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MBS FileMaker Advent calendar - Door 9 - Archives

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Day 9 - Archives

Our monkey likes to have things together in a compact form. For this reason, it also likes archives and would like to have the option of creating an archive from the children's information and the individual files in the portal. We want to implement this now.

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Stacktraces for Windows

The last weeks, I have been looking for where some crashes in some code happen. You know, somewhere in a big app you have a crash, but not stack trace to figure it out.

So we have the CallDelegateCrashSafeMBS method, which is great to handle this. If you know something may crash, just call it through CallDelegateCrashSafeMBS like this:

CallDelegateCrashSafeMBS AddressOf test

This function takes extra care to catch crashes on a low level and raise a Xojo exception, so you may have a chance to see something in the debugger. I write may as the application crashed and we have no idea in which condition the application is. But we can try to show you the location with the exception.

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MBS FileMaker Advent calendar - Door 8 - Weather data with JSON

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Day 8 - Weather data with JSON

Today is day 8 of our advent calendar and winter is getting a bit chilly for our monkey. To avoid any surprises at Christmas, he wants to be able to call up the current temperature and weather conditions for each customer in FileMaker.

We would like to retrieve the weather data from a weather database. The weather data can be found on the website openweathermap.org. A few years ago we already made a video about how we implement this with FileMaker nativ functions. Today I would like to show you how this works with the JSON functions of MBS. These have the advantage that they can work very quickly, even with large amounts of data.

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ZUGFeRD Update

Many customers in Germany are currently interested in the topic of electronic invoices. With the MBS FileMaker Plugin and the DynaPDF functions, we can help you to implement this in FileMaker solutions.

ZUGFeRD

If you are looking into the topic of e-invoicing, then you should read on the website of the Forum elektronische Rechnung Deutschland what ZUGFeRD, what XRechnung and what Factur-XX is.

Then download the current standard: ZUGFeRD 2.3.2. In the download you will find the specification for ZUGFeRD (and Factur-X). There are also various code lists, schema files and many sample invoices.

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MBS FileMaker Advent calendar - Door 7 - Open Files With Roundabout Route Via Temporary Files

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Door 7 - Open Files With Roundabout Route Via Temporary Files

Welcome to day 7 of our advent calendar. Today we would like to add a function to our document portal from day 3. So far we can add documents to this portal via drag and drop, what we are missing now is the possibility to open them from FileMaker.

To do this, we use the MBS function Files.LaunchFile. We can pass a path to this function and the file or folder located at this path is then launched with the standard program provided for this purpose.

But we realize now that we have a container value and no path, how do we do this now? You could perhaps come up with the idea of writing the path to a field when reading it in. This procedure becomes problematic, if we move the original file to a new location and the path is no longer correct. So we have to take a different way. We save the file in the temporary folder and display it from there.

To do this, we first create the path where we want to save the file. We determine the temporary folder with the Folders.UserTemporary function. In the Folders area, we also have further functions for other special folders such as Desktop, Applications or Documents.

Once we have the path to this folder, we still need to append the file name with the correct file extension. The file name is made up of the primary key and the file name. The file name already contains the file extension. We now put together this determined file name with the Path.AddPathComponent function, specifying our temporary path in the parameters.

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MBS FileMaker Advent calendar - Door 6 - Sending Out Wishlist Forms

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Door 6 - Sending Out Wishlist Forms

Today it is time for us to take care of the wish lists of the giftees. We want to prepare a form that we send by e-mail to the giftees, who fill out this form. In a later door we can then read this information from our returned document.

To do this, we first create the template we want to send. To do this, we first need a simple PDF file on which we can position our fields. We have the option of either building this form with DynaPDF, or we can use a pre-designed PDF in which we create fields. I chose this method now. The document was created with Pages and then output as a PDF via the print settings. We want to write several labels in this file. The labels are not only important for the labeling, so that the customer knows which data is to be entered there, but also for positioning the form fields. We want to position these behind the labels.

Now we have everything we need to create our template.

Since we are working with DynaPDF, we first have to initialize it again, as we already explained in door 4.

If [ MBS("DynaPDF.IsInitialized")=0 ]
	Perform Script [ Specified: From list ; "InitDynaPDF" ; Parameter:    ]
End If
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MBS Xojo Plugins, version 24.6pr2

New in this prerelease of the 24.6 plugins:
  • Removed the dependency on VCRUNTIME140_1.DLL for TagLib plugin part. Appeared back in pr1.
  • Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.95.269.
  • Added GetLastTextPosYAbs and GetLastTextPosXAbs functions to DynaPDFMBS class.
  • Improved freeing objects in threaded code for Windows, e.g. for Bluetooth, Store, OCR and PDF classes in WinFrameworks plugin.
  • Improved trace logging in DynaPDF Plugin to include more DynaPDF objects.
  • Fixed memory leak with DynaPDFBitmapMBS class destructor leaking a memoryblock.
  • Fixed memory leak with DynaPDFOptimizeParamsMBS class destructor leaking an array.
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 14.6pr2

New in this prerelease of version 14.6 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
  • Removed the dependency on VCRUNTIME140_1.DLL. Appeared back in pr1.
  • Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.95.269.
  • Added DynaPDF.GetLastTextPosXAbs and DynaPDF.GetLastTextPosYAbs functions.
  • Improved XML.SetPathValue to not create duplicate nodes when finding them using namespaces.
  • Tuned formatting of calculations to break behind and/or for long lines.
Download 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 Advent calendar - Door 5 - Apple Contacts

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Door 5 - Apple Contacts

Today is day 5 of our calendar and our monkey has a few calls to make on his iPhone. He just doesn't want to keep typing in the number and searching for the customer. It would be much easier if he could simply save the specific contacts in Apple Contacts with the touch of a button. That's no problem, because as a Mac user you can read and write data in Apple Contacts. We use our Contacts functions for this.

But before we can start, we first need to be able to assign phone numbers and email addresses to our contacts. Until now, this was very complicated because we had to leave the giftee layout and enter the data in the respective layouts of the tables. We would now like to change this. To do this, we go to our relationship diagram and double-click on the equal sign between our phone and giftee relationship. Then the Edit Relationship dialog opens and we can make settings. Here we can decide whether we can delete or create data records via this relationship. To do this, we can make a choice in the checkboxes at the bottom. We tick Allow creation of records in this table via this relationship and Delete related records in this table when a record is deleted in the other table for the Telphone table. This allows us to create records in our portal and if a gifte is deleted, the associated telephone numbers are also deleted. We now do the same for the mail addresses.

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MBS FileMaker Advent calendar - Door 4 - Add GTC with DynaPDF

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Door 4 - Add GTC with DynaPDF

Today I would like to show you a tool that you can use in FileMaker with the MBS FileMaker Plugin: DynaPDF. With DynaPDF you have the possibility to create, edit, merge, analyze or sign PDF documents in FileMaker. DynaPDF offers you many possibilities around the topic of PDF.

Our monkey also wants to use one of these functionalities today. Because today we want to build the possibility to attach user terms and conditions to a PDF document. The user terms and conditions always remain the same and can be attached to any outgoing document, e.g. an invoice. I will show you how this works today in this door.

First we have to initialize DynaPDF, which means we have to tell FileMaker where the DynaPDF function library is located. The files are automatically delivered with the download of the plugin and can be found in Examples > DynaPDF. The files have the extension dll and dylib. Which of the files you need depends on your operating system. If you want to use DynaPDF on a Mac, you will need the path to the dynapdf.dylib file. If we are working with Windows, it also depends on whether we are working with a 32 or 64 bit version. If you are using FileMaker 19 or higher, this decision is easy, as only a 64 system can be used here. In any case, the library has the extension .dll. If you are not sure, just put both dll in the same folder and the plugin will grab the file it needs. The next piece of information we need is the DynaPDF license key. If you want to use DynaPDF in your solutions, you need an appropriate DynaPDF license and an MBS FileMaker Plugin license.

There are four different DynaPDF licenses. Which license you need depends mainly on which DynaPDF functions you use. If you need more information, please visit our website to find out which license is right for you. However, we do not necessarily need a license to try it out, but need to live with the watermark. After we have determined the path to the libraries and the license key, if available, we can now call the DynaPDF.Initialize function. In the parameters we first enter the path to the library and then the license key. If we do not yet have a license key, we pass an empty string here.

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ZUGFeRD Update

This is the German version. See the English version here.

Viele Kunden interessieren sich im Moment für das Thema elektronische Rechnungen. Mit dem MBS Plugin und den DynaPDF Funktionen können wir Ihnen helfen dies in FileMaker Lösungen und Xojo Anwendungen zu implementieren.

ZUGFeRD

Wenn Sie in das Thema e-Rechnung rein schauen, dann sollten Sie auf der Webeite vom Forum elektronische Rechnung Deutschland einmal lesen, was ZUGFeRD, was XRechnung und was Factur-X ist.

Dann laden Sie sich den aktuellen Standard mal runter: ZUGFeRD 2.3.2. In dem Download finden Sie dann die Spezifikation für ZUGFeRD (und Factur-X). Dazu kommen noch diverse Code Listen, Schema Dateien und viele Musterrechnungen.

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MBS FileMaker Advent calendar - Door 3 - Drag & Drop

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Door 3 - Drag & Drop

Welcome to our third door in this advent calendar. Today we would like to start expanding our database. We want to have the possibility to store additional documents for the giftees. For this purpose, we will create a table with the name Files. This table should store the name of the file, the type and the file itself as a container value. In addition, we also need a field with the Foreigen Key here, because we want to establish a relationship so that the files can also be assigned to the giftee.

Now we have to think about how we want to bring these files into our database. We want to use drag and drop to do this. So we build an area where we can drag the desired file and the type and name are then automatically read out and the file and the remaining information are then stored in a record in the new table. This data record should be related to the giftee that is currently displayed.

We can create drag and drop areas with the MBS FileMaker Plugin. To avoid wasting useful space for a drag and drop field on our layout, we would like to place this drag and drop field as an overlay, i.e. a freely movable area on our layout that can be activated and deactivated by clicking a button. To do this, we first need to create an overlay and then assign drag and drop functionality to it.

So let's start with the overlay first. To do this, we have the functions from the Overlay section. First, we create a new overlay with the MBS function Overlay.Create. This function returns a reference. We also need to specify this reference in the other functions so that we know exactly which overlay in our project the functions should be applied to. Next, we want to determine the size and starting position of our overlay. To do this, we use the Overlay.SetFrame function and, as already mentioned, specify the overlay reference, the position with X and Y coordinates and the height and width of the overlay in pixels. So we want the top left corner of our overlay to be 30 pixels away from the right and top edge. In addition, our overlay should be square and 200 x 200 pixels in size. Our function call looks like this:

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS("Overlay.SetFrame"; $overlay; 30; 30; 200; 200) ]
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MBS FileMaker Advent calendar - Door 2 - Install the MBS FileMaker Plugin

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Door 2 - Install the MBS FileMaker Plugin

Welcome to the second door. Today we want to install the MBS plugin together, which we need for the other doors. Even if you do not have a license for our plugin yet, you can simply download it for testing.
Click here to go to the website and download it.

Here we have the choice between two archives. On the one hand a dmg archive for Mac and iOS users and a zip archive for Windows and Linux users. However, both archives have the same content. So click on the archive that suits you and download it.

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MBS Xojo Plugins, version 24.6pr1

New in this prerelease of the 24.6 plugins:
  • Improved WordFileMBS class with PropertyValue() to work on custom properties, too.
  • Fixed memory leak in Invoke method of DeclareFunctionMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in the RequestAccessCompleted event of WindowsBluetoothLEDeviceMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in the RequestAccessAsyncCompleted event of WindowsGattDeviceServiceMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in DeclareLibraryMBS constructor.
  • Fixed a memory leak in ConvertStyledText in DynaPDFMBS class.
  • Added GetFontSize method to DynaPDFMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in running request in FMConnectionMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in recordWithIDWasDeleted event in CKFetchRecordZoneChangesOperationMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in FieldByName function in MimeHeaderMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in EstimatedDocumentCount function in MongoCollectionMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in exception handling for Java classes.
  • Fixed a memory leak in Root method in IORegistryMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in Match method in PCRE2CodeMBS class.
  • Fixed a memory leak in the Convert method in RabbitMQ classes to convert dictionaries.
  • Fixed a memory leak in fetchSubscriptionCompleted, discoverUserInfosCompleted and fetchRecordZonesCompleted events in CloudKit classes.
  • Updated to Xcode 16.1.
  • Deprecated ContentLengthPenaltySize, ChunkLengthPenaltySize and MaxPipelineLength properties in CURLSMultiMBS class.
  • Updated taglib to version 2.0.2.
  • Added ID3v2Tags property to TagLibFileRefMBS class.
  • Added Document property to XMLXPathResultMBS class to keep the reference to the parent document here.
  • Updated mongo-c-driver library to version 1.29.0.
  • Added AVPlayerViewControllerMBS class.
  • Added AVPlaybackSpeedMBS class.
  • Updated ssh2 library to version 1.11.1.
  • Improved Advances function in CTRunMBS class to be quicker if possible.
  • Fixed a few memory leaks where the result array was leaked if an exception was raised in the same method later.
  • Fixed a memory leak in GetSupportedIntentCodes in LCMS2MBS module.
  • Added more parameter checks for MongoDB functions.
  • Updated zlib to version 1.3.1.
  • Updated LibXL to version 4.5.0.
  • Added XLCorePropertiesMBS class.
  • Added RemoveAllPhonetics and CoreProperties methods to XLBookMBS class.
  • Added RowFormat and ColFormat functions to XLSheetMBS class.
  • Updated SQLite to version 3.47.1.
  • Improved DynaPDF.Initialize to log the version of DynaPDF loaded in the trace log.
  • Improved XL.Initialize to log the version of LibXL loaded in the trace log.
  • Split UIViewControllerMBS into it's own plugin part, so it can be used without AdMob classes.
  • Fixed a crash with UIViewControllerMBS destructor not working as it should.
  • Improved OSVersionString function in SystemInformationMBS module to better recognize Windows Server 2019 and newer.
  • Added BasicAuthenticationRequested event for WebView2ControlMBS control.
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 14.6pr1

