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AI Development with the MBS FileMaker Plugin

The MBS FileMaker Plugin provides a comprehensive set of components to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into FileMaker solutions. This includes local LLM execution, platform-native ML frameworks, external API integration, and scripting bridges to other AI ecosystems.

Below is a technical overview of the available components and how developers can use them in real-world scenarios.

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Introducing UIAutomation Support in MBS Xojo Plugins

We’re excited to announce a new set of UIAutomation classes for Xojo in the MBS Xojo Plugins — making it possible to automate and inspect user interfaces on Windows directly from your Xojo applications!

With these new classes, you can use Microsoft’s UI Automation API to interact with elements of other Windows applications. That means you can:

  • Inspect and retrieve information about controls in other programs (windows, buttons, text fields, and more).
  • Automate tasks by invoking clicks, entering text, or reading values from controls.
  • Build your own accessibility or testing tools using native Windows accessibility infrastructure.
  • Verify your own application’s UI behavior during automated testing.
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MBS @ FMTraining.TV - MonkeyBread Plug-in PDFs & Search Functionality in FileMaker Q&A

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch.

A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube.

We check DynaPDF functions and our new script search coming in the 16.2 release.

t (more)

MBS Xojo Plugins, version 26.2pr2

New in this prerelease of the 26.2 plugins:

New functions in documentation

Download Links: Download Mac dmg or Download Windows/Linux zip

Download: monkeybreadsoftware.de/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/.
Or ask us to be added to our shared DropBox folder.

You can subscribe to our Xojo mailing list to get notified for new pre-release and release versions.


MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 16.2pr2

New in this prerelease of version 16.2 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

New functions in documentation

Download Links: Download Mac dmg or Download Windows/Linux zip


Downloads at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/:


You can subscribe to our FileMaker mailing list to get notified for new pre-release and release versions.


Elevate FM

We are happy to sponsor the Elevate FM conference in Toronto. This is an English speaking FileMaker conference in Canada happening from June 4 to 5th, 2026 in the Toronto Hilton hotel.

Currently you can get early bird tickets for $899 CAD, which is about $650 USD or 560 Euro.

I visited the conference last year and stayed in the Marriott Downtown at CF Toronto Eaton Centre, which was more affordable and in walking distance to the conference.

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Happy birthday Xojo!

This year Xojo celebrates 30 years. In 1996 they started with the product under the name REALbasic. I got notice about it with an article in a printed Macwelt magazine in 1998. They wrote about REALbasic building macOS applications and having Windows support in beta version. I was keen to try it and asked my parents to get me this software for Christmas.

In 1998 and 1999 I was very busy coding my first applications in REALbasic and put them on a website for people to download and try. End of 1999 I got the first people asking to for for them as contractor and so in April 2000 I founded my company.

In June 2013 the name changed to Xojo to finally made Xojo mostly in Xojo. By using it themselves daily, a lot of things in the IDE improved. Over the years they added Linux support, the web target, iOS and later Android support.

To celebrate the anniversary, Xojo offers a sale in April. You may have got a newsletter about this. And sign-up for the special offers here:

Today through April 20th Take 20% Off Bundles of Xojo + Extras

  • Take 20% off your entire cart when you bundle any Xojo license with $45+ in Extras and Merch.
  • No coupon is required—the discount will be applied automatically.
We’ll have additional discounts and promotions rolling out throughout April, register to get updates about all of Xojo’s 30th anniversary offers.

If you like to meet the Xojo people, check out our upcoming conference. We'll have four Xojo people there.

See also Reflecting on 30 Years of Xojo.


MBS @ FMTraining.TV - FileMaker MonkeyBread Plug-in 16.1 Release

Check out the FMTraining.tv website. Richard Carlton and his team do a daily free live stream about FileMaker to watch.

A few days ago Christian Schmitz from Monkeybread Software joined a live episode to talk a bit about the MBS FileMaker Plugin. Watch it on YouTube.

