JSON Query in FileMaker

Recently we got a request for JSONPath queries in FileMaker, so we looked into various ways on how to implement this. We found a way and got three new functions for you:

• MBS( "JSON.Query"; json; query; flags )
• MBS( "JSON.Search"; json; path )
• MBS( "JSON.Replace"; json; path; ReplaceJSON )

Please try them, e.g. run a query against them.

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MBS Plugins on Xojo Cloud

You may know Xojo Cloud as an easy way to deploy Web 1 and 2 applications to the web. A Xojo Cloud plan is just $49 per month for the smallest level and it is very comfortable. Just make your Xojo project, set Cloud as build target and click the deploy button. If you have no time to manage your own VPS, this is the most convenient way to run Xojo web apps. The second most comfortable way is probably using Lifeboat from Strawberry Software to manage your apps on your own VPS, e.g. an Amazon EC2 instance.

When we updated OpenSSL recently in version 23.2, we accidentally broke the compatibility to the linux used on Xojo Cloud, which seems to be current CentOS 7.9. Sorry if you are affected. This is fixed for 23.5pr1 and future releases. Of course Xojo Cloud may update someday to a newer version of Linux, like a current Ubuntu.

For the time being, the following plugin parts (out of about 500) may not load on CentOS due to library dependencies to newer C/C++ versions:

• XML need C++ 1.3.9
• ReSVG needs C 2.27
• TOTP needs C++ 3.4.21
• SQLite needs C 2.22
• SATSolver needs C 2.22
• New JSON needs C++ 3.4.21

We also got a feature request to upgrade the Linux Cloud Servers to a newer version: Issue 74230.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have questions or need assistance.

PS: Please note that the use of 32-bit Intel Linux version of MBS Xojo Plugins is deprecated. 32-bit for ARM is still working fine of course as well as all the 64-bit targets.

FileMaker 2023, second release

Claris released today FileMaker 2023 in version 20.2.1.

You get an integration to Claris Connect and Claris Studio. You can now place text with calculations directly on a layout. FileMaker is compatible to macOS Sonoma with some known issues and you may enjoy a few bug fixes. But please read details in the release notes:

Announcement

FileMaker Pro 20.2.1 release notes
FileMaker Go 20.2.1 release notes
FileMaker Server 20.2.1 release notes

macOS Sonoma (14.0) and iOS 17 compatibility

You can download it on the ESD website. The link is in the license email from Claris.

For MBS Plugin, just make sure you have a 13.x version. We fixed a few minor things over the beta test period, so recommended version is 13.4.

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 13.5pr1

New in this prerelease of version 13.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Added Flags Parameter for Matrix.HTML function.
• Added calculation formatting function with ƒ button for custom function and calculation dialogs.
• Changed XL.Sheet.CellReadStyledText function to fall back to XL.Sheet.CellReadText for non styled cells.
• Changed AVRecorder.Release to stop session if it is running.
• Added JSON.Query function for JSON Path queries.
• Added JSON.Replace to replace within a JSON.
• Added JSON.Search to perform JMESPath queries in FileMaker.
• Changed SQL functions, so you can load Actual Tech ODBC drivers directly without using iODBC.
• Added Window.Parent function.
• Fixed OpenSSL to not depend on GLIBC_2.25, so you can use our plugin on older linux versions again.
• Enabled fortified source checks for libc on Linux.
• Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.78.230.
• Added SkaleAnnotIcons flag for DynaPDF.SetGStateFlags function.
• Updated CURL to version 8.3.0.
• Added highlight support for Text.TextToHTML function.
• Updated to Xcode 15.0.
• Added XML.Import.GetExtraFieldDefinitions and XML.Import.SetExtraFieldDefinitions functions to create custom fields.
• Improved Matrix.Evaluate and Matrix.Current to work better in multi threading environments.
• Added Flags Parmeter for Matrix.Evaluate. Pass 2 to continue after error.
• Added Matrix.Lookup function to get a value without error for invalid parameters.

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.

