Twelve countries represented at our Xojo Conference

We got people signed up for MBS Xojo Developer Conference from elven countries now:

🇩🇪 🇳🇱 🇬🇧 🇨🇭 🇫🇷 🇦🇹 🇺🇸 🇪🇸 🇬🇭 🇩🇰 🇮🇹 & 🇬🇷

Who wants to join next?

See also Conference Website   Xojo Training   Ask the Experts Table   Sightseeing in Munich

MBS Xojo Plugins, version 18.3pr4

New in this prerelease of the 18.3 plugins:

• Added Bluetooth classes for Mac: IOBluetoothServiceBrowserControllerMBS, IOBluetoothSDPUUIDMBS, IOBluetoothSDPServiceRecordMBS, IOBluetoothSDPServiceAttributeMBS, IOBluetoothSDPDataElementMBS, IOBluetoothRFCOMMChannelMBS, IOBluetoothHostControllerMBS, IOBluetoothDeviceSelectorControllerMBS, IOBluetoothDeviceMBS and IOBluetoothDeviceInquiryMBS.
• Added Bluetooth classes for Windows: WindowsBlueToothSocketMBS, WindowsBlueToothServiceMBS, WindowsBlueToothSelectDeviceDialogMBS, WindowsBlueToothRadioMBS, WindowsBlueToothRadioInfoMBS, WindowsBlueToothDeviceSearchParameterMBS, WindowsBlueToothDeviceMBS and WindowsBlueToothDeviceInfoMBS.
• Added WindowsBlueToothLEMBS and related classes for Bluetooth LE on Windows.
• Added WindowsBlueToothSocketMBS class for regular Bluetooth connections.
• Improved InternalSQLiteLibraryMBS.Shell function to reset global settings for further calls.
• Updated HTMLViewer on Windows for Xojo 2018r2.
• Updated OpenSSL to 1.1.0h and 1.0.2o

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

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 8.3pr4

New in this prerelease of version 8.3 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Added Plugin.UsedFunctions function
• Updated OpenSSL to 1.1.0h and 1.0.2o

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

Bluetooth for Xojo

Over the years several Xojo developers asked for a Bluetooth plugin. As we got two projects this year with need for Bluetooth, the classic one and the LE one, we decided it may be worth starting a Xojo plugin for Bluetooth.

For Bluetooth Low Energy, we got CoreBluetooth classes for MacOS. You can enumerate devices, connect to them and read/write data and get notifications for updates. That works well with a heart monitor here to get the current BPM value to Xojo.
See CBPeripheralMBS class.

Next we got WindowsBlueToothLE classes for Windows. Again, you can see which devices are there, connect and get/set values and get notified for updates. For heart rate monitor, this class works well, too.
See WindowsBlueToothLEMBS class.

For the classic Bluetooth on MacOS, we got the IOBluetooth classes. This is only a subset from the Apple framework, but you can use IOBluetoothDeviceMBS class to control a device. The IOBluetoothRFCOMMChannelMBS class allows you to do a serial port via bluetooth, which is enough for our devices here.

To select a device, you can use the IOBluetoothUI classes. The IOBluetoothDeviceSelectorControllerMBS class provides a dialog or sheet to select a device while IOBluetoothServiceBrowserControllerMBS allows to pick a service on a device.

On Windows, you can use WindowsBlueTooth classes to find devices and configure them. The WindowsBlueToothSelectDeviceDialogMBS class provides a dialog for the user to pick a device.

Once you got the device ID and the port, you can use the WindowsBlueToothSocketMBS class to connect and transfer data. This class work like a normal socket in Xojo, but targets bluetooth. You can get an event for incoming data and even accept connections.

If you come to our Xojo conference, we can present you details on the new plugin and show some examples, maybe even a live demo.

Coming soon in next prerelease.

App is not optimized for your Mac

When you run one of our Xojo examples, you may see this message:



The examples are all set to build for 32-bit which triggers this warning.
You can remove the warning, by switching build settings to 64-bit.

Eventually we will change all 2000+ example projects to 64-bit, but maybe not this year.
Maybe we can get Arbed to batch switch the setting?

Eleven countries represented at our Xojo Conference

We got people signed up for MBS Xojo Developer Conference from elven countries now:

🇩🇪 🇳🇱 🇬🇧 🇨🇭 🇫🇷 🇦🇹 🇺🇸 🇪🇸 🇬🇭 🇩🇰 & 🇮🇹

Who wants to join next?

See also Conference Website   Xojo Training   Ask the Experts Table   Sightseeing in Munich

FileMaker Konferenz 2018 in Malbun

Der Frühbucherrabatt gilt noch bis 23. Juni, also schnell zur FileMaker Konferenz 2018 anmelden.

Vom 17. bis 20. Oktober diesen Jahres findet die neunte deutschsprachige FileMaker Konferenz in Malbun, Liechtenstein statt. FileMaker Anwender und Entwickler können ihre Teilnahme ab sofort buchen. Anmeldungen bis zum 23. Juni 2018 erhalten einen Frühbucher-Rabatt auf die Konferenzpauschale.

Die Veranstalter vom Verein FM Konferenz erwarten auch 2018 rund 180 Entwickler, Anwender, IT-Fachleute und Entscheidungsträger aus Wirtschaft, Bildung und Verwaltung. Rund um über 25 Fachvorträge und Workshops wird es viel Zeit zum Vernetzen in den gemeinsamen Pausen und beim Abendprogramm geben.

MBS Plugin Schulung am 17. Oktober 2018.

Omegabundle 2018 for Xojo

Omegabundle for Xojo 2018 Developer Tools Bundle Announced; Save 89% on Top Tools



Omegabundle for Xojo 2018 is a collection of 13 (122+ individual items!) of the most useful tool sets, add-ons, digital books and components for use with Xojo Inc's Xojo development environment. If purchased separately and not including any additional offers, the total cost would be over $3,656.30. Omegabundle for Xojo 2018 costs $399.

Xojo is an award-winning, cross-platform development tool for the Desktop (OS X, Windows, Linux), Web, iOS (iPad/iPhone) and Raspberry Pi. With Xojo, you can create native applications by using drag-and-drop to build your user interface and then one straight-forward programming language to enable the functionality. Xojo is powerful and modern, yet easy to use and learn. Download Xojo today and see for yourself.

Included Products

• AprendeXojo GuancheMOS. The toolkit you need for application serialization and validation.
• AprendeXojo HTML Colorizer for Xojo. Build Xojo apps that include colorized editing of HTML files.
• GrafittiSuite Desktop Edition. 32 incredible user interface controls for Xojo that add value and improve the professional appeal of your Xojo applications.
• MaxProg Ultimate eMail Toolkit. Includes the MaxBulk Mailer bulk emailer and e-mailmerge application, eMail Extractor, eMail Verifier and eMail Bounce Handler, with a single license that works on both macOS and Windows.
• Monkeybread Chart Director. Add interactive charts and graphs to your Xojo applications.
• Monkeybread Complete Plugins. 60+ plugins that extend Xojo with capabilities you want and need to build professional, native OS applications
• Monkeybread Software DynaPDF Starter. Create, import and modify PDF files on Mac, Windows, Linux
• xDev Library. ebook series of books and premium articles written by veteran Xojo developers.
• Paradigma Software Valentina Studio Pro. Ultimate reports designer, database administration and forms creation tool that runs on all three operating systems - Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
• Paradigma Software ValentinaDB ADK for Xojo. Embed the ultra-fast, object-relational Valentina database into your applications and deploy royalty free - Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, including Raspberry PI!
• Paradigma Software Valentina Reports ADK for Xojo. Generate visually rich reports as graphics, web pages or PDF from your Xojo applications on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux including Raspberry PI!
• Paradigma Software Valentina Server Unlimited. 3-in-1 Reports Server along with two database servers: one built on object-relational Valentina Database and the other on SQLite. Report serving works with MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server and the included Valentina and SQLite servers
• xDev Magazine. 12 month subscription to xDev Magazine + some back issues + PRINTED volume, the professional's magazine for developing with Xojo with topical articles by professional Xojo developers

You can order Omegabundle for Xojo 2018 from the Omegabundle website. Please allow up to three business days for all components to be supplied by participating vendors.

As a bonus, you are also eligible for a discount coupon towards the MBS Xojo Conference in Munich, Germany on September 6th and 7th of 2018. Purchasers will receive details of the discount which amounts to 100 Euro + VAT discount (about $135 USD). (more)

MBS Xojo Plugins, version 18.3pr3

New in this prerelease of the 18.3 plugins:

• Fixed a problem with ODBC crashing on Linux with using freetds to connect to Microsoft SQL Server.
• Added RAWSocketMBS.Connect method to take IPv4/IPv6/hostname to connect.
• Added Protocol and SocketType properties to RAWSocketMBS and UDPSocketMBS class.
• Updated SSH2SessionMBS.Constructor to work with IPv4 and IPv6 as well as domain names.
• Added SSH2TunnelMBS class.
• Improved Socket handlign to better get IPv4 and IPv6 handled in various socket functions.
• Updated optipng to version 0.77.
• Added Debug, Fix, Overwrite, Quiet, Snip, StripAll and Verbose properties to PNGOptimizerMBS class.
• Updated DisableScreenUpdatesMBS, EnableScreenUpdatesMBS and Window.UpdateNowMBS for 32/64-bit.

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

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 8.3pr3

New in this prerelease of version 8.3 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Updated code for Socket.Connect, ServerSocket.SendQuery, SSH.Connect and SendCommand to use new unified socket connection code, which uses IPv4 and IPv6, queries DNS if needed and tries several IPs if needed.
• Fixed a problem with ODBC crashing on Linux with using freetds to connect to Microsoft SQL Server.
• Fixed GMImage.Opacity, broken in pr1.
• Improved Socket handlign to better get IPv4 and IPv6 handled in various socket functions.
• Added wait parameter for ImageCapture.CloseDevice, ImageCapture.OpenDevice, ImageCapture.RequestDeleteFiles, ImageCapture.requestOverviewScan, ImageCapture.requestScan and ImageCapture.requestSelectFunctionalUnit functions.
• Added Plugin.LicenseeName function.
• Fixed bug in DynaPDF.ExtractText.
• Added Shell.CloseInput and Shell.CloseStreams functions.

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

MBS Stammtisch in Hamburg

On my next visit to Hamburg, I'd love to make another MBS Xojo & FileMaker developer meeting:

Wer hat Interesse an einem MBS Entwicklertreffen am 27. oder 28. Juni 2018 in Hamburg?

Einfach in gemütlicher Runde treffen in einem netten Restaurant und beim Abendessen was über FileMaker und Xojo schnacken. Vielleicht habt ihr ja auch Fragen und Probleme, wo ich helfen kann?

Zeit wäre ca. 18 bis 22 Uhr, so dass man auch später kommen oder früher gehen kann.

Treffen ist am 27. Juni 2018. Bei Interesse bitte bei mir melden.

Falls sonst noch Bedarf an Schulung, vor Ort Entwicklung oder FileMaker/Xojo Hilfe besteht, bitte wegen Terminfindung bald melden.

SSH tunnel in Xojo

As you may have seen, we got SSH tunnel function for Xojo to run a SSH tunnel from within your application. That works nice, if you like to connect and provide data right in the app. But it does not help if some other class needs to connect.

Our new SSH2TunnelMBS class allows you to create a tunnel and run it on a preemptive thread in the background. This way we can forward a connection for use with a database to the target server. You can use our SQLConnectionMBS or SQLDatabaseMBS classes to connect to MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle and other databases through the tunnel. This works also using the built-in Xojo database classes. With our CURLSMBS class, you can connect through this tunnel and do your FTP/HTTP requests tunneled. As you can have several SSH2TunnelMBS instances running, nothing stops you to tunnel a connection through another tunnel if needed.

Here is some code from the example project:

The SSH2TunnelMBS class will be available for next version of our MBS Xojo Network Plugin. Currently we have a first version with IPv4 only, but we'll soon upgrade it for IPv6.

Ask the Experts at MBS Xojo Conference in Munich

We add an ask the experts table at the European MBS Xojo Conference 2018.

Experts can sign up to provide one to one talks outside the conference room. We provide a table outside, where you can sit together with an expert and discuss a problem in Xojo or your projects. If you are an expert in a topic, let us know which hours you are available and we put you on the list of experts. At the conference, attendees can sign up for a short (15m) session to discuss a topic in private. Of course you can arrange with expert more time if needed. Experts already include Ulrich Bogun, Thomas Tempelmann and me.

Already over forty developers from ten countries are signed up including Xojo CEO Geoff Perlman and Xojo Evangelist Paul Lefebvre. The schedule is mostly done with only a few sessions still pending. Reserve your ticket and your hotel room as soon as possible.

Our Hotel room contingent expires later this month, so please make sure you have a room booked.

The schedule:

Sep 4th	Day	optional sight seeing tour
Sep 4th	Evening	optional get-together with everyone arriving early
Sep 5th	Day	optional Xojo training (English)
Sep 5th	Evening	optional get-together with everyone arriving early
Sep 6th	9:00 to 18:00	First day of conference with keynotes
	Evening	Dinner event in Augustiner Keller
Sep 7th	9:00 to 18:00	Second day of conference with more sessions
	Evening	Optional dinner together

We all look forward to presentations about Android, the new Web Framework other news in the Xojo keynote.

Registration is open. The late bird offer available till end of June is just 599 Euro plus VAT if needed. Attending the conference costs regularly 699 Euro plus VAT, including food and beverage in the Maritim Hotel as well as an accompanying social program.

Sessions are to be held in English. Our conference is conceived as a networking event for the Xojo community. The conference is an ideal opportunity for sharing your thoughts and your own development experience with fellow users and developers. If you like to hold a presentation, please contact us as soon as possible.

Putting an end to the Server Busy Dialog in Xojo and FileMaker

When using COM functions in both Xojo and FileMaker, you may have seen this dialog:



We saw it a lot recently with WIA for scanning. It's the default dialog for COM for the case a message can't be answered quickly. So with remote method calls, the busy app may not answer to another app quickly, because well, it's busy. The dialog is simply annoying for us and we just prefer to tell COM to wait a little bit and try again.

With our 8.3 plugin for FileMaker, you can call FM.InitMessageFilter function and with 18.3 plugins for Xojo you can call InitMessageFilterMBS function. Both install a message filter, which will delay & retry all calls automatically without a dialog. Please try.

MBS Xojo Plugins, version 18.3pr2

New in this prerelease of the 18.3 plugins:

• Added InitMessageFilterMBS function to block COM retry dialogs.
• Added JSONMBS.NewUInt64Node function.
• Changed NSImageMBS.CopyPictureWithMask to return mask, even if image representation is not marked to have alpha.
• Improved SQLPreparedStatementMBS.SQLSelect to not return invalid RecordSet when SQL is invalid.
• Improved SQLDatabaseMBS.InsertRecord to better handle float and integer number types.
• Changed SA_ODBC_SQL_WCHART_CONVERT setting for building SQLAPI on Linux, so we can connect to Microsoft SQL Server here.
• Updated DynaPDF library to version 4.0.20.53
• Updated Rockey4NDMBS to use newer drivers including 64-bit for Mac, Windows and Linux.
• Fixed bug in DynaPDFEditTextMBS.ReplacePattern when new text was added behind existing text instead before.
• Added conversion code for String to DateTime in case we get dates as text.
• Fixed bug where SQL Plugin would return date with year 1899 instead of nil for empty SQLDateTime value.
• Updated SQLAPI to version 4.3.3 beta with fixed for CubeSQL.
• Changed SSHChannelMBS.Write to no longer convert text to UTF-8 before sending. We now send/read without encoding to transfer the bytes unmodified.
• Added AVCaptureViewControlMBS and AVPlayerViewControlMBS controls (64bit only).
• Added MemoryUsed, MemoryHighwater, Keywords and isKeyword to InternalSQLiteLibraryMBS module.
• Updated SQLite to version 3.24.0.

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

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 8.3pr2

New in this prerelease of version 8.3 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Added ColorPanel functions for MacOS.
• Added ColorPanel.Choose for Windows.
• Added FM.InitMessageFilter function to block COM retry dialogs.
• Added WIA.GetCurrentItem and allow you to pass "" for item to use current one.
• Added WIA.ItemProperties and WIA.DeviceProperties functions.
• Improved List.Sort to better sort numbers.
• Updated DynaPDF library to version 4.0.20.53
• Fixed parameter count check for BinaryFile.ReadByte.
• Added ImageCapture.GetFeatures and ImageCapture.GetParameters to return all as JSON.
• Added ReturnAsNumbers parameter for Calendar.Calendar.GetColor, Events.Calendar.GetColor, SyntaxColoring.GetScriptHighlightColor, SyntaxColoring.GetScriptIfColor, SyntaxColoring.GetScriptLoopColor, SyntaxColoring.GetScriptSearchColor and SyntaxColoring.LineNumbers.GetColor.
• Split plugin for Mac into regular (64-bit) and 32-bit plugin for older versions. FileMaker 14 and newer use 64-bit.
• Changed WIA.Scan to handle multiple pages better.
• Changed ImageCapture.OpenDevice to wait for ready signal of device, so your scripts do not continue before we know all details of device.
• Fixed bug in DynaPDF.ReplacePattern when new text was added behind existing text instead before.
• Added ExitIfExpression parameter for FM.Loop to early exit.
• Added conversion code for String to DateTime in case we get dates as text.
• Fixed bug where SQL functions would return date with year 1899 instead of empty value for empty SQLDateTime value.
• Updated SQLAPI to version 4.3.3 beta with fixed for CubeSQL.
• Changed minimum iOS version to iOS 10.1 to match FileMaker 16's iOS SDK.
• Added Window.ConfigureToolbarMenu function.
• Added FM.VariableAdd function.
• Added new mode object for Menu.PopUp.
• Changed context menu to not show activate/deactivate command when in a modal window.
• Added CGImageSource.Properties function.
• Added Socket.GetTag and Socket.SetTag.
• Changed JSON.ToHTML to use @attributes with lowercase a.
• Updated SQLite to version 3.24.0.
• Added Window.TopHeight function.
• Added new mode content for Menu.PopUp.
• Fixed window mode for Menu.PopUp function.
• Fixed DragDrop.CreateWithControl for FileMaker 17.
• Added ImageCapture functions to take pictures and download images from camera: ImageCapture.CameraInfo, ImageCapture.Download, ImageCapture.Thumbnail, ImageCapture.Contents, ImageCapture.MediaFiles, ImageCapture.MediaFilenames, ImageCapture.RequestDeleteFiles, ImageCapture.RequestSyncClock, ImageCapture.RequestDisableTethering, ImageCapture.RequestEnableTethering and ImageCapture.RequestTakePicture.

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

Convert office documents to PDF with LibreOffice

See newer version here: Convert Office Files in FileMaker

Did you know you can use LibreOffice to convert your Word, Excel or Powerpoint documents to PDF files?

You can learn about command line commands in the help: Starting the LibreOffice Software With Parameters.

To show an example, let us convert a Word file to PDF:

/Applications/LibreOffice.app/Contents/MacOS/soffice --convert-to pdf --outdir /Users/cs/Desktop /Users/cs/Documents/test.doc

To run this, you can use Shell class in Xojo or Shell functions for FileMaker in MBS Plugin.

In FileMaker, you can run this with shell functions like this:

Set Variable [ $shell ; Value: MBS( "Shell.New" ) ]
Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.Execute"; $shell; "/Applications/LibreOffice.app/Contents/MacOS/soffice"; "--convert-to"; "pdf"; "--outdir"; "/Users/cs/Desktop"; "/Users/cs/Documents/test.doc" ) ]
If [ MBS("IsError") ]
    Show Custom Dialog [ "Failed to run" ; $s ]
Else
    Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.Wait"; $shell; 10) ]
    Set Variable [ $error ; Value: MBS( "Shell.ReadErrorText"; $shell; "UTF-8") ]
    Set Variable [ $result ; Value: MBS( "Shell.ReadOutputText"; $shell; "UTF-8") ]
    Show Custom Dialog [ "Converted" ; $result & ¶ & $error ]
End If
Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS("Shell.Release"; $shell) ]

Enjoy conversion!

Crossplatform connection to Microsoft SQL Server in Xojo

Today we got updated sample code to connect from Mac, Windows and Linux to Microsoft SQL Server. As you see we use freetds on MacOS and Linux to connect to the SQL Server and ODBC or DB Library on Windows. Please try soon with SQLDatabaseMBS or SQLConnectionMBS classes with MBS Xojo SQL Plugin:

PS: Due to a required change in SQL Plugin, you need 18.3pr2 version, which comes in the next days.

Plugin wishes for macOS 10.14 and iOS 12

You may all be watching videos from WWDC and learn what's coming soon for macOS and iOS.

• Create ML to make model on device
• Load UDSZ file and show it
• Measure tool for plugin as dialog
• Detecting paper in picture and extracting it, correcting rotation and transformation
• Provide actions for Shortcuts app

If you have comments, more ideas and wishes, please email me or comment here.

Configure Toolbar Menu with MBS FileMaker Plugin

We got a new function Window.ConfigureToolbarMenu for you:



As you see, you can configure the toolbar menu to remove the whole menu (mode 1) or hide only the entries to show/hide/configure.
For mode 1 we skipped the screenshot as simply no menu shows up.

Coming soon in next MBS FileMaker Plugin prerelease...

Disable tab panel item in Xojo

Did you know you can disable a tab panel item?



You can simply use code like this on MacOS:


You can use NSTabViewItemMBS and NSTabViewMBS classes to access the enabled property there and turn item on/off when appropriated.

Tips for FileMaker Data Migration Tool

You may have seen the release of the FileMaker data migration Tool. And you can read documentation here. We got a few extra tips for you here:



First, be aware that matching of tables is by name or ID. So please do not reuse field or tables names. Because due to name matching, if you drop a table with a given name, a few days later add it again for a different reason, the migration could move data from the old table to the new table and match fields just by ID. This can cause serious problems, if data ends up in a different column or table!

e.g. if you have a table test with ID, FirstName, LastName, Job. Than later in development test is deleted. Days after that you create a new table named test with fields Product ID, PersonID, Payment, ID which is totally unrelated to the old table. But now when you migrate, the data from FirstName ends up in PersonID, if those have a matching internal field ID!

Second, please don't use the normal full access account to migrate. Better make a new account with a privilege set where everything is forbidden except the privilege named fmmigration. This privilege name can have an unique add-on, e.g. fmmigrationMySecret and that must match between source and clone files to allow migration. And you want to use that to avoid anyone with an account to just migrate your solution to steal the data.

Third, please be aware that using the normal Terminal window involves using a shell application, which may (or may not) store a permanent history of commands. See man page of history command to clear. This may include passwords. Also the command line may be visible with other tools while running like ps tool. So never ever put your full access password there as the trouble with someone seeing it, is big.

Forth, please check the MBS Shell functions to run the FileMaker Data Migration Tool. MBS plugin can run several shells in parallel to migrate several files parallel and better use CPUs to get the jobs done quicker. Our plugin can return you the messages output by the tool and if you run it directly, no bash is involved, so no history is written. By using our write commands, you can even send text like passwords in memory to the tool. Passing parameters does not need quoting with out shell functions, as you pass each parameter as a parameter to the plugin function.

Here is a sample script:

Set Variable [ $shell ; Value: MBS( "Shell.New" ) ] 

Set Field [ Shell::Output ; "" ] 

Set Field [ Shell::Error ; "" ] 

Commit Records/Requests [ With dialog: Off ] 

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.AddArgument"; $shell; "-src_path") ] 

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.AddArgument"; $shell; "/Users/cs/Desktop/Contacts.fmp12") ] 

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.AddArgument"; $shell; "-clone_path") ] 

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.AddArgument"; $shell; "/Users/cs/Desktop/Contacts Clone.fmp12") ] 

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.AddArgument"; $shell; "-target_path") ] 

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.AddArgument"; $shell; "/Users/cs/Desktop/Contacts target.fmp12") ] 

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.AddArgument"; $shell; "-v") ] 

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.Execute"; $shell; "/Users/cs/Downloads/FMDataMigration") ] 

Set Variable [ $error ; Value: "" ] 

Set Variable [ $result ; Value: "" ] 

If [ MBS("IsError") ] 

    Show Custom Dialog [ "Failed to run" ; $s ] 

Else

    If [ Length(Shell::Input) > 0 ] 

        Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.WriteInputText"; $shell; Shell::Input; "UTF-8") ] 

    End If

    # Loop while app runs and collect messages

    Loop

        Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.Wait"; $shell; 1) ] 

        Set Variable [ $error ; Value: $error & MBS( "Shell.ReadErrorText"; $shell; "UTF-8") ] 

        Set Variable [ $result ; Value: $result & MBS( "Shell.ReadOutputText"; $shell; "UTF-8") ] 

        Set Field [ Shell::Error ; MBS( "Text.ReplaceNewline"; $error; 1) ] 

        Set Field [ Shell::Output ; MBS( "Text.ReplaceNewline"; $result; 1) ] 

        Exit Loop If [ MBS( "Shell.IsRunning"; $shell) ≠ 1 ] 

    End Loop

    Commit Records/Requests [ With dialog: Off ] 

End If

Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS("Shell.Release"; $shell) ] 

Finally, if you build something, be aware that you may not have the right to redistribute the FileMaker Data Migration Tool on your own. FileMaker developers need to have a FDS subscription to be allowed to download it.

Last early bird tickets for MBS Xojo Conference in Munich

Today the last early bird offer for our European MBS Xojo Conference 2018 in Munich ends. If you like to join, please sign up soon.
(due to time zones we wait a few more hours after midnight)

Already developers from ten countries are signed up including Xojo CEO Geoff Perlman and Xojo Evangelist Paul Lefebvre. The schedule is mostly done with only a few sessions still pending. Reserve your ticket and reserve your hotel room as soon as possible.

Our Hotel room contingent expires later this month, so please make sure you have a room booked.

The schedule:

Sep 4th	Day	optional sight seeing tour
Sep 4th	Evening	optional get-together with everyone arriving early
Sep 5th	Day	optional Xojo training (English)
Sep 5th	Evening	optional get-together with everyone arriving early
Sep 6th	9:00 to 18:00	First day of conference with keynotes
	Evening	Dinner event in Augustiner Keller
Sep 7th	9:00 to 18:00	Second day of conference with more sessions
	Evening	Optional dinner together

We all look forward to presentations about Android, the new Web Framework other news in the Xojo keynote.

Registration is open. The late bird offer available till end of June is just 599 Euro plus VAT if needed. Attending the conference costs regularly 699 Euro plus VAT, including food and beverage in the Maritim Hotel as well as an accompanying social program.

Sessions are to be held in English. Our conference is conceived as a networking event for the Xojo community. The conference is an ideal opportunity for sharing your thoughts and your own development experience with fellow users and developers. If you like to hold a presentation, please contact us as soon as possible.

Import images from cameras on MacOS with FileMaker

We got a few new ImageCapture functions to import images from camera on Mac. So if you can import in Photos.app or Image Capture.app, you can also import them in FileMaker.



We got new functions like ImageCapture.RequestTakePicture to take a picture, ImageCapture.MediaFiles to query files on device and ImageCapture.CameraInfo to query details on the camera. With ImageCapture.Download you can download an image or video from device and ImageCapture.RequestDeleteFiles can remove files from device.

Coming soon in next 8.3 prerelease...

PS: For Xojo, you can do the same with our ImageCapture classes: ImageCaptureMBS

Plugin wishes for macOS 10.14 and iOS 12?

You may all be watching videos from WWDC and learn what's coming soon for macOS and iOS.

Now the are a lot of new APIs, but I'd like to know from you what you'd like to see in our plugins for Xojo and FileMaker.

Usually we provide lower level wrapper for Xojo to Apple's APIs for macOS with hiding all the threading issues from you and translating values from native Xojo types to the matching Foundation types. As there is currently no iOS plugin SDK for Xojo, we can't make all features available via declares.

For FileMaker we usually provide a much more higher level API to do selected things and provide plugin functions for both macOS and iOS.

If you have ideas and wishes, please email me. I'll keep a list and if we have a lot of wishes for a given API, I may give it some priority.

FileMaker DevCon UK 2018

Looks like I join this year the FileMaker conference in England:



October 23-24, 2018 in London, UK. Register on filemakerdevcon.uk.

Xojo's sixth birthday

Xojo turns six years old today.

On 4th June 2013, Xojo Inc. announced the name change from Real Studio to Xojo, the new IDE and the new license model.

Originally Xojo started over 20 years ago as CrossBasic, got rebranded as REALbasic and released in 1998 to the public. In 2010 the name was changed to Real Studio before in 2013 the company and its product were renamed to Xojo.

