While Claris things about a free tier and Xojo has it for years, we also thought about it. For MBS FileMaker Plugin we got three levels:
| No license | All features work, but it shows a dialog every few minutes when a MBS function is called to remind about the missing license. |
| Trial license | Full product with a time limit (about one month). |
| Paid license | Full product and no time limit. |
With all levels, you enjoy our benefits to FileMaker itself like the relationship graph search. And quite a few users keep using MBS Plugin without a license to enjoy some things like script search.
Since doing license check for every little function is an overhead, I removed the license checks from hundreds of functions over the last years. This puts these functions into permanent free mode since there is no longer a check for a license. And for a lot of components, it is enough to check for the license in few central functions.
For next version 13.1, we will include the details in the documentation, so you can read which functions look for a paid license. This information is metadata, we have to collect and not all functions have that flag set in our database. And some may have the flag set incorrectly, so please let us know if you find an error.
Free are currently for example:
EnvironmentVariables,
Folders,
iOSDevice,
Plugin,
SyntaxColoring,
System,
SystemInfo,
Time,
Trace and
Validate functions. More may follow as we see fit. Currently over
2000 of 7000 functions are marked as being free.
For MBS Plugin 13.1, you can use MBS Plugin in a solution without a license, if you only use free functions without time limit. Just have no license key.
Of course we hope people like to use more of MBS over time and actually buy a license.
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 WebHook functions in MBS FileMaker Plugin and how to use them to trigger a script on another computer. And then trigger them via the CURL functions in our plugin. Or use Insert From URL, which can trigger them even from FileMaker Go.
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Did you sign up for
FileMaker Conference dotfmp.berlin 2023?
This conference is organized by
Egbert Friedrich and takes place from 1st to 3rd June 2023 in Berlin, Germany.
As the conference is in English, this is your chance to meet people from around the world at a conference in Europe. And for a lot of people it's easier to get to Berlin than to cross the atlantic and deal with US immigration officers.
Who
dotfmp is an effort of various leading European FileMaker Developers. It is meant to bring all kinds of higher level developers together to share knowledge, educate and challenge each other.
When
dotfmp starts at the 30th May 2023 in the later afternoon with a relaxed "Beer and Sausages" in one of the most famous Berlin Beergarden. The session days itself last from 1st until 3rd June with various socializing events in the evenings. Additionally you may stay the Sunday 4th June to see more from Berlin and its surroundings.
What
dotfmp is a 3 Day-Unconference, Meetup, Hangout or Barcamp. It is an informal and self-organized effort to meet on a personal base.
Where
dotfmp takes place in one of the most famous spots in Berlin. The Schankhalle Pfefferberg is located in a vibrant area with a very short walking distance to all the famous restaurants.
Why
We feel there are far too few possibilities to talk to, learn from, and hangout with fellow developers in a relaxed and informal environment. And we'd like to share work and get feedback from people chewing on similar challenges.
If you like to join the conference and present something, please
register soon.
In this article we want to introduce you the new functions from the MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 13.0.
MongoDB
In the last releases we have often talked about MongoDB. At the end of last year we added the possibility of transactions. This time we provide new functions for you with which you can document the changes. Here we can distinguish between three types of changes. With the function MongoDB.WatchClient we create a stream that documents the changes in the connection. With the function MongoDB.WatchDatabase we create a stream that documents the changes in a database and with the function MongoDB.WatchCollection we list all changes on the collection, which is similar in meaning to a table. A change stream is closed when the MongoDB reference is released, when a new stream has been set or when MongoDB.CloseChangeStream has been explicitly called. The MongoDB.NextChange function iterates over the underlying change stream and returns the next valid JSON document. You can check if there was an error during creation or iteration over a stream with the MongoDB.ChangeStreamErrorDocument. As return of this function you get a JSON with details.
JSON
Also in the JSON topic we got a new function. The JSON.Text function. This function returns us a text that is very readable for humans. The brackets are removed. We get the values with their keys as output. But see yourself. On the left is the JSON we put into the function and on the right is the plain text output.
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Nickenich, Germany - (January 17th, 2023) -- MonkeyBread Software today is pleased to announce MBS FileMaker Plugin 13.0 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 13.0 has been updated and now includes over 6900 different functions, and the versatile plugin has gained more new functions:
We added new MongoDB functions to provide a stream of changes in a database. This may help you to audit changes on the database and check what changes you or others do on the database, your connection or just a collection (table).
For CURL functions we added web socket support. The new CURL.WebSocketReceive and CURL.WebSocketSend functions can send and receive data using web sockets. You can set the certificate cache timeout with CURL.SetOptionCACacheTimeout function. We improved CURL.SetupAWS to do PATCH requests. In the examples we got an example database for SMTP with OAuth for Office 365 in FileMaker.