We talk about the new version 16.1 of MBS Plugin. Check out the announcement, the release notes and the new functions.

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News from the MBS Xojo Plugins Version 26.1

In this article I want to introduce you the new functionalities from the MBS Xojo Plugins in version 26.1.

Llama

Everyone is talking about AI, and we're working to give you the most out of this technology. We've added a new topic called Llama to the Plugins section. This component provides features that let you use a local LLM on your computer. This allows you to download a model, use it locally, and query it in a chat. You can learn how this works in detail in our blog post Use Llama.cpp in Xojo

Llama chat example showing what the LLM knows about Xojo (more)

MBS Xojo Plugins, version 26.2pr1

New in this prerelease of the 26.2 plugins:

New functions in documentation

Download Links: Download Mac dmg or Download Windows/Linux zip

Download: monkeybreadsoftware.de/xojo/download/plugin/Prerelease/.
Or ask us to be added to our shared DropBox folder.

You can subscribe to our Xojo mailing list to get notified for new pre-release and release versions.


MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 16.2pr1

New in this prerelease of version 16.2 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

New functions in documentation

Download Links: Download Mac dmg or Download Windows/Linux zip


Downloads at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/:


You can subscribe to our FileMaker mailing list to get notified for new pre-release and release versions.


MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.1 News

In this article we want to introduce you the new functions from the MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 16.1.

Llama

AI is all the rage, and we're working to make as much of this technology available to you as we can. With Llama, we've added a new component to the plugin. This component provides functions that let you use a local LLM on your computer. This way, you can download a model, use it locally, and query it in a chat. You can learn more about how this works in our blog post Use Llama.cpp in FileMaker.

Llama chat example showing what the LLM knows about FileMaker. (more)

Reconnect 2026

This year the Reconnect FileMaker conference in Australia moves over to the South Island of New Zealand. Previous conferences have been in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The conference will take place 15th and 16th October 2026 in Christchurch, New Zealand. If you plan to join, please also have a day before and after to enjoy some time with your fellow developers.



We expect to see over 100 attendees from a dozen countries in Christchurch. The last conferences had attendees coming from Europe, America and Asia.

Once again Monkeybread Software sponsors the conference. We plan to come for a visit to the conference in-person. If you like to join us there, please register for the conference. Tickets are $449 AUD (about 240 Euro). See you there!

MBS Xojo Conference Update

Just one month until the MBS Xojo Developer Conference and our Training Day.

So far we have over 40 attendees from 15 countries:

🇩🇪 Germany, 🇳🇱 Netherlands, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, 🇨🇭 Switzerland, 🇺🇸 United States, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇵🇱 Poland, 🇬🇷 Greece, 🇫🇷 France, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇩🇰 Denmark and 🇷🇴 Romania.

The hotel has three free rooms left. So if you like to join, please sign-up soon.

Picture from presentation at Berlin conference 2017.

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Validate electronic invoices with Saxon

Updated for ZUGFeRD 2.4.

When you receive an electronic invoice in the formats ZUGFeRD, Factur-X, X-Rechnung or UBL, you may need to validate the XML file. You can use our DynaPDF functions to extract the XML from the ZUGFeRD invoice. Once you have the XML, you can do some automated validation. We leverage the XSL and XSD files coming with the ZUGFeRD 2.3 or 2.4 download. They provide a way to check both the structure with the XSD file as well as the content with the XSL file. The XSL file is based on the schematron file with all the business rules, but converted to a stylesheet for using it with the XSLT function. While the schema check makes sure you have the right nodes in the right places, the business rules define what can go in a field and how fields are related. 

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MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.1 for Claris FileMaker - More than 7800 functions in one plugin

Nickenich, Germany - (March 17th, 2026) -- Monkeybread Software today is pleased to announce MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.1 for Claris FileMaker for macOS, iOS, Linux and Windows, the latest update to their product that is easily the most powerful plugin currently available for Claris FileMaker produce line. As the leading database management solution for Windows, macOS, iOS and the web, the Claris FileMaker Pro Integrated Development Environment supports a plugin architecture that can easily extend the feature set of the application. MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.1 has been updated and now includes over 7800 different functions, and the versatile plugin has gained more new functions:

Our Llama functions allow you to load a local large language model. You can query it like in a chat and receive answers from the model. You can both run queries directly as well as have the plugin manage chat history with the chat function.