Congratulations to the team and looking forward to the next 20 years!

See you at the Xojo Conference in Munich.

MBS Xojo Plugins, version 18.3pr1

New in this prerelease of the 18.3 plugins:

• Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.20.51.
• Added NetFSMountMBS class.
• Added SetLicenseKeyGlobal private method to DynaPDFMBS class to cause compiler error if you call SetLicenseKeyGlobal with an object. Please call only in app.open with shared method.
• Added SetKeyGlobal private method to XLBookMBS class to cause compiler error if you call SetKeyGlobal with an object. Please call only in app.open with shared method.
• Changed DynaPDFMBS.SetLicenseKeyGlobal and XLBookMBS.SetKeyGlobal to raise exception if debugging, if called twice to notify developer about misuse.
• Added more methods for GZipFileMBS and improved error handling.
• Fixed GZipFileMBS.Read bug for 64bit.
• Reworked NSMenuItemMBS to make all properties visible in debugger.
• Added Menuitem function to NSMenuItemMBS class.
• Added database class for documentation.
• Added SSH2SessionMBS.OpenDirectTCPIPChannel function to tunnel request through server.
• Fixed a problem with DynaPDFMBS.RotateTemplate function.
• Added InternalCubeSQLLibraryMBS module to use built in cubesql client library.
• Added more properties for TiffPictureMBS class.
• Added convenience shared methods for GMColorMBS class.
• Updated EdsFocusInfoMBS for newer Canon EOS SDK.
• Added MountMBS/UnmountMBS global functions for Mac/Win/Linux.
• Added CURLSMBS.SetupOAuth function.
• Upgraded OpenDialogMBS class to use newer API on Windows, if possible.
• Updated Rockey4NDMBS to work on Windows for 32 and 64-bit.
• Added WinUserNotificationCenterMBS.Setting function.

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

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 8.3pr1

New in this prerelease of version 8.3 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.20.51.
• Added Files.MountPath function.
• Added Time.UnixTimeStampToFileMaker function.
• Fixed a problem with Text.ReplaceAll causing freeze with empty string to search.
• Fixed a problem with DynaPDF.RotateTemplate function.
• Added Command-G shortcut for find bar to continue search.
• Fixed problem with Bonjour causing 180% CPU usage.
• Added Text.AddLineNumbers function.
• Changed Path.NativePathToFileMakerPath to make sure we have a / on the end on Mac.
• Switched to 16bit GraphicsMagick library for Mac.
• Added GMImage.QuantumDepth function.
• Added GMImage.Read function, useful to create gradient images.
• Added ImagePicker.ClearOverlay and ImagePicker.SetOverlayImage functions.
• Fixed crash in JSON.GetArrayItemsAsList for undefined values.
• Added CURL.SetupOAuth function.
• Upgraded FileDialog.OpenFileDialog, FileDialog.SelectFolderDialog and FileDialog.SaveFileDialog to use newer API on Windows to get newer dialog.
• Added additional UTF-8 text encoding validation for CURL.GetResultAsEmail to avoid crash due to bad UTF-8 sequences in email text.
• Added WindowsUserNotification.Setting function.

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

Xojo Stammtisch in Berlin, 5th June 2018

On my next visit to Berlin, we have another Xojo developer meeting:

Wer hat Interesse an einem Xojo Entwicklertreffen am 5. Juni in Berlin?
ca. 18 bis 21 Uhr im Biergarten.

Einfach gemütlich zusammen sitzen in einem Restaurant oder Biergarten und über Xojo schnacken.
Gerne zeige ich auch neue Pluginfunktionen oder helfe bei Problemen mit Xojo Projekten. Einfach Computer mitbringen und was zeigen.

Wer noch dabei sein möchte, bitte per Email melden. Anmelden

FileMaker DevCon Scandinavia 2018

Looks like I join this year the FileMaker conference in Sweden:



October 22-23, 2018 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Register on devconscandinavia.se.

Custom menu checkmarks

Did you know you can get custom checkmark icons with MBS Xojo Plugins on Mac by using NSMenuItemMBS class?

Here is some example code which sits in App. EnableMenuItems event and modifies the menu just before it's showing:

The example project will be included soon with 18.3 plugins.