...including a brand new tool fmPluginMate

it makes managing your FileMaker plugins a drag.

:-)

Great greets

MrWatson

FileMaker 13 - the funky new version of our favorite FileMaker Pro database platform - has just been released with pepped up database creation, fantastic new layout styling, the FM WebDirect browser and a bunch of new script and function stuff.

To make FileMaker 13 as bright, colorful and awesome as FileMaker12 just...

download the new version of fmSyntaxColorizer from the Downloads page today.

With fmSyntaxColorizer 0.9v16 you can not only colorize the new fm13 script steps, but - thanks to the amazing MBS Plugin from Monkeybread Software - you can now also highlight undeclared $variables.

IT IS AWESOME! Those fiddly variable names that are always getting mistyped stick out like a sore thumb!

You can see the errors in an instant - EVEN IN THE SCRIPT DEBUGGER! No more stupid little errors!

Have a bright day!

MrWatson

Post Script:

I have just noticed that in all releases of fmSyntaxColorizer to date all the example scripts have no calculations...

>surprise!<

This is apparently - and interestingly - a side-effect of using the FM developer tools to remove the Admin-Access from the file... I'll see if I can find a solution for the next release, and for now, please use your own scripts to check your colorizing and variable-checking results, thank you. Sincerely MrWatson