For DynaPDF, we added new functions to create ICC profile based color spaces. We can inspect the fields on a page and modify them. With DynaPDF.TestGlyphs function you can now test whether a text is okay to be written with the current font.
The preferences dialog for macOS now shows additional check boxes for code folding, export dialog tooltips, the option-click feature in Script Workspace and syntax highlighting for calculations independent of scripts.
In the Script Workspace, we added the find or go to line commands to the contextual menu to make them more visible. The search field in Script Workspace is now a real search field and remembers the history. Code folding can now be toggled with option key between folding all of an IF block or just to the first ELSE.
For Windows the preference dialog got a new check box for whether to show the relationship graph search box. We added the control-F shortcut for the relationship graph search field on Windows to move focus to the search field. Press control-G to continue the search. We got the Windows support for ProcessActivity.beginActivity function added.
The Menu.DefineQuickMenuXML function recognizes FontName and FontSize as keys to control font for a menu. You can work with RTF on the clipboard with new RichText functions for macOS and iOS. The Files.DeleteFolder function is updated for Linux to do recursive deletion.
Finally we updated the Plugin SDK to the one of FileMaker 19.6. We updated CURL library to version 7.87.0, DynaPDF to 4.0.70.201, GraphicsMagick to 1.3.38, SQLAPI to 5.2.3, SQLite to 3.40.0, Xcode to 14.2, zint to 2.11.1 and zlib to 1.2.13.
See release notes for a complete list of changes.
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17. Januar 2023 - Monkeybread Software veröffentlicht heute das MBS FileMaker Plugin für Claris FileMaker in Version 13.0, mit inzwischen über 6900 Funktionen eines der größten FileMaker Plugins überhaupt. Hier einige der Neuerungen:
Wir haben neue MongoDB-Funktionen, um Änderungen in einer Datenbank zu überwachen. Dies kann Ihnen helfen, Änderungen an der Datenbank zu überprüfen und zu sehen, welche Änderungen Sie oder andere an der Datenbank, Ihrer Verbindung oder nur einer Tabelle vornehmen.
Für unsere CURL-Funktionen haben wir neue Web-Socket Funktionen hinzugefügt. Die neuen Funktionen CURL.WebSocketReceive und CURL.WebSocketSend können Daten über Web-Sockets senden und empfangen. Mit der Funktion CURL.SetOptionCACacheTimeout kann der Timeout für den Zertifikats-Cache eingestellt werden. Wir haben CURL.SetupAWS verbessert, um PATCH-Anfragen durchzuführen. In den Beispielen haben wir eine Beispieldatenbank für SMTP mit OAuth für Office 365 in FileMaker.
Für DynaPDF haben wir neue Funktionen zur Erstellung von ICC-Profil-basierten Farbräumen hinzugefügt. Wir können die Felder auf einer Seite überprüfen und ändern. Mit der Funktion DynaPDF.TestGlyphs kann man nun testen, ob ein Text mit der aktuellen Schriftart geschrieben werden kann.
Der Voreinstellungsdialog für macOS zeigt nun zusätzliche Kontrollkästchen für Code-Folding, Tooltips für den Exportdialog, die Option-Klick-Funktion im Script Workspace und Syntax-Highlighting für Berechnungen unabhängig von Skripten.
Im Skript-Arbeitsbereich haben wir die Befehle "Suchen" oder "Gehe zu Zeile" zum Kontextmenü hinzugefügt, um sie besser sichtbar zu machen. Das Suchfeld im Skriptarbeitsbereich ist jetzt ein echtes Suchfeld und speichert den Verlauf. Das Code-Folding kann jetzt mit der Optionstaste zwischen der Faltung des gesamten IF-Blocks oder nur des ersten ELSE umgeschaltet werden.
Für Windows gibt es im Einstellungsdialog ein neues Kontrollkästchen, mit dem Sie festlegen können, ob das Suchfeld des Beziehungsdiagramms angezeigt werden soll. Wir haben die Tastenkombination Strg-F für das Suchfeld des Beziehungsdiagramms unter Windows hinzugefügt, um den Fokus auf das Suchfeld zu setzen. Drücken Sie Strg-G, um die Suche fortzusetzen. Wir haben die Windows-Unterstützung für die Funktion ProcessActivity.beginActivity hinzugefügt.
Die Funktion Menu.DefineQuickMenuXML erkennt FontName und FontSize als Schlüssel zur Steuerung der Schriftart für ein Menü. Mit den neuen RichText-Funktionen für macOS und iOS können Sie mit RTF Texten in der Zwischenablage arbeiten. Die Funktion Files.DeleteFolder wurde für Linux aktualisiert, um rekursives Löschen zu ermöglichen.
