When I meet people and tell them I build custom apps in FileMaker, the number of people who recall the platform from years and years ago with a nostalgic smile is impressive. Perhaps the loyalty FileMaker users have toward the platform is an important reason Claris FileMaker has thrived for so long. Along with PowerPoint and Microsoft Word, FileMaker stands with some of the few software applications nearing 40 years old. It has become a software platform that has stood the test of time. But in today's age, your FileMaker Pro database management system is no longer a stand-alone solution. It needs to become the hub to connect your existing business applications and integrate them with custom solutions in the cloud.
We all know that Claris has added significant new capabilities in the last several versions of FileMaker Pro for creating custom web applications, especially with the introduction of the FM Data API in FileMaker 16. With the recent successful production deployment of a new custom web app project, I thought it would be a good time to write a blog post about a couple of web applications we’ve done for clients utilizing FileMaker Pro as the back end database engine.
There is a category of disagreement on the earth I like to call “Bar Fight Topics”. These are the things that can turn perfectly happy friends and business partners against each other, with the help of a third wheel often known as Jack Daniels.
Due to COVID-19, we recently had to invent a way to sign forms on-site without sharing devices. Part of the conversation went like this:
He thought for a minute and replied, “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll make a way for a user to sign a form without ever touching the iPad. How about we create a record just for signatures? We can send a link out to the client that will open a WebDirect interface. It would present them their signature record on their own device, and boom! Touch-free signatures.”
“Brilliant!” I said happily. “Let’s go! I’ll grab some pizza.”
