Video about IMAP Email example

We got a video about our example for receiving emails via IMAP protocol with MBS FileMaker Plugin.



Enjoy the video and see you at the FileMaker DevCon in Orlando!

MBS Plugin Release Schedule

For the last three years we have been quite good to meet the bi-monthly release schedule. Going by two months means, we are usually quicker to turn around releases than Xojo (3 to 4 months in average), FileMaker Pro (once a year) or FileMaker Cloud (1 to 2 times a year). If some change is needed in the plugin to adapt to a new FileMaker or Xojo version, we can react and usually release our plugin update before the end user gets the new version in hands.

For the schedule, years ago, we discovered that the odd months are best. So when the year starts and everyone comes back from holidays, we have a brand new release in mid January. This release increases the major version number. We have a x.0 release and people notice that something changed. Followed by releases over the year till November with last one. The individual releases are usually scheduled around conferences, e.g. the July release is what people get presented at FileMaker DevCon. Doing a release in October would be hard to manage due to conferences. In 2016 for example we visited Xojo Developer Conference, the German FileMaker conference and the Spanish FileMaker Conference. The October was quite full with not much office time left. Odd month numbers work great so far.

The cycle begins after a release. Usually there is a week or two where we can relax and enjoy watching people try the new release. There may be a few bug reports coming in and we may provide updated plugins to just the bug reporters to try. It's also a great time to start on something new for the next release, which may take several weeks to be finished.

The first prerelease usually comes out beginning of the next months (even number). People can enjoy the fixes we made and of course see a few first new features. Over the month we add more and publish a new prerelease about every week. Sometimes there is an update for DynaPDF. With some urgent fixes we may make an extra pr to push it out quickly.

For the release month (odd number), we pick a week for release. Usually trying to avoid a week with vacation, conferences or working on-site for a client. A week before the release we stop adding new features and just fix bugs. We check the new examples whether they work well on all platforms. Usually Sunday we start the checklist for the release to be made on Tuesday. The checklists are long and include a few points like rebuilding all plugins (Mac 32/64, Win 32/64, Linux 32/64 for Intel and Linux 32 for ARM) with proper code signing. We merge new examples with old examples. For Xojo we run our application to test build all examples (See earlier blog post). Than we run Arbed for all examples to create html versions. For FileMaker we run our tool to create the Database Design Reports and than the html for the website. We regenerate the documentation and make sure all new items are included. Next we create PDFs and upload the help files. The release notes file is cleaned up, sorted and links are added for the mentioned items. Monday we pack all the files into zip archives and digitally sign disk images. The upload takes a while as it's over 5 GB per release. Finally we upload new documentation files for Dash application.

On Tuesday we update the website to mention the new release, make blog articles and send emails to the mailing lists, our press list and put it on a few announce websites. Than we wait. A few minutes later some early adapter may have downloaded it, send congratulations or bug reports. And of course some people order updates for their licenses.

On the following Thursday we send a notice to everyone about the new release. The emails are personalized to display whether the license is current and it's a free update or whether a license key is expired and it may be a paid update. This leads to a few sales usually.

Now you know how much work a MBS release is. I suggest you try to approach something similar for your software with either years, half yearly, quarterly or even bi-monthly releases. Two things to note: A lot of customers only purchase if major version number increases, so we do that every year. We do a big portion of our sales with new release going out. But even more with renewal reminders sent on the first day of a month.

Finally all version numbers are arbitrarily chosen. All versions we upload can be used in production and we do that ourself for client projects. The only thing a beta version may have new code (not fully tested) and sometimes include debug messages being logged. But for our pr and final releases, we disable that.

Matrix functions for FileMaker

Did you ever wish you have the possibility to use a 2D array as a data structure in FileMaker? If the answer is yes, we have very good news for you, with the MBS FileMaker Plugin 9.2 your wish come true.

In this blog entry I want to show you some functions for the matrix.

