I have a button on a FileMaker form that I want to use to create a new folder within the documents/jobhunt folder. This is one of those things that you’d think would be easy to accomplish, but there is no command within FileMaker scripting to do it. One solution is to use the FileMaker script step [Perform Applescript], and execute the following Applescript.  Note that the dialog which allows you type in a folder name is an AppleScript dialog not a FileMaker dialog. 

What is happening within the script, is the following: 
1. Displays a dialog to choose a folder name

2. Copy the folder name to a variable text_returned
3. Assign the path of the user’s Documents folder to the variable p.  
/Users/lkeyes/Documents
4. Append the existing JobHunt folder to the path 
/Users/lkeyes/Documents/Job Hunt
5. Create a new folder within the “Job Hunt” folder with the name myfolder.  

Here is the code from the FileMaker Script:  

Over at the Non Profit Times there is a quick article entitled “Pulling a Grant Proposal Together“. Lots of articles and tips are on the site, most are in the form of short articles and bullet lists.

I had a client ask for a modification of their data entry screen to display the date that a record was created and by whom, as well as the date the record was modified, and by whom. 

Here is the tab for the the modified date field…

And here is  the dialog checkbox for the user who last modified the record.

Note that there are two options to choose from:  “Name” and “Account Name”.

If you choose “Name” FileMaker will return the default user name that has been entered under the “Preferences” dialog for the individual copy of the FileMaker application on the particular workstation. This is less helpful as it wouldn’t accurate reflect the individual user using the database. (You could have several users entering data on that particular workstation).  

  

If you choose “Account Name”, then FileMaker will put in an account that you have set up in FileMaker’s “Manage Security” dialog and which requires the user to log in when opening the database. If the data file is hosted using FileMaker Server, you can also designate that the user is authenticated using their Active Directory user name, (when hosted on a Windows Server).

Since the data is stored permanently in the table, this creates a rudimentary audit trail showing who created each record and when, and the last time the record was modified and by whom. It isn’t a “real” audit trail because there is no ongoing history being recorded for each record. 

I recently gave back my corporate iPad and was trying to access my NY Times digital subscription on my iPod touch…. but as I understand it,  the subscription covers either the iPad or or the iPod but not both (WTF?).

I also found out that I can’t access my bought and paid-for iBooks on my Mac.  (although I can still attempt to read them on the Touch).

I think this is a terrible design flaw.

I’m really going off digital reading, not that I was ever that enthusiastic. I can say with confidence I never completed a whole novel or non-fiction book that I started on the iPad.

Apple restrictions that don’t allow iBooks to be read on OSX devices (Mac computers!), and the New York Times policy of restricting content to particular devices is counterproductive.

At least Amazon with their Kindle apps allow books to be read across all my devices. Amazon titles tend to be either equivalent in cost,  or even cheaper than the iBook version.

Once upon a time there was an Empire that decided it would embark on a huge public project to tie together all its far-flung lands. The connections that were intended to knit the empire together, to foster economic opportunities, and to allow its citizens to travel, communicate and exchange goods and services.

Smaller areas adjacent to the main arteries of the project were asked to join, These areas  were also afforded the option to be bypassed. Many chose this latter option, in the name of preserving their local integrity, of maintaining their local mores, or out of distrust of the Empire.

A generation passed.  One area, known as “Bolton”, was located within a scenic mountain range. The town of Bolton welcomed a local scheme to develop a ski area within its borders. Half of their mountain range was cut with ski trails. In the end, they had a lovely recreational opportunity. The citizens of Bolton anticipated a huge influx of tourists to their ski area and looked forward to growing rich. But the tourists never came. They were seen whizzing by in their SUVs along the new infrastructure which Bolton had declined a generation earlier, on their way to other ski areas. “If only we had made sure that we got that Bolton exit off the Interstate”, they lamented.

The ski area went bankrupt and closed. Another person bought it and ran it for a few years before going bankrupt again. A third company bought the ski area and ran it for several years before it went bankrupt again; and in the process millions of dollars were lost.

Another generation has passed. And Bolton doesn’t have an exit off the Interstate, and the Bolton Valley ski area has another owner. They are still waiting for the skiers.

Moral
=====
Some infrastructure opportunities come once in a a couple of generations and if you miss the window of opportunity you may never catch up.

Rural Electrification, Interstate highways, Broadband Fiber.  

OSX Lion, and iWorks, the latest version of the Mac operating system and office productivity suite introduced a bone-headed new idea of “automatic saving”, and eliminates the option of “Save As” in several applications, notable the Mac word processor, Pages.  

Forgive me if I seem unadaptable in my old age, but consider the steps required to create  a new version of a familiar document. 

The old way:
1. Open the document you want to duplicate
2. Select File->Save As
3. Save the file under a new name,
4. Revise  and save.  

Among other things, the clear four-step process ensures that you don’t write over an existing version of a document.  I do this all the time.

Now, consider the new way. 
1. Open the document you want to duplicate
2. Select File->Duplicate
This opens a new version of the document with the same file name with the word “copy” appended to the original file name. 
3. Switch back to the original document and close it.
4. Switch to the copy.
5. Select file->Save… (since the copy has yet to be saved, the menu option has changed from “Save a Version” to “Save”. 
6. Rename the duplicate file to something useful, i.e. remove “copy” that the program appends to the file name, and make changes.
7. Select “Save” at the bottom of the dialog
8. Begin making revisions.  The program automatically saves periodically.   

THIS IS INSANE.   Who made this up?  And are they still working at Apple?

Update: August 2012: The successor to Lion… (Mountain Lion), has partially restored Save As…. if you hold down the Option key, when displaying the File Menu….. its back! Or if you are a keyboard shortcut person,  the keyboard combination of Shift+Option+Command+S will Save As.  (That takes two hands, for me).

Still, since the earlier change still seems incredibly stupid,   I can’t quite understand why they don’t reverse it and make Save As the default, and then evaluate whether anyone uses the Duplicate command…which takes so many additional steps.

FileMaker has announced their version 12 upgrade to the popular cross-platform desktop database.  The biggest news is that that the iPad and iPhone runtime versions, which used to cost $40.00 and $20.00 respectively, per device are now free on the Apple App Store. This is terrific, and will hopefully popularize FileMaker further on those platforms. 

The .fp7 file format has been retired in favor of a new format.  Fp7 files are moved into the new format in a one-way scenario….once changed they can no longer be opened in older versions.

I worked with the pre-release version of FM 12 and found most changes to be relatively minor. I had no problem converting older apps to the newer format. Everything worked in all formats and platforms; Windows, Mac OSX, iPad and iPhone, and Web forms. 

Matt Petrowsky did  a very nice video description that provides an overview of the new changes and additions to FileMaker 12.