fmWorkMate

[Makes FileMaker Work]

fmWorkMate is a power toolkit for FileMaker Developers from MrWatson of mrwatson.de and fmworkmate.com

Congratulations!

You have found fmWorkMate, the award-winning, free, open-source productivity toolkit for FileMaker developers from MrWatson!

LOTS has changed in fmWorkMate!

• fmWorkMate is now simply FileMaker files; the runtime version is no more ;-D
• fmWorkMate is now OPEN SOURCE, avaliable on GitHub and under a MIT LICENCE ! 👀 😃
• There are loads of new functions!(1)

The consequence of this is

• You'll need to bring your own MBS licence [BYOL],
• You can take a look under the hood
• You can help make fmWorkMate a better tool - and are heartily invited to do so!

It's a new era - enjoy!

Happy FileMaking!

MrWatson

2021-12-13

(1) For the latest changes check the commit meeages on GitHub, or the first script in each file documents all changes.

What is fmWorkMate?

fmWorkMate is part of a growing basket of tools from MrWatson that aim to make your FileMaker work better, more productive, more fun and colorful.

These are the 'bits':

• fmWorkMate - The main Toolbox with 15+ tools - Repo
• a function-packed extension library
  • fmCheckmate-XSLT library - Over 300 extension functions for fmCheckMate - Repo
• 4 external tools
  • fmSyntaxColorizer - separate tool to colorize your code and brighten up your life - Repo
  • fmAutoMate - separate tool to integrate the power of fmWorkMate right into your script workspace - Repo
  • fmLaunchPad - separate tool to launch your files - Repo
  • myMateJSON - separate tool to explore your JSON - Repo
• a FileMaker IDE Integration Module
  • fmScriptWorkspace - IDE Integration Module - Repo

Why use fmWorkMate & co.?

Simple!

It's effective

• fmWorkMate makes your FileMaker databases work!

  • finds bugs (Layout Analysis w. fmCheckMate-XSLT)
  • catches bugs at inception (fmLogAnalyser's Bug-Off! Alarm)
  • helps you see bugs by making wrong code look wrong (fmSyntaxColorizer)
  • lists bugs to kill (fmLogAnalyser ToDo list)
  • takes you to exactly where the bugs are (fmScriptWorkspace)
  • avoids bugs by allowing you to generate code (fmCheckMate fmTextMultiplier)
    • (Better than hand coding 5% bugs into your solution!)
  • proves you have no bugs (fmLogAnalyser [OK])

• fmWorkMate works how you work!

  • Here and now!
    • fmWorkMate is designed for immediate use (and instant gratification 😉 )
    • no need to wait hours for DDRs to be created and analysed
    • just click + solve!
  • Fast and efficient!
    • fmWorkMate is honed for rapid and repetitive tasks

It's powerful

• fmWorkMate provides help in places you need them, where other tools - inc. FileMaker itself - fail:
  • catch errors as you make them (fmLogAnalyser & Bug-Off Alarm)
  • find errors in layouts - in seconds (fmCheckmate Layout analysis)
  • refactor code
    • relocate functionality to a new context (fmTextConverter)
  • find differences in scripts
• fmWorkMate soothes where FileMaker hurts
  • dock that stupid debugger script window into the script workspace with a click!
  • jump straight to that subscript in an external file
  • test field calculations without having to add all the (default) table names back in to the data viewer.

It's proven

• fmWorkMate has been in development since 2008 as a hobby alongside my 24*7 FileMaker work,

• It's been used daily be myself (MrWatson), colleagues, and increasingly more FileMaker developers around the world

• fmWorkMate has proven itself to be a valuable tool capable of considerably increasing daily productivity and championing the quality of your FileMaker work

• fmWorkMate was awarded the FileMaker Magazin Award for Best Tool in 2018

  

It's free

• Always has been.
• But now it is open source too!

It's wild

• fmWorkMate is out of the incubator and ready to be wielded!

🥳 🎉 🥂

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Installing fmWorkMate

To Install fmWorkMate on your Mac:

1. Download the latest release of fmWorkMate from GitHub

2. Move the fmWorkMate folder into the Applications folder (recommended, but anywhere will do)

   • Note: If you also have any sibling tools (fmAutoMate, fmSyntaxColorizer or fmLaunchPad) place the folders alongside each other in order to reference these tools from within fmWorkMate

3. Install Plugins, as necessary

   • Download and Install the two plugins, if you don't already have them

     • Base-Elements Plugin Download (free, no licence required)
     • MBS Plugin Download

   • Licence / Register the MBS Plugin

     • You can get a trial licence for MBS Plugin here

   • If your solution already uses and registers a licenced MBS Plugin and you are using fmWorkMate in the same FileMaker instance, the MBS Plugin does not need to be registered again.

   • Otherwise, you can get fmWorkMate to register the MBS-Plugin when it starts:

     • Open fmWorkMate in FileMaker and setup plugin registration
       • Click the (i) button, bottom right in fmWorkMate
       • Click The MBS [BYOL] button (BYOL=Bring Your Own Licence)
       • Enter your licence information
       • Press [Register MBS]
     • If you wish to hide your MBS licence information from prying eyes...
       • Navigate to the second slider panel
       • Click [Store Licence] to store the current licence information
       • Return to the first slider panel
       • Remove your licence information
       • [OK]

4. Launch fmWorkMate in FileMaker You can

   1. Open fmWorkMate in FileMaker alongside your databases
      • The quickest way to get started
      • Has some advanages to interact between fmWorkMate + your files (see [fmAutoMate][fmAutoMate])
      • However, can sometimes be difficult to navigte between database + tool windows
   2. Open fmWorkMate in a second FileMaker version/instance
      • This has the advantage of being able to switch between databases and tools easily
      • (Did you know you it is possible to just duplicate the FileMaker app on Mac?)
   3. Use fmLaunchpad with a customised fmWorkMate.app
      • fmLaunchPad makes it possible to start different FileMaker solutions in different FileMaker apps
      • This takes a little setting up, but provides a pleasant runtime-like experience

To Install fmWorkMate on your Windows PC

• Either (for limited, but tried and tested, functionality - since fmWorkMate has not been developed/tested further on Windows since the demise of runtimes):
  • Download and install the old fmWorkMate Windows Runtime for basic functionality
  • You can also install fmCheckMate-XSLT
• Or (for a better future for all Windows FM-Devs - but maybe not such a good inital experience for yourself):
  • Help contribute to getting fmWorkmate running on windows!
  • Download and install fmWorkMate as for mac
  • Test it, log issues here in GitHub and join in!

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Using fmWorkMate

Feel free to click around to get to know the tools.

For a more guided start, see the fmWorkMate documentation.

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KNOWN ISSUES

• Not everything is tested (but core stuff is used every day).

• You can break things. Test before you try.

• FileMaker itself does not copy & paste all objects 100% correctly (notably the Import Records script step and the calculation context table in field definitions)

• Pasting entire tables, scripts and custom functions creates new objects with new internal IDs. So you may want to just copy the contents of an object

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GET INVOLVED

Please help improve fmWorkMate for us all. See CONTRIBUTING

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POKE around

I nearly forgot: If you want to poke around and have a look at the guts of fmWorkMate, you'll need the 'secret' user/password: admin/admin

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Links

• fmWorkMate
  • fmWorkMate home
  • fmWorkMate repo
  • fmWorkMate discussions
  • fmWorkMate wiki
  • fmWorkMate issues
• Related Tools
  • fmAutoMate
  • fmLaunchpad
  • fmSyntaxColorizer