News in MBS FileMaker Plugin 13.4

In this article we want to introduce you the new functions from the MBS FileMaker Plugin in version 13.4.

Phidget

Let's start with the most comprehensive and coolest new feature of the release: Phidgets. Phidgets are small additional devices that you can connect to your computer and with which you can then input or output data. For example you can connect a small motor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a gyroscope or a small LED display and exchange data with these devices. Since a few years we already have a plugin for Xojo, which allows the interaction with these small devices and we are proud to offer the use of these small devices now also for FileMaker.

With Phidget.Load we first load the Phidget library we want to work with. With Phidget.Create we create an instance of a Phidget channel. Once created the channel may need to be configured to match the physical device and channel index you want to attach to, and then be opened by calling Phidget.Open. The Phidget channel handle must be released with Phidget.Release. With the functions Phidget.SetProperty and Phidget.GetProperty you can set and get properties of a specific Phidget. A function that is even more powerful is the Phidget.SetScriptTrigger function, which allows you to set a script to be started when a certain event occurs. This can be e.g. with a temperature sensor a detected change in the temperature. These and many more functions are waiting for you in the new component Phidget. We are excited what new projects you can implement with these little helpers.

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The need for automated checks

When you do things in your business, it is very important to have automated checks. A process needs to check if the previous process did the right thing. Because whatever can go wrong, will eventually go wrong and then you add a new check.

Today we added a check to our newsletter sending to make sure the text file for the announcement is from the current month. This hopefully avoids us sending out over 1000 emails with the old text the next time. Sorry, if you got one of these announcement newsletters with the wrong announcement.

Recently we got a new check when packing the plugins to check if the version number in the plugin file is the current version. Because it happened before, that the build machine failed and didn't copy over a new version. We also check that plugin files have a minimum file size and the linker didn't abort for some reason. The same script checks if all the plugins are from the same day to avoid missing to build one of them. (more)

EngageU - FileMaker Conference in two months

Just two months until the EngageU conference. ClickWorks and Square Moon continue to organize a pan-european conference for Claris FileMaker developers from all over the world. EngageU - FileMaker Conference 12th - 14th of November 2023, Antwerp, Belgium After the conference in Malmö last year, we see the second conference coming to Belgium. This may be the largest in-person European FileMaker conference this year with about 250 participants. Claris is expected to join and all presentations will be in English. Please don't miss this event and sign up for the conference soon: EngageU And it's great reason for people from all around the world to do a business trip to see Belgium. More events are listed on our events website.

MBS Plugin 13.4 for Claris FileMaker - More than 7100 Functions In One Plugin

Nickenich, Germany - (September 12th, 2023) -- MonkeyBread Software today is pleased to announce MBS FileMaker Plugin 13.4 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 13.4 has been updated and now includes over 7100 different functions, and the versatile plugin has gained more new functions:

Our new Phidget functions allow you to connect to devices from Phidgets Inc. directly from FileMaker, if you like to automate something with using phidget devices. This includes: analog or digital input or outputs, servo motors, touch sensors, RFID, GPS, gyroscope, magnetometer, spatial sensor, temperature sensor, frequency counter, IR, PH sensor, LCD, distance sensor, light sensor, pressure sensor, sound sensor, humidity sensor and more. Create a device object, set properties and connect. Then get and set properties and register script triggers.

We updated our SSL support for our MongoDB functions. We switched to using OpenSSL as the transport encryption library for the MongoDB library for macOS and iOS. The MongoDB.SSLLibrary function tells you which SSL library is in use. You can use MongoDB.SetSSLOptions function to specify SSL options in addition to putting them into the connection string. To check about possible reasons for connection problems, we got a new trace logging functionality with MongoDB.IsTracing and MongoDB.Trace functions. And by regularly calling MongoDB.Ping function you can check whether the connection is alive and keep it open.

For macOS we have a couple of functions to check the state of cloud hosted files, e.g. in iCloud or Dropbox. You can query the state with Files.UbiquitousItemStatus function. Then you can request a download with Files.StartDownloadingUbiquitousItem function or free local disk space with Files.EvictUbiquitousItem function. Calendars, events and sources can now be queried as JSON objects.

