FileMaker 13 New Features_0

FileMaker 13 New & Updated FeaturesFileMaker Pro/Advanced 13 New Features Walkthrough

Welcome to a visual walkthrough of the new features added to FileMaker 13 released on December3rd 2013. Within this document you'll find a number of screenshots with associated text and variouscallouts. Feel free to pass this document along to any interested party.

Enjoy the journey!

Provided and prepared by Matt Petrowsky of ISO FileMaker Magazinehttp://www.filemakermagazine.comWhere the professionals learn more about FileMaker.

Released 2013-12-06Rev. 2013-12-07

FileMaker 13 New & Updated Features

http://www.filemakermagazine.com

New: FileMaker WebDirectOne of the biggest features, by far, is the total overhaul of FileMaker's ability to provide web basedaccess to content stored within FileMaker.

By heading to File > Sharing... > Configure for FileMaker WebDirect... you'll access this dialog boxwhich allows a file, once uploaded to FileMaker Server, to be shared to your everyday web browser.The number of connections allowed are controlled via FileMaker Server by installing connectionpacks at $25 per 5 concurrent connections. Only FileMaker Server can provide the new WebDirectfunctionality.

New: Layout elementsTwo new major layout elements were added. These are Button Popovers and Tab-like Slidercontrols. Both of the respective objects are accessed via their common root object. The buttonelement on the toolbar provides Popovers and the tab controls provide Sliders. The elementsprovide most all of the expected attributes according to what the Inspector palette reveals.


New: Popover layout objectThe new Popover object will be IMMENSELY useful in mobile designs. It uses a button object (1)which, when clicked, will reveal the popover. The initial orientation (2) can be specified, but willadjust according to the object's location relative to the screen dimensions and boundaries. Like thebutton object, the Popover itself can be resized (3) and styled. As with many areas within FileMaker,clicking the Specify (4) allows you to use the calculation dialog boxes to title the popover. Any otherFileMaker objects can be contained within the popover. This includes portals, web viewers and allthe other standard objects. Conditional formatting cannot be applied to the popover object, but canbe applied to the button object. The popover is accessible via scripting and using named objects.There is also a Close Popover script step.


New: Slide controls layout objectThe new Slide control (1) is pretty much a tabless tab panel which supports swiping on mobiledevices. You can specify how many panes are desired (2) and turn on/off the swipe support andnavigation dots (3) at bottom. Conditional formatting can be applied on a panel by panel basis. Bydisabling all possible navigation, you can use the Slide control as an area for hidden information.Targeting any given pane is the same as it is with tabs via a named object.


New: Change Theme optionsA new set of themes under the name of "Aspire" (1) has been added. Also, because of the changesin theme overrides, you can now Import Themes (2) from other FileMaker files. Remember, thetheme a file uses is embedded on a Layout by Layout basis within the file itself. It does not resideoutside of the file. The ability to tweak and save any changes on the layout by layout basis iscontrolled within the Inspector.


New: Encryption At RestA file can now be passed through the Developer Utilities of FileMaker Pro Advanced and (1)encryption can be applied to the file. This means files which are located local to a tablet or desktopdevice will be encrypted on that device. Of course a shared file which is hosted can still beaccessed through secure networking using SSL. Make special note that using both the Removeadmin access option and encryption will prevent the file from being able to use the RemoveDatabase Encryption option. The password (2) used for encryption will need to be used when thefile is opened.


New: Field Picker PaletteA new floating palette allows you to pick, AND FILTER (1), fields for adding to a layout. Multiplefields can be added at one time via either non or contiguous selections. New fields (2) can becreated from within the palette and field types can be changed (3). Defaults for labels can be set (4)as well as their relative location. Clicking the Database icon in the upper right (5) will open thefamiliar Define Database dialog. The Field Picker can be toggled (6) from the button within thesubheader while in Layout mode or via menu options (Command/Control-K). Making a new field andchoosing the calculation type will automatically invoke the Calculation editor for setting specific fieldoptions. Accessing Field Options (7) and deleting fields can be accomplished via a right-click on thefield name.


New: FileMaker Go - Insert from DeviceA new script step was added for FileMaker Go. Insert from Device. This script step now providesmore specific control as well as various additional options. One of the main new features is (1)barcode support. You'll also find the ability to target front versus rear camera and specific defaultinbound resolutions of images.


New: Native barcode supportOn FileMaker Go the new Insert from Device script step allows for native barcode input. Barcodescan be stored as images plus text within container fields or as text only within text fields.