You tried our script search on macOS and Windows within FileMaker Pro? We added grouping to show better which scripts belong together. You can collapse entries and copy the results to the clipboard.

We updated DynaPDF to version 5. Please note that DynaPDF 5 sets the UseTransparency option to false by default instead of true in version 4 and the UseImageColorSpace flag is now enabled by default, instead of disabled. The DynaPDF.ImportPDFPage function is included in Lite.

We updated the Phidgets functions to support current output and LED array modules. You can do animations and turn LEDs on and off.

On Windows we worked on the Dialog functions, so you can include text fields in a dialog. We added Dialog.SetTitleIcon to set the title icon. The SystemInfo.ADSystemInfo function can report groups from Active Directory. For printing web viewers we added more options for headers and footers.

The CURL library is updated to fix a few bugs we had in the last version. We enabled native CA to verify SSL certificates on Windows.

We updated LibXL and got new functions for querying conditional formatting rules. You can load an Excel file only to query the metadata. Please note that AddConditionalFormatting now needs an area in LibXL 5.1.

We improved our insert and update functions to better handle data types to avoid type mismatch errors. We added InsertOrUpdateRecords functions for FM.SQL and Matrix components.

For iOS SDK based applications, we now requires iOS 15.0 as minimum. We added more options for WebView.SetPrintParameter function.

On macOS you can use our find feature in custom functions and it can look into the custom functions to find things. Click on the list of custom functions, press command F to show the find bar and search custom functions based on their content.

More smaller additions:

Finally we updated CURL library to version 8.19.0, DynaPDF to 5.0.0.7, expat to 2.7.4, libarchive to 3.8.6, LibXL to 5.1, openssl to 3.5.5, Phidgets, SQLite to 3.51.2, taglib to 2.2., Xcode to 26.2 and zlib to 1.3.2

See release notes for a complete list of changes. New functions in documentation.


MonkeyBread Software Releases the MBS Xojo Plugins in version 26.1

Nickenich, Germany - (March 17th, 2026) -- Monkeybread Software today is pleased to announce MBS Xojo Plugins 26.1 for macOS, Linux and Windows, the latest update to their product that is easily the most powerful plugin collection currently available for Xojo. MBS Xojo Plugins have been updated and now includes over 3000 classes and 83,000 documented features, and the versatile plugins have gained more new functions:

We updated DynaPDF to version 5. Please note that DynaPDF 5 sets UseTransparency to false by default instead of true in version 4 and the UseImageColorSpace flag is now enabled by default, instead of disabled. The ImportPDFPage function is included in Lite.

The CURL library is updated to fix a few bugs we had in the last version. We enabled native CA to verify SSL certificates on Windows.

We updated LibXL and got new functions for querying conditional formatting rules. You can load a book only to query the metadata. Please note that AddConditionalFormatting now needs an area in LibXL 5.1. There is an Errorcode property and you can remove conditional formatting.

The phidgets classes are updated to the newer library. This adds PhidgetCurrentOutputMBS and PhidgetLEDArrayMBS classes, new constants and properties. Check out the LED array modules where you can turn LEDs on/off or run animations.

Our Llama classes allow you to load a local large language model. Use the LlamaBackendMBS and LlamaDeviceMBS classes to check what backends are available. Please check the chat example file for a local chat bot.

We added methods for NSWorkspaceMBS class to query which application opens a file or URL. Then we added methods to open URLs or files asynchronously. Use the NSWorkspaceOpenConfigurationMBS class to pass options. Find applications based on their bundle identifier with ApplicationWithBundleIdentifier method.

Smaller additions:

  • Use our SetQOSClassMBS function to change the priority of a thread and move background tasks to an efficiency core.
  • Use Profiles function in GMImageMBS class to check what profile data is available for an image.
  • Use ProcessPages method in TessEngineMBS and the TessResultRendererMBS class to output recognized text inside an image as a PDF file.
  • Use TitleIcon property in TaskDialogMBS to add an icon to the title bar.
  • Use ToToon method in JSONMBS class to pass JSON in a compacter form to LLMs.

Finally we updated ChartDirector to version 7.2, CURL to 8.19.0, DynaPDF to 5.0.0.7, expat to 2.7.4, libarchive to 3.8.6, LibXL to 5.1, Llama, openssl to 3.5.5, Phidgets, SQLite to 3.51.2, taglib to 2.2.1, Xcode to 26.2 and zlib to version 1.3.2.

See release notes for a complete list of changes.


Neues MBS Plugin 16.1 für Claris FileMaker

17. März 2026 - Monkeybread Software veröffentlicht heute das MBS FileMaker Plugin für Claris FileMaker in Version 16.1, mit inzwischen über 7800 Funktionen eines der größten FileMaker Plugins überhaupt. Hier einige der Neuerungen:

Mit unseren Llama-Funktionen können Sie ein lokales großes Sprachmodell laden. Sie können es wie in einem Chat abfragen und Antworten vom Modell erhalten. Sie können Abfragen sowohl direkt ausführen als auch den Chat-Verlauf über die Chat-Funktion vom Plugin verwalten lassen.

Haben Sie unsere Skriptsuche unter macOS und Windows in FileMaker Pro schon ausprobiert? Wir haben eine Gruppierungsfunktion hinzugefügt, um besser zu zeigen, welche Skripte zusammengehören. Sie können Einträge ausblenden und die Ergebnisse in die Zwischenablage kopieren.

Wir haben DynaPDF auf Version 5 aktualisiert. Bitte beachten Sie, dass DynaPDF 5 die Option UseTransparency standardmäßig auf false setzt, anstatt auf true wie in Version 4, und dass das Flag UseImageColorSpace nun standardmäßig aktiviert ist. Die Funktion DynaPDF.ImportPDFPage ist nun in Lite enthalten.

Wir haben die Phidgets Funktionen aktualisiert, um aktuelle Ausgangs- und LED-Array-Module zu unterstützen. Sie können Animationen erstellen und LEDs ein- und ausschalten.

Unter Windows haben wir an den Dialogfunktionen gearbeitet, sodass Sie Textfelder in einen Dialog einbinden können. Wir haben die Funktion Dialog.SetTitleIcon hinzugefügt, um das Titelsymbol festzulegen. Die Funktion SystemInfo.ADSystemInfo kann Gruppen aus Active Directory melden. Für den Druck von Web-Viewern haben wir weitere Optionen für Kopf- und Fußzeilen hinzugefügt.

Die CURL-Bibliothek wurde aktualisiert, um einige Fehler aus der letzten Version zu beheben. Wir haben native CA aktiviert, um SSL-Zertifikate unter Windows zu überprüfen.

Wir haben LibXL aktualisiert und neue Funktionen zum Abfragen von Regeln für bedingte Formatierungen hinzugefügt. Sie können eine Excel Datei nun auch nur zum Abfragen der Metadaten laden. Bitte beachten Sie, dass „AddConditionalFormatting“ in LibXL 5.1 nun einen Bereich benötigt.

Wir haben unsere InsertOrUpdateRecords-Funktionen verbessert, um Datentypen besser zu verarbeiten und Typkonfliktfehler zu vermeiden. Wir haben InsertOrUpdateRecords-Funktionen für FM.SQL- und Matrix-Komponenten hinzugefügt.

Für Anwendungen auf Basis des iOS SDK ist nun mindestens iOS 15.0 erforderlich. Wir haben weitere Optionen für die Funktion WebView.SetPrintParameter hinzugefügt.

Unter macOS können Sie unsere Suchfunktion in benutzerdefinierten Funktionen nutzen, um diese nach bestimmten Elementen zu durchsuchen. Klicke auf die Liste der benutzerdefinierten Funktionen, drücke Befehlstaste-F, um die Suchleiste anzuzeigen, und suche in den benutzerdefinierten Funktionen nach ihrem Inhalt.

Weitere kleinere Ergänzungen:

Schließlich haben wir die CURL-Bibliothek auf Version 8.19.0, DynaPDF auf 5.0.0.7, expat auf 2.7.4, libarchive auf 3.8.6, LibXL auf 5.1, openssl auf 3.5.5, Phidgets, SQLite auf 3.51.2, taglib auf 2.2, Xcode auf 26.2 und zlib auf 1.3.2

Alle Änderungen in den Release Notes.


Visualize electronic invoices with Saxon

Updated for ZUGFeRD 2.4.

XRechnung Visualization 2026-01-31 compatible with XRechnung 3.0.x

When you receive an electronic invoice in the formats ZUGFeRD, Factur-X, X-Rechnung or UBL, you may need to visualize the XML file. You can use our DynaPDF functions to extract the XML from the ZUGFeRD invoice. Once you have the XML for one of the formats UBL or Cross Industry Invoice, you may want to convert it to HTML and show it in a web viewer.

 

We leverage the XRechnung Visualization Transformators project from GitHub. This project has a couple of XML stylesheets to convert our invoices to HTML. For this they first convert the UBL or CII XML to an intermediate XML and finally convert that to XML with a second transformation. All with XSLT with our Saxon functions. There is also an alternative output to produce a XML for Apache FOP to make it a PDF file.

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Sechs Monate bis zur FileMaker Konferenz in Salzburg

In gerade mal sechs Monaten startet die FileMaker Konferenz in Salzburg. So langsam füllt sich die Konferenz und inzwischen steht auch das Programm.



Vom 13. bis 16. September 2026 treffen sich wieder ca. 120 Teilnehmer aus dem Deutschsprachigen Raum im JUFA in Salzburg.

Das FileMaker Konferenz-Team Jan Rüdiger und Corinna Mallitsch erwarten 2026 rund 120 Entwickler, Anwender, IT-Fachleute und Entscheidungsträger aus Wirtschaft, Bildung und Verwaltung. Rund um 24 Fachvorträge und Workshops wird es viel Zeit zum Vernetzen in den gemeinsamen Pausen und beim Abendprogramm geben.

Bitte bald anmelden um ein Ticket zu bekommen. Die Konferenztickets und die Zimmer im Hotel waren in den vorherigen Jahren schon vor der Konferenz ausverkauft.

Wir sind zu zweit vor Ort mit einem Stand. Kommen Sie vorbei mit Ihren Fragen zum MBS Plugin. Wir haben bestimmt eine neue Funktion, die Sie noch nicht kennen!

Older blog entries:

2026-03-13 Logging Activities in FileMaker with MBS FileMaker Plugin
2026-03-11 MBS Xojo Plugins, version 26.1pr8
2026-03-11 MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 16.1pr8
2026-03-11 Moving background threads to efficient cores
2026-03-10 MBS Xojo Plugins, version 26.1pr7
2026-03-10 MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 16.1pr7
2026-03-09 ChartDirector 7.2
2026-03-09 FMTraining.TV series about MBS
2026-03-06 MBS Xojo Plugins, version 26.1pr6
2026-03-06 MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 16.1pr6
2026-03-05 Elevate FM
2026-03-02 xDev Magazine 24.2 Issue
2026-03-02 Copy examples from documentation to FileMaker
2026-03-01 MBS Xojo Plugins, version 26.1pr5
2026-03-01 MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 16.1pr5
2026-02-27 French Speaking FileMaker Conferences
2026-02-26 Scopes and namespaces in Xojo
2026-02-25 Dialogs with fields for Windows
2026-02-24 Use Llama.cpp in Xojo
2026-02-23 Search all Scripts improved

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