DynaPDF can now delete DPart nodes and skip DPart data on importing. The DynaPDF.RenderPage function can take the ForceInterpolation flag and DynaPDF.SaveAndSignFileExt1 got updated with a new useDetached parameter.

We updated WebDownloadDelegate functions to work with WebKit 2.0 on macOS and iOS. For iOS we got new triggers for orientation change with iOSApp.SetOrientationDidChangeScript function.

The XML.InsertRecords function can insert records with data from XML, we got new Base32 encoding and decoding functions, the CURL.ProcessRelativeURL function can help to expand relative URLs and improved JSON.Import function to handle arrays in arrays. The SerialPort.OpenPath function can open paths to special devices like pipes.

Finally we updated curl to version 8.2.1, DynaPDF to 4.0.77.228, SQLAPI to 5.2.5 and SQLite to version 3.43.1.

See release notes for a complete list of changes.

Neues MBS Plugin 13.4 für Claris FileMaker

12. September 2023 - Monkeybread Software veröffentlicht heute das MBS FileMaker Plugin für Claris FileMaker in Version 13.4, mit inzwischen über 7100 Funktionen eines der größten FileMaker Plugins überhaupt. Hier einige der Neuerungen:

Unsere neuen Phidget-Funktionen ermöglichen es Ihnen, sich direkt von FileMaker aus mit Geräten von Phidgets Inc. zu verbinden, wenn Sie etwas mit Hilfe von Phidgets-Geräten automatisieren möchten. Dazu gehören: analoge oder digitale Ein- oder Ausgänge, Servomotoren, Berührungssensoren, RFID, GPS, Gyroskop, Magnetometer, Raumsensor, Temperatursensor, Frequenzzähler, IR, PH-Sensor, LCD, Abstandssensor, Lichtsensor, Drucksensor, Tonsensor, Feuchtigkeitssensor und mehr. Erstellen Sie ein Geräteobjekt, legen Sie Eigenschaften fest und stellen Sie eine Verbindung her. Holen und setzen Sie dann Eigenschaften und registrieren Sie Skriptauslöser.

Wir haben unsere SSL-Unterstützung für unsere MongoDB-Funktionen aktualisiert. Dabei wechseln wir auf OpenSSL als Transportverschlüsselung-Bibliothek für die MongoDB-Bibliothek für macOS und iOS. Die Funktion MongoDB.SSLLibrary teilt Ihnen mit, welche SSL-Bibliothek verwendet wird. Sie können die Funktion MongoDB.SetSSLOptions verwenden, um SSL-Optionen zusätzlich zur Eingabe in den Verbindungsstring anzugeben. Um mögliche Gründe für Verbindungsprobleme zu prüfen, gibt es mit den Funktionen MongoDB.IsTracing und MongoDB.Trace eine neue Trace-Logging-Funktion. Und durch den regelmäßigen Aufruf der Funktion MongoDB.Ping können Sie überprüfen, ob die Verbindung noch besteht und offen gehalten wird.

Für macOS gibt es eine Reihe von Funktionen, um den Status von in der Cloud gehosteten Dateien zu überprüfen, z. B. in iCloud oder Dropbox. Sie können den Status mit der Funktion Files.UbiquitousItemStatus abfragen. Anschließend können Sie mit der Funktion Files.StartDownloadingUbiquitousItem einen Download anfordern oder mit der Funktion Files.EvictUbiquitousItem lokalen Speicherplatz freigeben. Kalender, Ereignisse und Quellen können jetzt als JSON-Objekte abgefragt werden.

DynaPDF kann nun DPart-Knoten löschen und DPart-Daten beim Importieren überspringen. Die DynaPDF.RenderPage Funktion kann das ForceInterpolation Flag annehmen und DynaPDF.SaveAndSignFileExt1 wurde mit einem neuen useDetached Parameter versehen.