At first you create a matrix and fill it with values. We make a 3 by 3 matrix:

Set Variable [ $matrix ; Value: MBS("Matrix.New";3;3) ]
Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "Matrix.SetColumn"; $matrix; 0;"15¶07¶92" ) ]
Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "Matrix.SetColumn"; $matrix; 1;"17¶3¶60" ) ]
Set Variable [ $r ; Value: MBS( "Matrix.SetColumn"; $matrix; 2;"15¶1¶87" ) ]


We fill the matrix by single columns with values but you can fill in a similar way by rows (Matrix.SetRow) or single values by navigate with columns- and row numbers (Matrix.SetValue).
With all this functions you can later change data in the matrix.

You can output the matrix with MBS("Matrix.GetText"; $matrix) but the layout of the output is confusing with more then 1 column, because by default the delimiter is an empty text. You can pass Char(9) for using tab character or maybe better use the Matrix.CSV function. There you can define which part of the matrix should be printed and define your own row and column separators, which make it easier to read the output. Default delimiters are new line and semicolon characters.

You can clone a matrix with Matrix.Clone function:

Set Variable [ $CloneMatrix ; Value: MBS("Matrix.Clone";$Matrix) ]

You may need a copy if you want to modify the matrix, but keep the old state somewhere. The function copy the matrix and returns a new reference number. If you are not sure whether your matrix have the right size for a calculation, you can test it. Here is a code example for testing if the matrix have same amount of rows like amount of columns:

If [ MBS("Matrix.Height";$matrix) = MBS("Matrix.Width"; $Matrix) ]
  Show Custom Dialog [ "The matrix is quadratic"; "The number of rows and columns is the same!" ]
End If


If you want to sum all numbers of the matrix, at first you can sum all single columns and then sum the results.

Set Variable [ $a ; Value: MBS( "Matrix.Sum"; $matrix; 0 ) ]
Set Variable [ $b ; Value: MBS( "Matrix.Sum"; $matrix; 1 ) ]
Set Variable [ $c ; Value: MBS( "Matrix.Sum"; $matrix; 2 ) ]
Set Variable [ $sum ; Value: $a + $b + $c ]


If you want to add some rows or columns, you can do it with the Matrix.AddColumn, Matrix.AddColumns, Matrix.AddRow and Matrix.AddRows functions easily.

I wish you fun with this 2D data structure. If you have questions or need more information about the plugin please don’t hesitant to contact us.
By Stefanie Juchmes

Run fmsadmin from script

On your server you may need to run fmsadmin to query or change a setting from FileMaker Server. You can do that with Shell functions in MBS FileMaker Plugin. Just run fmsadmin.exe with various parameters and read standard / error output. For Windows, please pass the full path of the exe file as there is no cmd.exe running to lookup shell variable PATH to find the applicaiton for you.

Here is a little script to query version and pass the credentials:

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

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.Execute"; $shell; "C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server\Database Server\fmsadmin.exe"; "-v"; "-u"; "admin"; "-p"; "xxx") ] 

If [ MBS("IsError") ] 

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

Else

# Loop while app runs and collect messages

Set Variable [ $s ; Value: MBS( "Shell.Wait"; $shell; 5) ] 

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

Show Custom Dialog [ "Result" ; $result ] 

End If

 

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

For MacOS or Linux, you may need a different path for fmsadmin command line tool.


Fix for Windows in MBS FileMaker Plugin 9.2.10

In our 9.2 release, the Windows plugin in archive is broken for some users. A little link error related to comctl32.dll caused it to not load.

We rebuilt the plugin and made a new archive with same name. Download here.

The new Windows plugin has version 9.2.10 and is built 25th May 2019.

The Mac, iOS and Linux version should still be 9.2.09 with date 23rd May 2019.

Standard discounts for multi year purchases

As you may know FileMaker Inc. offer you discounts for multi year renewals. Currently you get 10% discount on the 2nd year (effective 5% on total purchase) and 20% on the 3rd year (effective 10% on total purchase).

We like to mirror that for MBS Plugin purchases. So if you like to commit to order for up to 5 years, please let us know. We may provide an invoice for you or just give you a special coupon code for the website store. But if there are other sales going on, we may not combine the offers.

PS: This is a great way to lock in the current pricing for future pricing changes.

