Mark Conway Munro - Learn FileMaker Pro 19: The Comprehensive Guide to Building Custom Databases

Mark Conway Munro

Learn FileMaker Pro 19

The Comprehensive Guide to Building Custom Databases

2nd ed.

Logo of the publisher

In loving memory of this noble beast.

She was my loyal companion for 13 years.

Rest in peace sweet girl.

I miss you.

Apache Munro

20072020

In the 1990s and 2000s, I ran TECSoft, an AppleScript and FileMaker Pro development shop in New York City. Our specialty was database publishing the powerful ability of Apples AppleScript technology to intelligently extract data from FileMaker databases and to format it ready for print in page layout applications such as QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign.

We worked closely with Apple and Claris, the predecessor of FileMaker Inc., to showcase the abilities of their technologies. In 1994, growing and needing additional developer talent we asked our pal Eric Silver, the then New York area sales rep at Claris, to be on the lookout for us. He told me about a FileMaker wizard he knew named Mark Munro working at Jack Morton, an AV production company in New York.

Mark was responsible for organizing Mortons production project data and managing their workflow. We met and he explained their workflow and showed me how he had organized it in FileMaker so that management was able to track projects from start to finish, track the various assets involved, and track and accurately bill their clients for the time and materials involved.

Marks work was amazing, and I immediately realized we had come across FileMaker gold. All aspects of his companys workflow were logically organized in a functional workflow management tool and most impressively of all were clearly presented in an easy-to-follow interface. It is mind-bending to realize that Mark had accomplished this before FileMaker was a relational database.

We began working with Mark as a freelance FileMaker Pro and AppleScript gun slinger. We threw our most complicated and demanding projects at him a huge workflow management and catalog publishing project at Sony Music and a very complex and mission-critical graphic file creation project with drop-dead deadlines for Associated Press, to name just a couple.

In short order, Mark had more than enough work to go out on his own as a full-time FileMaker and AppleScript developer. As TECSofts focus turned to working with Apple delivering AppleScript seminars and training sessions, we created the TECSoft Developers Consortium (TDC) to handle the huge demand for FileMaker and AppleScript integration projects our seminars generated. With Mark as TDC developer #1, we were able to create an international referral network of FileMaker Pro and AppleScript developers that became the largest FileMaker Pro and AppleScript brain trust on Earth.

The previous edition of this book was published in 2017. In the introduction to Learn FileMaker Pro 16, I reminisced about my first encounter with the software working at Tannens Magic Shop in Manhattan back in 1988 and highlighted the evolutionary changes that spanned the decades between. In the 3 years since that publication, the technological march forward has continued with improvements to the FileMaker application.

The product is now in version 19. The Apple subsidiary was renamed Claris to reflect an expanding product line with more diversity than the former FileMaker-centric offerings. The previous two versions of the desktop application FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Pro Advanced are now rolled into a single title that includes all development tools. Annual upgrades to the product have resulted in an accumulation of feature changes. To stay relevant and reflect the current software, a new edition was required.

In addition to revisions covering changes to the software, I was determined to make improvements to the original book. Some changes were in response to legitimate criticisms from readers. Although readers widely praised the first book, some thought there were too many pages focused on a function reference section that too closely resembles what is available in the online help guide. Others thought there were not enough real-world examples. I felt the original book could have been more succinct. I updated the text for feature changes and spent extra months completely rewriting each section and producing what is almost an entirely new book. I hope the effort shows.