Seasoned and aspiring FileMaker ninjas will want to have this free utility in their tool belts. Syntax highlighting, code snippets, documentation, and even direct access to FileMaker's clipboard!

Got white space? Here is a FileMaker custom function that hides the portal scroll bar if there are no additional records to display. This is the first post in a series on building a different kind of FileMaker-based contact management solution that looks and behaves like the OS X Address Book.

Learn how to interact with files on your Mac from within FileMaker. Actually, just grab the functions from this demo and start doing it. No learning required!

Passing values between FileMaker and AppleScript can be a pain. Sure, you can use a named field and table in FileMaker to do this, but if you (or someone else) ever changes either of the names your AppleScript routine breaks. So, even though its not the most efficient way to do things, for short routines I often prefer to use FIleMaker’s ability to run a "Calculated AppleScript" (i.e., compile and run a script from a calculated text).

Other than efficiency, one problem with this approach is that you need to convert data into an AppleScript expression. This custom function makes it a simple task to pass a values list from FileMaker to an AppleScript subroutine:

If you’re working with data from outside of FileMaker, you’ll commonly have to work with dates that FileMaker’s GetAsDate function won’t understand. To handle this, I created a custom function that allows conversion of a wide variety of date formats.

Some examples of how the function works: