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 show what is new in the MBS Plugin version 16.0: Announcement, Release Notes, New Functions and MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.0 News.
(more)Let's say you like to install the MBS FileMaker Plugin on your Windows PC for FileMaker Pro.
First you download our MBSPlugin.zip from our website.
For Windows you pick the zip file. The dmg is there for macOS. The download may take a while.
You open the zip archive and there you find a folder with the Windows plugin and inside the MBS.fmx64 file, the one with the colorful icon.
Did you know that you can use our Saxon functions to run XPath Queries against the XML file that FileMaker wrote with the Save as XML script step?
Use the menu command or write yourself a script to run every night to use Save as XML... in the Tools menu and write a new XML file.
So let's start with the xml file and it starts like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FMSaveAsXML version="2.2.3.2" Source="22.1.1" File="Assets.fmp12"
UUID="BAFECB9B-E017-4706-977D-7262EEE9E358" locale="English" Has_DDR_INFO="False">
You could run a simple query to list the
string-join(//BaseTable/@name, ' ')
This may give you a list of the base tables, e.g.:
Assets Vendors Employees AssignmentsYou may notice that we put in the return directly in the call. To make this work in a calculation, we can use the ¶ symbol:
Set Field [ Saxon XSLT::Result ; MBS( "Saxon.XPathQuery"; Saxon XSLT::XML; "string-join(//BaseTable/@name, '¶')" ) ](more)
I am happy to join the February meeting and present a little bit about what is new in MBS Plugin this year:
When: Friday, February 13, 2026, 10:00 am to ~1:00 pm, (UTC-07:00) America/Los Angeles
Description: The meeting will be held ONLINE using the Zoom desktop or mobile app (see below).
FEBRUARY AGENDA
Marc Larochelle & Matt Navarre: Teaching FileMaker in an AI World
The AI bomb has made attaining an encompassing level of expertise that much heavier on trainers than any previous change in the FileMaker sphere. The pressures, the schedules, the intense focus and what we’re still figuring out will be among the topics in an informal conversation where Marc Larochelle (Productive Computing) and Matt Navarre (Navarre Training) muse about learning AI in order to teach FileMaker developers about its integration.
Chris Moyer - The Moyer Group: Tech News Roundup
In yet another gripping monthly segment, Chris Moyer will share the latest in technology news. Don’t miss this month’s key takeaways from this segment!
Christian Schmitz - Monkeybread Software: What’s New?
Christian will share some exciting new features in the MBS plugin, including language translation and script search capability.
Lui de la Parra - Claris: Introducing Claris MCP for FileMaker
Your FileMaker database already contains the business logic your users need - Claris MCP for FileMaker makes it conversational in under 30 minutes. Claris Software Engineering Manager, Lui de la Parra, will show how your database design and scripts become intelligent AI tools automatically, letting users ask natural language questions while you control exactly what they can access.
SCHEDULE 9:30-10:00 - Log in, hang out, socialize
10:00 - 11:00 - AI Training Discussion with Matt Navarre & Marc LaRochelle
11:00 - 11:20 - Tech News Roundup, Chris Moyer
11:20 - 11:40 - Breakout Rooms
11:40 -11:45 - Announcements
11:45 - 12:00 - Christian Schmitz, New Features in MBS
12:00 - 1:00 - Lui de la Parra, Claris MCP for FileMaker
Your host: Bob Shockey
If you like to join, you can check out the group on meetup and later watch the recording in the FMDisc YouTube channel.
In this article we want to introduce you the new functions from the MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 16.0.
First, I will introduce a change that will probably make Windows users' hearts beat faster, but the new feature is also an enhancement for Mac users. We have added a new search button that allows you to search through the scripts. Mac already had the option of entering a term in the search field, which would then search the individual scripts and allow you to click through them. Now there is a search function for Mac and Windows that searches all scripts at once and displays the results in a list. This allows you to check, for example, whether you have renamed all global variables when renaming one.
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Nickenich, Germany - (January 13th, 2026) -- Monkeybread Software today is pleased to announce MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.0 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 16.0 has been updated and now includes over 7800 different functions, and the versatile plugin has gained more new functions:
Our plugin adds a Search button to the Script Workspace on both macOS and Windows. When clicked, it scans all scripts and opens a search window where you can enter keywords. The results show every location where the text is found. You can enable or disable this button using the SyntaxColoring.ScriptSearchButton.SetEnabled function.
On macOS and iOS, we leverage Apple’s Translation framework to perform fully local, on-device translations. Users simply download the required languages in System Settings. Our Translation functions can then start a session with a selected language pair and perform translations directly within your solution.
Our XL functions now support an additional parameter for passing a password when opening encrypted Excel files. LibXL 5.0.1 supports multiple hashing and encryption algorithms.
The new Hash.CRC16 function provides support for various 16-bit checksum formats. Hotkeys can now be restricted to FileMaker windows only. For JSON output, you can customize which characters are used for pretty formatting.
The Files.GetNodeID function is now available on all platforms and allows you to query a file’s node ID. Markdown text can be syntax-highlighted using the MarkDown.Colorize function. You can also generate multiple linked barcodes using the StructuredAppend parameter and export them as images.
We improved the field picker shortcut and the format button to support HTML in addition to XML and JSON. The web viewer used by the Overlay.AddWebViewer function now supports fmp: URLs. CURL debugging can display SFTP command paths and now uses Apple’s SecTrust framework for certificate verification, replacing the previous UseSystemCertificates option.
Finally we updated the CURL library to version 8.18.0, DynaPDF to 4.0.102.302, GraphicsMagick to 1.3.46, lcms2 to 2.18, mongo-c-driver to 2.2.0, SQLAPI to 5.4.1, LibXL to 5.0.1 and Xcode to version 26.1.1.
See release notes for a complete list of changes. Download here
13. Januar 2026 - Monkeybread Software veröffentlicht heute das MBS FileMaker Plugin für Claris FileMaker in Version 16.0, mit inzwischen über 7800 Funktionen eines der größten FileMaker Plugins überhaupt. Hier einige der Neuerungen:
Unser Plugin fügt im Skriptarbeitsbereich unter macOS und Windows eine Such-Schaltfläche hinzu. Beim Anklicken werden alle Skripte eingelesen und ein Suchfenster geöffnet, in dem Sie Suchbegriffe eingeben können. Die Ergebnisse zeigen alle Fundstellen im Skript. Die Schaltfläche kann mit der Funktion SyntaxColoring.ScriptSearchButton.SetEnabled ein- oder ausgeschaltet werden.
Unter macOS und iOS nutzen wir das Translation-Framework von Apple, um vollständig lokale Übersetzungen direkt auf dem Gerät durchzuführen. Der Benutzer muss die gewünschten Sprachen in den Systemeinstellungen herunterladen. Anschließend können unsere Übersetzungsfunktionen eine Sitzung mit einem Sprachpaar starten und Übersetzungen direkt innerhalb Ihrer Lösung durchführen.
Unsere XL-Funktionen unterstützen nun zusätzliche Parameter zur Übergabe eines Passworts beim Öffnen verschlüsselter Excel-Dateien. LibXL 5.0.1 unterstützt mehrere Hash- und Verschlüsselungsalgorithmen.
Die neue Funktion Hash.CRC16 unterstützt verschiedene 16-Bit-Prüfsummen. Hotkeys können jetzt auf FileMaker-Fenster beschränkt werden. Für JSON-Ausgaben lässt sich festlegen, welche Zeichen für eine ansprechende Formatierung verwendet werden.
Die Funktion Files.GetNodeID steht nun auf allen Plattformen zur Verfügung und ermöglicht das Abfragen der Node-ID einer Datei. Markdown kann mit der Funktion MarkDown.Colorize farblich hervorgehoben werden. Zudem lassen sich mehrere verknüpfte Barcodes mithilfe des Parameters StructuredAppend erzeugen und als Bilder ausgeben.
Wir haben das Feld-Auswahlkürzel sowie die Format-Schaltfläche verbessert, sodass nun auch HTML neben XML und JSON unterstützt wird. Der von der Funktion Overlay.AddWebViewer verwendete Webviewer unterstützt jetzt fmp:-URLs. CURL kann im Debug-Logging die Pfade von SFTP-Befehlen anzeigen und verwendet nun Apples SecTrust zur Zertifikatsprüfung. Dies ersetzt die bisherige Option UseSystemCertificates.
Schließlich haben wir die CURL-Bibliothek auf Version 8.18.0, DynaPDF auf 4.0.102.302, GraphicsMagick auf 1.3.46, lcms2 auf 2.18, mongo-c-driver auf 2.2.0, SQLAPI auf 5.4.1, LibXL auf 5.0.1 und Xcode auf Version 26.1.1 aktualisiert.
Alle Änderungen in den Release Notes.Download hier
Have you seen all the entries for the 2025 advent calendar?
24 articles to highlight various MBS Plugin SQL features:
You can download the example file here: Christmas2025.fmp12.zip and the complete pdf here.
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Recently LibXL 5.0 was released and we include this update in our upcoming MBS Plugins 16.0 for FileMaker and 26.0 for Xojo.
The new password feature was often requested and we add the matching password parameters to our Load functions, so you can pass it to the plugin.
LibXL is a powerful library to create, read, edit and write Excel documents in older and newer Excel file formats and without the need to install Microsoft Excel. It allows the developer to automate a lot of tasks related to Excel spreadsheets within your solution or application.
Learn more on our LibXL for FileMaker and LibXL for Xojo pages.
New in this prerelease of version 16.0 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
New functions in documentation
Download Links: Download Mac dmg or Download Windows/Linux zip
Downloads at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/:
You can subscribe to our FileMaker mailing list to get notified for new pre-release and release versions.
Since macOS 26 (and iOS 26) you can use the Translate framework to perform on-device translation services. You can use this with the upcoming MBS FileMaker Plugin 16.0, currently in beta test. We also back ported it to macOS 15 and iOS 18 for most of the functionality.
First you may check whether the translation services are available. This basically checks only for whether you have macOS or iOS.
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There is a new feature in development for MBS Plugin and you can see it 16.0pr6 (see announcement here). We add the possibility to search in all scripts in the script workspace and find things.
For this we add a new search button (magnifier glass) to the toolbar on macOS on the right:
As well as on Windows with a regular button:
We even got a fancy tooltip to explain the button.
(more)New in this prerelease of version 16.0 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
New functions in documentation
Download Links: Download Mac dmg or Download Windows/Linux zip
Downloads at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/:
You can subscribe to our FileMaker mailing list to get notified for new pre-release and release versions.
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We have been using GraphicsMagick functions for years to draw some text, but we can do the same in DynaPDF. We draw text in a new PDF document and then render it as image without ever saving the PDF document. We can even use transparency and render the PDF with alpha channel and save as PNG image.
Our first example places some text on the PDF page using the DynaPDF.WriteStyledTextEx function. This function can take text with styles from a field in FileMaker (or variable) and draw it into the PDF. The styles are converted for DyynaPDF's format commands. The text is wrapped to the desired width of 300 points and we use justify for alignment.
After the text is drawn, we use DynaPDF.GetLastTextPosY to query how big the text block is. Passing -1 as height for the text box allows us to have a variable height. This provides you the information on where to place another text or where to draw additional text. In our example we use the text position and the page height to calculate a new media box. This limits the visible part of the page to only the size of our text box.
Then we close the page and render the 1st page of the PDF document as an image. We pass the page number and the request resolution with 150 dpi. The default format is a RGB image stored as JPEG. In the script you can decide whether you like to save as PDF or render the image.
(more)Over the last years we had various instructions to install MBS Plugin on a FileMaker Server. Today we have a new way: an installation script wininstall.ps1 (and wininstall.bat).
This script downloads the MBS Plugin and install it. We put a lot of effort into making this secure and verify that the plugin is correct one. Especially we try to
This script is to help Windows administrators and we may improve it based on your feedback.
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New in this prerelease of version 16.0 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
New functions in documentation
Download Links: Download Mac dmg or Download Windows/Linux zip
Downloads at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/:
You can subscribe to our FileMaker mailing list to get notified for new pre-release and release versions.