New: Layout Script Trigger - OnLayoutSizeChangeThe OnLayoutSizeChange is triggered whenever a window is modified. It doesn't apply just to theactual size or orientation of the window but when certain tools bars are hidden or shown. It's alsotriggered a part of opening of a new window. The script runs post the actual sizing event. The eventdoes not fire as a window is being resized using a computer mouse. Only after the resize iscompleted. The companion functions used with this event is the new Get ( WindowOrientation ) orthe older window related functions.


New: Layout Script Trigger - OnGestureTapWithin Browse and Find mode, the act of a tap gesture (single-tap with 1, 2 or 3 fingers or a onefinger double-tap) on a mobile device will trigger this particular script trigger. The companionfunction of Get ( TriggerGestureInfo ) can be used to determine the outcome of the script associatedto this event.


Change: OnPanelSwitch Script TriggerWith the introduction of Slide Controls, The OnTabSwitch trigger was renamed to OnPanelSwitch


Change: Appearance stylesOne of the biggest issues with FileMaker 12 was not being able to apply a style from one state toanother (e.g. a gradient from the Normal state to the Pressed state). This is now solved with thenew access to state styling. You can now copy and paste (1) the styles on an object basis, which wehad before, and on an object state basis. The red versus black arrows indicate the state of the stylebeing used. Red means the default styling has been overridden and you now have the option tosave this state as part of a new style or part of a modified theme.


New: Inspector Styles PanelThe Inspector palette received a new panel named Styles. All objects and layout parts can be seenby selecting the Show all (1) check box. Otherwise, the pane will show only the applicable styles ofthe currently selected object (2). When the small triangle within the popup menu shows red (3), itmeans FileMaker has detected an override to the default styling. Any overrides which areintentional, can be saved to the file as an additional style or to the default style.


Fixed: Shift key constraintsHolding down the Shift key will now constrain the selected object being dragged. It actually wasn'tbroken in 12, you just had to hold the Shift key BEFORE you selected the object.


New: Layout/Report dialogAdding a new layout is now more visually interactive. The layout is automatically sized if a devicespecific resolution applies. One of the BIGGEST features for advanced developers is the fact thatchoosing a Layout type of Form, List, Table or Report will result in a new layout set to ONLY allowit's respective view mode. A new layout will no longer have all three options of Form, List and Tablechecked by default.


New: List view indicators optionalA very nice feature for list views is the now optional historical list view indicator which takes up 3pixels. This is actually defaulted to off and must be explicitly turned on in order to have the olderclassic behavior.


Change: Alternate body part rowsThe ability to alternate the color of rows within list view existed in FileMaker 12. However, thechange has moved the styling into the Inspector palette where it belongs. FileMaker has alsoprovided a native feature for indicating the active row. This complements the new Layout option ofbeing able to turn off the legacy record indicator which consumes 3 pixels on the left hand side ofthe layout.


New: Layout row statesThe former option to Alternate background fill every other row within the Part Definition dialog hasbeen changed to provide two new features (1) of Use alternate row state and Use active rowstate. Both of these can be styled (2) within the Appearance pane of the Inspector palette and applyto List views.


New: Hide page breaksFileMaker 13 adds the ability to turn off the the page breaks indicator when in Layout mode.


New: Tab Names via CalculationTab titles can now be specified with the standard FileMaker calculation dialog box. This meansdynamic tab names are now possible! A big plus for solutions which must be localized.


New: Dialog buttons via CalculationLike the names of tabs, we now have the ability to (1) specify the names of dialog buttons via thecalculation dialog box. Hooray!!!!


New: Inspector "Hide object when"Using the pervasive calculation engine, you can now hide objects on the layout. This is only a visualmodification. The data within a field is still accessible and accessible within all calculations. This isnot, and should not, be used as a security measure. It is a UI/UX feature and does not preventaccess to the within the hidden object(s). The "eye icon" will indicate if a given object has visibilitycalculations applied.


New: Support for http/https POSTFileMaker 13 adds new url schemes to the Insert from URL script step. You can now use ftps,httppost or httpspost as the url scheme. For examplehttpspost://mycustompage.php?value1=Hello&value2=World. These are added to http, https, ftp andfile schemes. Note, FileMaker does not perform SSL certificate verification.

Updated: SQL Range supportUsing the ExecuteSQL() or other SQL related features now allow for range based support of results.

SELECT ...FROM ...[ WHERE ... ][ ORDER BY ... ][ OFFSET n { ROWS | ROW } ][ FETCH FIRST [ n [ PERCENT ] ] { ROWS | ROW } { ONLY | WITH TIES } ]

OFFSET AND FETCH FIRST can now be used. See SQL standard 2011(ISO/IEC 9075-2:2011(E))for more information.


