Hilton Brown's Published Articles

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The following is a list of articles I've written (mostly about the uses of FileMaker* Pro) which have been published in MACinations, the monthly magazine of Club Mac Inc., a Macintosh user group based in Sydney, Australia. The date shown here, at the end of each article description, refers to the relevant edition of that magazine.

Some articles have been reprinted in VMUG News, the magazine of the Victorian Macintosh Users Group (now called iMUG) based in Melbourne, Australia, and some in AppleSauce, the magazine of the South Australian Apple Users Club based in Adelaide, South Australia..

Those articles on topics about the use of FileMaker Pro were originally written for a limited audience in the Macintosh environment and therefore the associated files had a long-name format. Where these FileMaker Pro* files are made available here, the filenames have been reduced to the XXXXXXXX.FP3 format to make them also relevant to all users in the PC environment.

Of course, readers are free to use any of the concepts contained in these articles. All I request is that I be given credit, and that I be advised, when any part of any article is quoted in any forum!

Click on any title below to go to the appropriate article. If you would like to keep a copy of any article, simply go to it and print it from within your browser. You can also download a copy of each article in PDF format from within the article online. To view the PDF file you'll need Acrobat™ or the free Acrobat™ Reader from Adobe Systems Inc.

When there are associated FileMaker Pro files, you'll also be able to download those files from within the respective articles online.

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Describes the basic features of the Database module in ClarisWorks (July 1998)

A general description of the types of activities which can be performed with FileMaker Pro, including data entry, text manipulation, data searching, use of buttons, scripting (June 1997)

The uses of messaging, and more examples of calculations and scripting (July 1997)

The solution to the problem of the dynamic value list in which some values are missing (July 1997)

Sets out the method by which freeware called "Mondo Mail" can be used to send single e-mails from FileMaker Pro 3.0 (Macintosh version) (August 1997)

A means to obtain consistency in data entry by the use of superimposed calculation fields (September 1997)

A discussion of the relative merits of using lookups and repeating fields or, alternatively, using related fields, and the means by which a database containing the former can be changed to one using the latter (October 1997)

A means to 'find and replace' a word or phrase in a record in a database file, in a similar manner to that used by word-processing software (November 1997)

Manipulation of compound addresses in inherited files so that they are split into fields containing their component parts, such as street, suburb, postcode, state, and country (December 1997)

The creation of a custom number for each new job record, based on the users' criteria (December 1997)

Presents a couple of ways to sort portals (for those with version 3 of FileMaker Pro) using scripts (February 1998)

A set of files used for the creation of invoices permits the basic examination of relationships, and highlights the concept of the creation of related records (April 1998)

Examines the way in which relationships and related fields may be used to create a more sophisticated file structure in a Contacts database (May 1998)

Sets up a procedure which:
- determines the amount of an overpayment, if any
- applies a credit against each of the customer's invoices in turn
- determines the amount of any partial payment against an invoice, and records the balance owing on that invoice and also in total (June 1998)

Permits two people at the same address to be enrolled with a common membership number and receive combined notices, and prints the appropriate number of labels where members get more than one copy of a magazine (July 1998)

Examines two methods for determining those records in a database file which have duplicates (August 1998)

Discusses user-defined, dynamic and self value lists, provides tips on their display and use for entering data, examines validation using value lists and their use for sorting data (September 1998)

Examines value lists, both static and dynamic, whose values are dependent upon the value already entered in another field (October 1998)

Shows examples of files related to themselves, and discusses the value of such "self-joins" (November 1998)

The first of three articles relating specifically to the use of databases by teachers - this one discusses the intricacies of automatically entering comments about students in their reports (December 1998)

The second of three articles relating specifically to the use of databases by teachers - this one addresses the problem of determining the median mark for the class and grading students with respect to it (December 1998)

The third of three articles relating specifically to the use of databases by teachers - this one examines the scripting required to rank marks, including allowance for equal values (December 1998)

Establishes a method for ensuring that any unassigned numbers in a sequence are used, from the smallest upwards (February 1999)

Calculates the average score after deleting the highest and the lowest results (as in a gymnastics competition), and the average score after deleting the highest two results (as for an intra-club golf award) (March 1999)

Considers how to colour a field when it's entered, and how fields might be protected against modification once initial data has been entered into them (April 1999)

Discusses a method of creating a report in which the current running total is shown at the bottom of each page and that same total shown at the top of the next page, as in bookkeeping and stockkeeping records (May 1999)

Describes the word-processing facilities available, and compares them with those in typical word-processing software (June 1999)

Describes three methods to re-find sets previously found, and a method of returning to a specific record (July 1999)

Examines the various types of layout part, and creates a typical report using a combination of summary and sub-summary parts (September 1999)

Describes methods by which portals may be used to hide or expose fields and buttons, depending upon entered data (October 1999)

Considers how to change the colour of the background of all fields depending on whether or not they contain data, and to use a highlight colour to indicate the next field requiring data to be entered by the user. (November 1999)

Proposes a method for preventing duplicate records being created (December 1999)

Shows how to use the Sum function and self-join relationships to continuously view totals and sub-totals, without having to search for the appropriate records and view summary reports in Preview mode (February 2000)

Uses an example of a database for a neighbourhood centre to demonstrate the use of different types of fields in relationships (March 2000)

Discusses methods by which files not in the FileMaker Pro format (e.g., PDF, Word) can be opened from within a FileMaker file (April 2000)

Looks at how to transform FileMaker Pro data into formats suitable for reading by bar code scanners (May 2000)

Examines three examples of manipulating data records which have a common field to amalgamate data in another field, viz. invitations, memos and membership information to a number of people at the one address (June 2000)

Examines calculations and scripts which might be used to delete unwanted carriage returns from within a text field, as well as reducing trailing returns (July 2000)

How to set up as a relational database solution for swimming carnivals conducted by schools, which caters for events which are based on time, and permits the recording of entrants for the events, together with their resulting times and positions, and concludes with a continually-updating point score on the basis of the 'house' each contestant represents (August 2000)

Examines a procedure by which buttons on rows in portals can be hidden, especially on the blank row resulting from the setting of "Allow creation of related records" (September-October 2000)

Describes three methods by which variable imported text formatting can be changed automatically to the standards set for the database (September-October 2000)

Discusses the procedures for saving settings in the script steps Page Setup, Print, Import Records, Perform Find, Sort and Export Records (November-December 2000)

Proposes a method for automating the process of printing mailing labels, including varying the number of labels required for each addressee and choosing the starting position on the first label sheet (February 2001)

Presents synopses and sources of a range of FileMaker Pro learning resources available in bookstores and on the Web (April 2001)

Resolves the problem of getting split lines of text at the bottom of pages when fields cross page boundaries (June 2001)

Describes a method of determining averages using self-joins and filters (July 2001)

Uses a database for sharing expenses to describe the use of the ValueListItems design function (October 2001)

If you'd like to try samples of the software I've developed using FileMaker Pro, download any of the following:

Mac OS	Day Trips.sit	Eat for Life.sit	Shared Expenses.sit
Windows	Day Trips.zip	Eat for Life.zip	Shared Expenses.zip

	hiltonb@jedi.apana.org.au
	37/8 Munro Street, McMahons Point NSW 2060, AUSTRALIA
	+ 61 2 9929 7296
	+ 61 2 9922 2328