Außerdem haben wir das Plugin SDK auf die Version von FileMaker 19.6 aktualisiert. Wir haben die CURL-Bibliothek auf Version 7.87.0, DynaPDF auf 4.0.70.201, GraphicsMagick auf 1.3.38, SQLAPI auf 5.2.3, SQLite auf 3.40.0, Xcode auf 14.2, zint auf 2.11.1 und zlib auf 1.2.13 aktualisiert.
Alle Änderungen in den Release Notes.
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It's a long time since we published the last statistics diagrams.
First we look on the OS distribution and see that Linux grew a lot over the last three years. If that trend continues, Linux may reach 50%. So far in our numbers Linux was No 1 OS for FileMaker Server in November and December 2022.
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New in this prerelease of version 13.0 of the
MBS FileMaker Plugin:
- Optimized initialization to log better if something gets wrong to help debugging.
- Fixed a problem with macOS using same class name for a class as MBS. This may lead to a crash if one side tries to use the class and gets the one from the other side. We renamed our classes.
- Lots of little documentation changes and updated Dash archive.
- Fixed Shell.ExitCode to work better on Linux.
- Improved Files.MoveFile on Linux to allow you to specify a folder as destination.
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.
New in this prerelease of version 13.0 of the
MBS FileMaker Plugin:
- Added fontname and fontsize as keys for the XML for Menu.DefineQuickMenuXML function. Now works for submenus, too.
- Deprecated Proj functions.
- Adjusted maximum object counts. Now DynaPDF.Table.Create can have 10000 tables at the same time in memory.
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.
Let us show you nine features of MBS FileMaker Plugin around the data viewer in FileMaker. While all are available on macOS, only one is also available on Windows:
Toggle data viewer
To show or hide the data viewer, just run MBS("Menubar.RunMenuCommand"; 49297) to trigger the menu command. Of course you need a menu set where this command is included and sufficient permissions.
You can define a hotkey via MBS FileMaker Plugin to show an hide the data viewer via a keyboard shortcut on macOS and Windows:
Set Variable [$hotkey; Value:MBS("HotKey.Register"; "F5"; "control")]
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS( "HotKey.SetEvaluate"; $hotkey; "MBS(\"Menubar.RunMenuCommand\"; 49297)" )]
You may also use our Toolbar functions or even the TouchBar functions to define a custom button to toggle the data viewer.
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Check out the FileMaker Magazine website. Matt Petrowsky provides a huge collection of training videos around FileMaker. And recently he started a series of videos about our MBS Plugin:
Watch it on YouTube and subscribe to his channel.
Matt shows how he uses MBS functions and walks through our examples.
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New in this prerelease of version 13.0 of the
MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.
Check out the FileMaker Magazine website. Matt Petrowsky provides a huge collection of training videos around FileMaker. And recently he started a series of videos about our MBS Plugin:
Watch it on YouTube and subscribe to his channel.
Matt presents how to look through our documentation and find useful functionality.
(more)
For everyone using MBS Plugins with MySQL can now get the library in version 8.0.31 on our website:
Libraries Download
Please use option on connection to point to the libmysqlclient.21.dylib for MacOS, libmysql.dll for Windows or libmysqlclient.so.21.2.31 for Linux.
You can just include the dylibs/DLLs in same folder as the application and point to them.
For macOS the libraries are signed and notarized, so you may be able to use them. If you include them with your application, you may need to code sign them again.
The whole package is a convenience thing, so you don't need to find those files on the
mySQL download page.
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 what was new in 2022 in the MBS Plugins, our 24 day series about GraphicsMagick on the blog and we answered several questions.
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Vom 21. bis 23. Juni 2023 findet die zwölfte deutschsprachige
FileMaker Konferenz in Basel, Schweiz statt. Das ODELYA Hotel liegt zentral neben der Baseler Altstadt und ist fußläufig vom Bahnhof erreichbar, so dass sich die Anreise per Bahn empfiehlt. FileMaker Anwender und Entwickler können ihre Teilnahme seit dem 1. Januar 2023
buchen.
FileMaker Konferenz.com
Möchten Sie Sponsor oder Sprecher werden?
Aktuell sucht der FMK Verein Vorschläge für interessante Vorträge.
Die Veranstalter vom Verein FM Konferenz erwarten auch 2023 rund 150 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.
Monkeybread Software ist als Platin Sponsor mit Stand und Session vor Ort. Bitte kommen Sie mit Ihren Fragen vorbei!
New in this prerelease of version 13.0 of the
MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Download at
monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in
DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.
