FM Solutions - The IT Solutions FileMaker Newsletter

Introducing FM Solutions

Welcome to the first issue of FM Solutions, a quarterly newsletter brought to you by IT Solutions that is focused solely on FileMaker. Our goal is to provide you with relevant news, tips, and ideas about innovative ways to use the FileMaker line of products and other related technologies to help you and your business run better and more efficiently. This first issue highlights a few of the great new user features in FileMaker Pro 10, tips on how to search for date ranges faster, and an innovative way that we integrated a FileMaker solution with an existing file server.

We’re interested in your ideas. Please feel free to contact me if there are any topics that you would like to learn more about. I hope you enjoy our first issue and please let me know if you have any comments, questions or ideas.

Sincerely,
Jason Mundok
Editor

April 2009 In this issue
√	Introducing FM Solutions
√	FileMaker 10
√	Effective Document Management
√	FileMaker 10 Training
√	Time-Saving Tip
√	FileMaker Support Options

ITS Rolls Out New FileMaker Server and User Support Options

In an effort to help our clients get more out of their FileMaker systems and provide additional security for their data, IT Solutions introduces two new FileMaker support plans that go beyond traditional custom programming solutions. While custom development has always been our primary focus, we’ve recently recognized clients are looking for more consistent system support that ensures stability and performance and gives users access to a wealth of FileMaker knowledge in ITS certified consultants. So we’ve put together a pair of support plans that, as a package, fill in the gaps left by traditional hourly programming services, but also can be effective as standalone support options.

Time-Saving Tip: Easy Shortcuts for Searching Date Ranges

FileMaker Pro comes with a few quick and easy shortcuts for searching date ranges that are often overlooked, yet simple to learn and implement. Here are a handful of those shortcuts that will help you search date ranges faster and easier than ever before.

Searching a date field for records that fall within a particular year is as simple as entering the four-digit year in field when in Find mode. For example, if you wanted to find all of the invoices created during 2006, you enter 2006 in the invoice date field in Find mode. FileMaker will automatically assume you entered */*/2006 and find all records with 2006 in the year portion of the date.

Please forward this newsletter to anyone else in your organization
who might be interested!

Take Productivity to a New Level with FileMaker 10

The FileMaker 10 family of products was released at the beginning of January and has been turning many heads in the FileMaker developer community with new features like script triggers and server-side imports and exports.

But what if you’re not a developer? What if you use FileMaker every day to make your job easier, but it’s not your responsibility to design the layouts, write the scripts, or add fields? FileMaker 10 offers a wide range of features just for you right out of the box.

Here’s a look at a few of those features that will grab your attention and pique your interest in a well-deserved upgrade: the customizable status toolbar, saved finds, and a customizable table view.

Using FileMaker for Effective Document Management

Does your company use a file server to store shared documents? Are files and folders on your file server related to records in your FileMaker database? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could upload files directly to your file server from a FileMaker record and let the system automatically create any necessary folders? How about a button on a FileMaker record that automatically opens a related folder on the file server so you can quickly access files that others have uploaded to the server?

FileMaker 10 Training Now Available!

IT Solutions is pleased to announce that our FileMaker 10 training classes will begin in May and, by the level of interest expressed since this exciting new version was released, we’re expecting seats to fill up fast. Visit our training pages for a full list of upcoming dates, and sign up soon for a class or classes that suit your level of expertise. We offer a one-day beginner, two-day intermediate, or a 3 or 4-day advanced class so no one should feel left out. We also offer on-site training for groups that have the necessary space and equipment for providing classes at their own facilities.

Our instructors are all certified FileMaker developers when they’re not in the classroom so they have the best perspective on the products and what you can do to get the most out of them for your business or organization.

Can’t make an upcoming class? Consider joining us for a free FileMaker User Group meeting. We meet the fourth Tuesday of every month at the IT Solutions office in Fort Washington, PA. Great speakers, interesting topics, and unique opportunities to meet other FileMaker enthusiasts are all available to you. Best of all, the gatherings are always free and open to the public. Visit the Philly FileMaker User Group at http://phillyfilemaker.wordpress.com/.

For more on training from the FileMaker perspective visit FileMaker’s web site.
For more information about IT Solutions’ FileMaker training options, contact Winnie Cheung at 215-886-9338 or winnie.cheung@itsolutions-inc.com.

414 Commerce Drive ~ Suite 150 ~ Fort Washington, PA 19034 www.PickITS.com ~ 215-886-7166 ~ Fax 215-886-7176 ~ Toll free 866 PICK.ITS