Sign up for European FileMaker Conferences 2019

Please join 500+ FileMaker developers at the European developer conferences this year:
Conference Name Language Location Date Registration
FileMaker UK Developer Event English London, United Kingdom 14 October Website
FM Conférence French Futuroscope near Poitiers, France 16 - 18 October Website
FileMaker Konferenz German Hamburg, Germany 16 - 19 October Website
FM Summit Dutch Den Bosch, Netherlands 21 - 23 October Website
FileMaker Italian DevCon Italian Bologna, Italy 23 - 25 October Website
FileMaker Devcon Scandinavia English ? ? October Website
FileMaker Spanish DevCon Spanish Madrid, Spain 25 - 26 October

Website

This list will be updated as we get details for the conferences. MBS Plugin training in German on 16th October 2019 in Hamburg.

DynaPDF Manual online

The DynaPDF library has it's own documentation, which you can find included with our plugin: dynapdf_help.pdf.

In order to read it in a browser and for search engines to index it, we put the manual online as a webpage version:

monkeybreadsoftware.de/DynaPDF-Manual/

Maybe it helps you?
From time to time we update it with current manual version.

We got links from our plugin documentation to the DynaPDF manual pages for relevant functions.

FileMaker 18 Platform available

FileMaker Inc. released today the version 18 of their FileMaker platform.

MBS Plugin 9.2 is updated to support FileMaker 18 on MacOS, Windows, iOS and the FileMaker Cloud.
Our plugin stays compatible to older FileMaker versions, so you can MBS Plugin with any FileMaker version from the last 10 years!

Older MBS Plugin versions may work with FileMaker 18 Platform, but we can't guarantee that. Some versions may not load, other may show problems. We recommend all users to upgrade to version 9.2.

FileMaker 18 requires plugins to be code signed. We do that for years, so all release versions of MBS Plugins should be properly signed. If you get a warning about an unsigned copy, it may be a modified one, so please delete it!

New for FileMaker 18 is the FM.RunSaveAsXML function in MBS Plugin to automate the export of a database as XML representation. In FileMaker 18 the Get(LastExternalErrorDetail) function has been improved for plugins to give a better clear text message when Install Plug-In File script step fails.

MBS FileMaker Plugin 9.2 - More than 5800 Functions In One Plugin

Nickenich, Germany - (May 21st, 2019) -- MonkeyBread Software today is pleased to announce MBS FileMaker Plugin 9.2 for macOS, iOS, Linux and Windows, the latest update to their product that is easily the most powerful plugin currently available for FileMaker Pro. As the leading database management solution for Windows, macOS, iOS and the web, the FileMaker Pro Integrated Development Environment supports a plugin architecture that can easily extend the feature set of the application. MBS FileMaker Plugin 9.2 has been updated and now includes over 5800 different functions, and the versatile plugin has gained more new functions:

For MacOS Mojave we added new ContinuityCamera functions. Those allow you to start a process where a nearby iOS device is asked to take a picture and return the picture to the Mac. You can use both iPhones and iPads nearby with at least iOS 12. If you have multiple devices, you can show a popup menu to pick one. And you can choose to scan a document, which allows to merge several pictures taken into one PDF document.

If you like our data structure functions, you may enjoy the new Matrix functions. They provide you a 2D array data structure which preserves the data type of the values. You can fill them with SQL in FileMaker and query their content as text if needed.

As you may know we have printer functions for both MacOS and Windows. For MacOS we got a new set of PageSetupDialog functions to script the page setup dialog. You can select options there automatically and even decide to not show the dialog at all. This allows you to set different paper format for print preview or PDF creation.

We added new TextView functions for MacOS, Windows and iOS to create a plugin controlled text field on a layout. This control is independent from FileMaker and doesn't belong to a record or a layout. It features already functions to load and save styled text, RTF and HTML. You can configure it to use the OS provided spell checker.

On MacOS if you press command-R in a text area for entering calculation or custom functions, you can see the ruler and we add more tab steps for you. You can press Command-I to show invisible characters.

For DynaPDF we added a function to convert colors in PDF pages to e.g. gray scales. You can set PDF viewing preferences, e.g. to open a PDF document with showing two pages at a time. DynaPDF.Initialize got updated for iOS to allow use of DynaPDF library or framework.

Our ListDialog functions can show more than one column and show column headers. You can show dialogs for PKCS12 and X509 on MacOS to show details for them.

If you enjoy our MapView functions to use Apple Maps in FileMaker, please check the new functions to calculate directions. You can show routes in the MapView and get them detailed as JSON. You can format and parse distances for the user in localized format.

Our Drag & Drop control can accept RTF and HTML text data and return it to you. Merging Word files can add a page break in-between. Printing with PDFKit has more options to set. GraphicsMagick can return attributes as JSON and Screen.Scale function tells you the scale of a display.

Finally we updated CURL to version 7.64.1, DynaPDF to 4.0.27.80, SQLite to 3.28.0 and Xcode to 10.2. LibXL is updated to version 3.8.5 for MacOS and 3.8.5.1 for Linux and Windows.

See release notes for a complete list of changes.

Neues MBS FileMaker Plugin 9.2

21. Mai 2019 - Monkeybread Software veröffentlicht heute das MBS Plugin für FileMaker in Version 9.2, mit inzwischen über 5800 Funktionen eines der größten FileMaker Plugins überhaupt. Hier einige der Neuerungen:

Für MacOS Mojave haben wir neue ContinuityCamera Funktionen, mit denen Sie ein Foto auf einem iOS-Gerät in der Nähe aufnehmen können. Das Bild wird dann auf den Mac übertragen. Sie können sowohl iPhones als auch iPads in der Nähe mit mindestens iOS 12 verwenden. Wenn Sie über mehrere Geräte verfügen, können Sie ein Popup-Menü anzeigen, um ein Gerät auszuwählen. Sie können auch ein Dokument scannen, um mehrere Bilder zu einem PDF-Dokument zusammenzuführen.

Wenn Sie unsere Funktionen für Datenstruktur mögen, schauen Sie sich die neuen Matrix Funktionen einmal an. Sie bieten Ihnen eine 2D-Array-Datenstruktur, die den Datentyp für die Werte beibehält. Sie können sie in FileMaker per SQL füllen und ihren Inhalt bei Bedarf als Text abfragen.

Wie Sie vielleicht wissen, haben wir Druckerfunktionen für MacOS und Windows. Für MacOS haben wir einen neuen Satz von PageSetupDialog Funktionen, um den Dialog zur Seiteneinrichtung zu skripten. Sie können dort automatisch Optionen auswählen und sogar festlegen, dass der Dialog überhaupt nicht angezeigt wird. Auf diese Weise können Sie verschiedene Papierformate für die Druckvorschau oder die PDF-Erstellung festlegen.

Wir haben neue TextView Funktionen für MacOS, Windows und iOS hinzugefügt, um ein Plugin-gesteuertes Textfeld in einem Layout zu erstellen. Dieses Steuerelement ist unabhängig von FileMaker und gehört nicht zu einem Datensatz oder Layout. Es bietet bereits Funktionen zum Laden und Speichern von formatiertem Text, RTF und HTML. Sie können es so konfigurieren, dass die vom Betriebssystem bereitgestellte Rechtschreibprüfung verwendet wird.

Wenn Sie unter MacOS Befehl-R in einem Textbereich drücken, um Berechnungs- oder benutzerdefinierte Funktionen einzugeben, wird das Lineal angezeigt und es werden weitere Tabs eingefügt. Sie können Befehl-I drücken um unsichtbare Zeichen anzuzeigen.

Für DynaPDF haben wir eine Funktion zum Konvertieren von Farben in PDF-Seiten in z.B. Graustufen. Sie können die PDF-Anzeigeeinstellungen festlegen, z.B. um ein PDF Dokument mit zwei Seiten gleichzeitig zu öffnen. DynaPDF.Initialize wurde aktualisiert, damit iOS die DynaPDF-Bibliothek oder das Framework verwenden kann.

Unsere ListDialog Funktionen können mehr als eine Spalte und Spaltenüberschriften anzeigen. Sie können Dialogfelder für PKCS12 und X509 unter MacOS anzeigen, um Details für diese anzuzeigen.

Wenn Sie mit unseren MapView Funktionen Apple Maps in FileMaker verwenden, dann können Sie jetzt Routen planen. Sie können die gefunden Routen im MapView anzeigen und als JSON detailliert abfragen. Entfernungen können Sie formatieren für den Benutzer oder aus Benutzerausgaben auslesen.

Unser Drag & Drop Steuerelement kann RTF- und HTML-Textdaten akzeptieren und an Sie zurückgeben. Beim Zusammenführen von Word-Dateien kann ein Seitenumbruch eingefügt werden. Drucken mit PDFKit hat mehr Optionen zum Einstellen. GraphicsMagick kann Attribute als JSON zurückgeben und die Screen.Scale Funktion den Maßstab einer Anzeige angibt.

Schließlich haben wir CURL auf Version 7.64.1, DynaPDF auf 4.0.27.80, SQLite auf 3.28.0 und Xcode auf 10.2 aktualisiert. LibXL ist auf Version 3.8.5 für MacOS und 3.8.5.1 für Linux und Windows aktualisiert.

Alle Änderungen in den Release Notes.

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 9.2pr8

New in this prerelease of version 9.2 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
  • Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.27.80.
  • Added Calendar.Initialize function.
  • Updated LibXL to version 3.8.5.1 for Linux and Windows.
  • Changed SystemInfo.MACAddress for Windows to look for Ethernet port first, than for Wifi and than for other adapters.
  • Changed SystemInfo.HardDiscSerial for Windows to make sure to ignore removable media.
Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

FileMaker DevCon ISTANBUL

Cabitas, a FileMaker Business Alliance Partner in Turkey, and Winsoft, the provider of various localized versions of FileMaker, host a FileMaker developer conference in Istanbul. Please join the first devcon in Istanbul to connect and collaborate with other developers, experts, and advocates.



Monkeybread Software is happy to sponsor the event and maybe even present in a future year.
Sign-up on the website: filemakerdevcon.ist

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 9.2pr7

New in this prerelease of version 9.2 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin: Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

New column names in an Excel document

If you want to export data from your FileMaker solution regularly as Excel document, perhaps you want to change the column headers every time. Maybe because you have a long grown database and the column names do not fit anymore. Maybe you work in an international company and need the column names in different languages. Perhaps you changed the column names manually so far, but now is the time to automate it. In huge databases this can be a very annoying task and waste a lot of time. I want to show you one way to make this automatically for your database with the help of the MBS FileMaker Plugin and LibXL. 

In this example we load the previously exported Excel file, change the column names and save it with the optional saving dialog. 

  

(more)

FileMaker Stammtisch in Wien

Wer hat Interesse an einem FileMaker Entwicklertreffen im Juni in Wien?

Einfach in gemütlicher Runde treffen in einem netten Restaurant und beim Abendessen was über FileMaker reden. 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. So ungefähr einen Abend im Bereich von 23. bis 28. Juni.
Treffpunkt steht noch nicht fest.

Bei Interesse bitte bei mir melden.

Termin steht fest: 26. Juni 2019

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

FileMaker Magazin - MBS Artikel

Wir haben die Artikel zum MBS Plugin aus dem FileMaker Magazin gesammelt hier online gestellt: FileMaker Magazin Artikel.

Wir empfehlen allen FileMaker Anwender ein Abo vom Magazin und den Kauf der alten Ausgaben. Das FileMaker Magazin ist eine exzellente Quelle von Informationen, Anleitungen und Profitips.


Three months till FileMaker Developer Conference 2019

Just three months left till the FileMaker Developer Conference in Orlando. Please join about 1500 other FileMaker enthusiasts and learn what's new in FileMaker 18 and coming up on the roadmap. As conference sponsors Monkeybread Software got a booth and a vendor session to present the latest features of the MBS Plugin.



Sign up for FileMaker DevCon 2019 before June 7th to save $200 on the ticket. Sign up as group with 3 or more to get a discount on the tickets. Don't forget to add training day and reserve a room as long as rooms are available.

See you in Orlando!

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 9.2pr6

New in this prerelease of version 9.2 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin: Download at monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/files/Prerelease/ or ask for being added to the dropbox shared folder.

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