FREE DOWNLOADABLE DEMOS AND SAMPLE FILES
As a free service to fellow developers and potential clients, sample
and demonstration files are periodically made available for download
from this site. A selection of current offerings is listed below:
Interface and Navigation Techniques
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MacOS
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Windows
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'ClickTips' - Pop-Up Help Feature for Layout Objects
This variant on the familiar 'tool tips' theme was developed by NightWing Enterprises for a client application, but has since proved very popular. It makes small text tip 'panes' appear overlapping the button or object on the layout to which they relate. It is released here in demo form for the first time, in response to requests from visitors to the site.
When this technique was first introduced, we found that users preferred it to conventional 'tool tips', because it places them in control. The way it works is that to access the ClickTip text, users must hold the shift key down while clicking on a button or other active layout object. After clicking, the tip text pane remains visible only while the shift key remains depressed. Thus tips do not pop-up unbidden, and they remain only as long as the user holds down the shift key. There is no necessity to turn 'tip' functionality on and off - NightWing ClickTips are always available if needed, but never intrude when not required.
This free and open example of the ClickTips technique is provided courtesy of NightWing Enterprises. The file is in fp5 format and is not password protected, so that you can take a look inside. Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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Floating Palette Navigation in Preview Mode
Custom designed navigation works everywhere else but not in preview mode, where on-screen script buttons are inactive. This has always been a problem for designers of custom solutions. But it need not be.
This much requested demo shows a technique (as developed and used in a number of NightWing solutions) by which in preview mode, a 'floating navigation palette' or 'command bar' concept can be implemented using the native FileMaker Pro scripting and interface options - no plug-ins or expensive widgets required!
In the download file, you will find a tour of the basic technique. It could be described as the 'midrange' version - ie it doesn't have *all* the bells and whistles, but enough to give the general idea.
This demo file is provided courtesy of NightWing Enterprises, and is password-free, so that you can examine the internal mechanisms if you wish. Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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Graphical Navigation Bar
This self-contained demonstration utility shows a technique which was developed for an international client, for use in navigating a FileMaker database solution. The application it was designed for was one where screen space was very tight. Unlike other status bar ('Status Area') replacements, this one is not only compact, but multi-functional and includes a click-to-go bar with a graphical pointer to display the position in the file, plus a fast-scrolling option using a modifier key/click combination.
The file is in fp5 format. This demo is locked, but is indicative of the advanced techniques we make available to our clients. Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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Field Text Formatting System Sampler
Without apology this file is an interface teaser. It combines a number of techniques to show how the user can be provided with multi-state buttons to control field text formatting options in FileMaker Pro.
In this example, four text formatting options plain, bold, italic and underline (and any combination of them), plus three text sizes, standard (10pt), large (12pt) and small (9pt) are provided. Clicking the corresponding button on the layout applies the format (adding it to other formats already selected) and clicking the button again removes the format (leaving other formatting undisturbed). The buttons highlight so that their state can be seen at a glance.
The file is in fp5 format. This sample is locked, but is indicative of the advanced techniques we make available to our clients. Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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Automatically Highlight the Current Row in List View
This demo highlights the current row when you enter a record in list view. It uses no calcs or scripts to to so!
Notably, the highlighting automatically turns off when you exit the record, as an aid in controlling user behaviour which leads to record locking in multi-user mode (ie it can be explained to users that the highlighting signifies that they have 'claimed' the record for editing, and other users are locked out).
The technique used is an adaption and re-application of the 'cool' method published by John Mark Osborne on his www.databasepros.com web site in 2000.
This is another password-free demo, so you are free to go exploring... Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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Consistently Highlight the Active Row in List View
As a companion to the auto-highlight demo above, this is a sample file which keeps the current record highlighted regardless of whether the cursor is within a field!!
Although the appearance is similar to the demo above, the technique is quite different, and requires the presence of a plug-in - in this case Troi Activator™ from Troi Automatisering.
Since this technique is dependent on third-party resources from Troi, it is published here with their kind approval, as an indication of the advanced functionality we provide as added value for our clients.
This demo includes proprietary code and is therefore password protected. Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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Independently Incrementing Serial Numbers
Automatically incrementing serial numbers are useful for a variety of purposes but there are occasions when it is desirable to make them do more or say more.
In response to requests for a technique by which separately incrementing numbers for each client could be automatically generated, this demonstration file was developed, however the method illustrated here has many other applications and variations. The technique used is relatively easy to implement and is based on a relationship, a calculation and a lookup, working together.
This demo file is provided courtesy of NightWing Enterprises, and is password-free, so that you may go exploring... Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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Manually Sorting the Records in a Portal
Custom sorting of portal records (see paper in the resources section) is not always enough. Sometimes users want to *manually* alter the order of the rows in a portal.
There have been couple of technqiues for manually changing portal row order that you may have seen in the past, which use a 'shadow' sort field and re-number it to 'fake' a change to the sort order - with the underlying data remaining unchanged. The effect of that is superficial - and even misleading, as the data is presented in a form which does not reflect the underrlying values. The method shown here is different, however. It automatically *changes* the underlying data, swapping the values in the data field that the portal is sorted by (in this case, appointment times - but there are many other possiblities) so that the revised sort order is meaningful and directly reflects the data itself - before during and after manual re-sorting.
This file is a sampler made available by courtesy of NightWing Enterprises, as an indication of one of the many techniques that we routinely make available in client solutions. Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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Custom Record Selection System
The standard method for locating records in FileMaker Pro - the 'find' - is not always the way users want to work. Sometimes it makes more sense to work through a list of records and 'select' particular records, seeing their selections listed along with other records from which they are still choosing.
The system shown in this demo file enables users to click on records in a list to highlight and select them (or, if they are already selected, to de-select them), and also includes options for display of an automatically updated summary of the selected records, plus a button to instantly 'find' all the selected records. The technique is simple and intuitive - and serves as yet another reminder of the power and flexibility of FileMaker.
Significantly, the method employed for this demo file does not use record marking, and is fully compliant with multi-user solutions - where record selections operate independently and each user 'sees' his/her own set of selected records.
This demo file is password-free, as a courtesy to clients and fellow developers... Click on the MacOS icon at right to download a Mac archive in Stuffit format, or on the Windows icon for a download in PKzip format.
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