Wir haben die WebDownloadDelegate-Funktionen verbessert, damit sie mit WebKit 2.0 auf macOS und iOS funktionieren. Für iOS gibt es neue Trigger für Orientierungsänderungen mit der Funktion iOSApp.SetOrientationDidChangeScript.

Die Funktion XML.InsertRecords kann Datensätze mit Daten aus XML einfügen, es gibt neue Funktionen zur Base32-Kodierung und -Dekodierung, die Funktion CURL.ProcessRelativeURL hilft bei der Erweiterung relativer URLs und die verbesserte Funktion JSON.Import kann Arrays in Arrays verarbeiten. Die Funktion SerialPort.OpenPath kann Pfade zu speziellen Geräten wie Pipes öffnen.

Schließlich haben wir curl auf Version 8.2.1, DynaPDF auf 4.0.77.228, SQLAPI auf 5.2.5 und SQLite auf Version 3.43.1 aktualisiert.

Alle Änderungen in den Release Notes.

17 years since MBS FileMaker Plugin version 1.0

Today seventeen years ago we released the MBS FileMaker Plugin in Version 1.0.
Here the original announcement:

[ANN] MBS Plug-in For Filemaker

Make FileMaker Windows Semi Transparent!
Take Screenshots from FileMaker
Run an Applescript on field exit
and more...

Monkey Bread Software, maker of the popular MBS Plug-in for RealBasic and geist interactive have teamed up to bring the extensive MBS function library to FileMaker. The MBS RealBasic plug-in contains over 10000 functions, and this release represents the first step in a project to bring as many of those functions to FileMaker as make sense. Many many more features to com in the future.

The plug-in is available for FileMaker 8 and 8.5. It is available for Windows XP and as Universal Binary for Mac OS X There is a Developer Tool available to help you get started quickly with documentation and Calculation builder. Demos are available on the website

more info: geistinteractive.com
download: monkeybreadsoftware.de/filemaker/

Read also: 4000 functions in 10 years and 5000 Functions in MBS Plugin.

Thanks for the support over years.

Where are all the functions?

Recently a client asked me where all the MBS functions are. Looking in the calculation dialog, you see just MBS listed:



If you ask why we don't have over 7000 functions listed there, the answer is easy: It would be a nightmare for you to use.

Recently I made a special version of MBS Plugin to register all functions individually and show them in the calculation dialog right away:

You don't see the scrollbar on the screenshot, but all 7000 functions are there. The dialog takes about 12 seconds to open as FileMaker adds all the functions to the list. And it takes another 10 seconds to open the MBS section there. There is a significant time cost for having a lot of functions there and thus we don't do this normally.

Please pass the function name to MBS() as first parameter to pick the function. Take benefit from being able to pick a function name from a field or calculation.

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 13.4pr7

New in this prerelease of version 13.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Updated SQLAPI to version 5.2.5.
• Added SerialPort.WaitNamedPipe function to wait for a pipe and use with SerialPort.OpenPath on Windows.
• Added new PhotoPicker functions.
• Fixed a problem with syntax coloring failing to color formulas in variable editing dialog.
• Fixed a problem with WordFile.ReplaceTag and WordFile.Substitute functions when passing in NULL characters in the text.

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.

One month until Rome FileMaker Week

Just one month until the FileMaker conference in Rome, Italy starts: from 3rd to 8th October 2023.

For the international traveler coming to the conference, please note, that there are extra days for sight seeing and/or training with your fellow developers.

Day	Sight Seeing	Training	Conference
3rd Oct	Tour Rome & FileMaker Undergrounds of Rome and via dell'acqua
4th Oct	Tour Rome & FileMaker Industrial Rome	Course build your FileMaker app from scratch (in Italian) Course build your FileMaker app from scratch (in English)
5th Oct			Claris Partner meeting (in English) Conference start.
6th Oct			Conference & Gala Dinner
7th Oct			Conference
8th Oct		JavaScript & FileMaker Course Design Masterclass (in Spanish)

More information on the website. Last year we had live translation between English and Italian and you could use head phones to hear all presentations in either language. This year FMGuru looks into adding Spanish and French translation.