New in this prerelease of version 14.6 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin: Download 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 Advent calendar - Door 1

candy cane Monkeybread Monkey as an elf candy cane
Door 1 - The Database

Hello and welcome to this year's MBS FileMaker Advent calendar. This year our logo monkey has turned into a Christmas elf and has to take care of the coordinated distribution of presents at Christmas. What could be more obvious for our monkey than to get an overview with a FileMaker database. Over the next 24 days, we'll show you how to pimp a simple database with the help of the MBS FileMaker Plugin. All you need is to have fun with FileMaker. We'll start by creating the database and work our way through step by step. Even though the advent calendar is suitable for beginners, advanced users and professionals can certainly use some of the ideas from the advent calendar for their own purposes.

So let's start with our first door and thus with the basis for this calendar. Our FileMaker database. Although we provide you with this database, it can be useful to deal with the topic of how such a database can be set up. Initially, we only have a few tables, which we will expand over the course of the Advent calendar. Initially, our database consists of 3 tables. The table with the name of the giftee is our main table in which we find the information about the giftee, such as the last name, first name, date of birth and address. In addition, each recipient has their own identification number that can be uniquely assigned to them. This means that the number exists exactly once for each recipient. In this example, we call it the Primary Key in the table.

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Treat your users with MBS Plugin

You may know we have over 40 goodies for developers on macOS to make the live easier. And of course also a few things for Windows. But did you know that not only developers enjoy these enhancements, but also your users?

While the normal users of your solutions don't enjoy syntax coloring as they don't edit scripts, they may still enjoy our benefits in same places like the search feature in the export dialog.
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MBS @ FMTraining.TV - The FileMaker Monkeybread Plug-in 14.5 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 check out the new MBS Plugin 14.5: Announcement, new functions and release notes.

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Black Friday coming soon

As you may know Americans love to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year Black Friday is 29th November. About half our customers are in North America, so we are happy to offer you a discount if you buy this weekend.

Please use coupon code BlackFriday for the web shop with 20% off for new licenses of MBS Plugins, DynaPDF and LibXL.
Updates are already offered with discount (usually 50%) compared to new purchases and and our academic prices already have a discount, too. If you like, you can email us to get an order link for all licenses you need or provide an invoice if needed. Especially if you like to use Paypal for payment, we can provide a link with discount or write a custom invoice.

Order MBS FileMaker Plugin     Order MBS Xojo Plugins     Order LibXL

As usual the discounted offer allows you to buy whatever licenses you may need in the next year. Especially if your license expired in 2023 or before, this is a great chance to get up to date!

This offer expires 3rd December 2024.

PS: We can do DynaPDF upgrades with the discount, too. Please contact us if you need an upgrade for something, e.g. to make invoices with ZUGFeRD.

You have a question? Please don't hesitate to contact us by email or form. We may help to point you to the right offer.

MBS @ Engage 2024

A recording of the MBS FileMaker Presentation at the EngageU conference in Malmö, Sweden in November 2024. Christian summarizes what is new in the plugin for 2024.

Watch on YouTube. Let us know if you have questions.


Older blog entries:

2024-11-25 LibXL 4.5.0 has been released
2024-11-24 Vienna Calling
2024-11-23 Entspannungstechniken bei der FMK 2024
2024-11-20 EngageU conference done
2024-11-19 Xojo November Sale
2024-11-18 MBS Booth ready for EngageU 2024
2024-11-16 Eigene Funktionen bei der FMK 2024
2024-11-13 Add a WebViewer to an Overlay window
2024-11-12 MBS FileMaker Plugin 14.5 for Claris FileMaker
2024-11-12 MonkeyBread Software Releases the MBS Xojo Plugins in version 24.5
2024-11-12 Neues MBS Plugin 14.5 für Claris FileMaker
2024-11-11 MBS @ FMTraining.TV - Unlocking the Power of PDFs in FileMaker with the MBS Plugin
2024-11-10 Please upgrade your FileMaker Server
2024-11-10 MBS Plugin bei der FMK 2024
2024-11-09 Define a hotkey to copy field name for layout objects in FileMaker
2024-11-08 MBS Xojo Plugins, version 24.5pr8
2024-11-08 MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 14.5pr8
2024-11-07 WebView2 for Xojo upgrades
2024-11-07 Tooltips in FileMaker
2024-11-06 FileMaker 2024, second release

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