New: Script Step - Perform Script on ServerThe ability to tell the FileMaker Server to execute a particular script is a powerful new feature. Itprovides the option of waiting for the completion of the server side script before continuing with thecurrent script.


New: Script Step - Refresh ObjectBecause of costly redraw issues when using the Refresh Window script step, the Refresh Objectstep was added. This step now allows you to refresh only those parts of the layout which may beaffected by the operations of a given script. This will provide a much desired boost in perceptualperformance if used properly.


New: Script Step - Insert From DeviceSpecific to just FileMaker Go, selecting within a container field, by default, will allow the insertion ofa variety of the possible media elements. The Insert From Device step now provides the option tolimit the input to one specific type of input. This provides a much greater degree of control over theinbound media. One important addition to the input types is the support for Barcodes. This featurecan obviously be used within a script associated to a button. Just don't forget that you can alsoassign the script to the OnObjectEnter trigger for any given container field.


New: Script Step - Set Script AnimationThe ability to disable or more importantly enable costly animations while a script is running. Bydefault, a script will not show animations which would normally show within the user interface. Thisfeature doesn't apply to Windows but does for Mac and iOS.


New: Script Step - Close PopoverA simple step which will close an opened Popover object if it had been targeted with a Go To Objectstep.


New: Script Step - Upload To FileMaker ServerA FileMaker Pro only script step which opens a dialog in order to upload a FileMaker database toFileMaker server.


New: Script Step - Open Manage ThemesA FileMaker Pro/Advanced step which will open the manage themes dialog.


New: Script Step - Show/Hide MenubarA FileMaker WebDirect specific step which tells the web browser to show or hide the menu bar.


New: Summary Field “List Summary”A new Summary field type of "List of" has been added to the summary field options.

New: Easier file uploadingFor those developers who develop the bulk of their solution local to their machine, it's now mucheasier to upload a database file to a FileMaker Server. One side effect of this new feature is the factthat switching the FileMaker Server admin console from Java based to HTML5 based means this isthe only way to upload a file to FileMaker Server. The Admin console no longer provides thisfeature.


New: Easier file uploading 2The File > Sharing menu got the new option of Uploading to FileMaker Server.


New: Reset File Unique IDBecause of the security added for only allowing certain files to connect to other files, a new ResetAll (1) option was added to the File Access pane of the Manage Security dialog.


New: Inspector Advanced Graphic sectionThe Inspector now has support for controlling more of the underlying attributes. Outer and Innershadows can be set along with the Padding. Due to redraw issues on mobile devices, both Innerand Outer shadows are not rendered on FileMaker Go.


New: Inspector Touch keyboard typeDue to the obvious increase in mobile adoption, it makes sense that FileMaker is adding more andmore features specific to its mobile support You now have access to the variety of input keyboardsfor FileMaker Go based solutions. These include ASCII, URL, Email, three styles of Numeric andPhone number input.


New: Additional formatting options for date, time & timestamp fieldsDate, time and timestamp fields can now optionally use the (1) OS specific setting for displayformatting.


New: Additional formatting options for numeric fieldsFor the Decimal, Currency and Percent formatting options FileMaker 13 now offers the (1) SystemSettings as an option.


New: Minimum versionA feature which was formerly within FileMaker 11 within the Security area has been added backwithin the File Options dialog for any given file. You can now specify a minimum required version foropening a FileMaker file. This was alternatively (and can still be) controlled via theOnFirstWindowOpen trigger for the file.


New: Function - Base64Encode


New: Function - Base64Decode


New: Function - Get( ConnectionAttributes )


New: Function - Get( Device )


New: Function - Get( ModifiedFields )


New: Function - Get( NetworkType ) GO ONLY


New: Function - Get( ScriptAnimationState )


New: Function - Get( TriggerGestureInfo )


New: Function - Get( WindowOrientation )


New: Function - Get( EncryptionState )


New: Function - Get( CurrentTimeUTCMilliseconds )


New: Function - GetContainerAttribute


ISO FileMaker Magazine - Where the professionals learn more aboutFileMakerIf you're seeking the resources and knowledge to take your use of FileMaker to the next level thenfind us on the web.

ISO FileMaker Magazinehttp://www.filemakermagazine.com

If you have suggestions or changes for this document then please send email to Matt Petrowsky


http://www.filemakermagazine.com

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FileMaker 13 New Features_0

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