If you sign up, please find below the €100 discount coupon on the event ticket: RFWMBS100

MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 13.4pr6

New in this prerelease of version 13.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Fixed a problem with Dialog.SetTimeout closing a FileMaker custom dialog by accident on macOS.
• Improved DynaPDF.FindField to better find a field in a group.
• Added SerialPort.OpenPath function, so you can use SerialPort functions to open special files or pipes.
• Fixed a problem with handling of Shift JIS text encoding.
• Fixed a bug in setting numeric values in SQL functions with floating numbers, caused by a bug fix in version 13.3. Values showed up as zero incorrectly.
• Updated DynaPDF to version 4.0.77.228.
• Added SkipDPartData option for DynaPDF.SetImportFlags2 function.
• Added DynaPDF.DeleteDPartNode function.

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.

Claris Pro merged into FileMaker Pro

As Claris announced, they will merge the Claris Pro/Server product line into the FileMaker Pro/Server product line. The existing customers will get a new version to convert their files into .fmp12 format and convert to a FileMaker Pro/Server. That change will of course require a new version of FileMaker Pro/Server, which can talk to Claris Studio.

For our MBS Plugin, we look currently for customers, who use Claris Pro/Server and need MBS plugin there. Our plugin has dozens of places, where it checks the current version for whether it is Claris or FileMaker branch to decide what to do. For example file paths on servers are different.

Today we deprecate our support for Claris Pro/Server with MBS Plugin for the upcoming 13.4 version. We keep it working for a few more months, but may remove the Claris Pro/Server support in a future version.

Any customer using the Claris branch may please contact us, so we can keep a list of who uses it and keep our plugin working for our clients until the last one transitioned to FileMaker.

Please let us know if you have questions.

Web Download Delegate for WebKit 2 in FileMaker

For 13.4 release, we'll update the WebDownloadDelegate functions in MBS FileMaker Plugin to work again with web viewers using WebKit 2 (since FileMaker 16).

Once again you can control downloads in FileMaker's web viewer on macOS and iOS. When a download starts, you get a script triggered to inform you about the progress. Then we have script triggers for download finished or failed and to update on progress.

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MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 13.4pr5

New in this prerelease of version 13.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Changed window searching on Windows to prefer visible windows for finding by title.
• Upgraded WebDownloadDelegate functions to work on WebKit 2.0 on macOS and iOS.
• Updated for future FileMaker version.
• Updated SQLite to version 3.43.0.

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.

MBS @ FMTraining.TV - FileMaker Monkeybread Plug-in Update 13.3

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 the new MBS FileMaker Plugin 13.3 release: Announcement, release notes, new functions and download

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New records without layout change in FileMaker

You may find it convenient sometimes to create or update records in a different table without switching layouts. If you do this in a script, you would usually cause a layout change, to fill the fields from the other table on a different layout. However, such a layout change is not really necessary and costs time. Wouldn't it be easier to create a record with only one script line? Without any relationship, portal and layout change?

FM.InsertRecord

We have the FM.InsertRecord, FM.UpdateRecord and FM.DeleteRecord and related functions in MBS FileMaker Plugin to help you. The FM.InsertRecord function inserts a new record in any table of any database. Relationships are not necessary, but the database must be open and therefore "known" to FileMaker. In the documentation of the MBS FileMaker Plugin you can find the following declaration of the function:

MBS ("FM.InsertRecord"; filename; table; field; value; ...)

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MBS FileMaker Plugin, version 13.4pr4

New in this prerelease of version 13.4 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:

• Added Phidget functions to control various USB devices from Phidgets Inc.
• Added Files.UbiquitousItemStatus function.
• Added Files.EvictUbiquitousItem and Files.StartDownloadingUbiquitousItem functions.
• Added XL.Sheet.SetHidden function.

Download at monkeybreadsoftware.com/filemaker/files/Prerelease/, in DropBox folder or ask for being added to the DropBox shared folder.