how to use filemaker pro custom function

#How to use filemaker pro custom function full#

This was a perfect problem to solve with the new FileMaker While function. I left that part of my script as a traditional loop, but what I ended up with was several repetitions of the result sets - all independent JSON arrays. I had to loop and make several calls to the API to get all of the products. That’s a very small shop if it only has 100 products. The default number of items returned is 10. When listing products, WooCommerce paginates the returned data as JSON arrays. I was working with the WooCommerce API and ran into a limitation. But today I had a very practical problem. Okay, you have a powerful function on your hands, but “practically speaking,” what can you do with it? For starters, you can replace all of your recursive functions and a lot of loops with it. Practical Application for Using the New WHILE Function You can copy and paste that final statement into your data viewer and get the result. For now, I want to increment before my logic. That will largely depend on how you want to arrive at your final product. You can choose whether that should increment before or after your logic. So, we have to add a means of incrementing the iterator - in this case ~n.

Fortunately, FileMaker will enforce recursion rules and eXit out after a period of time, returning only a “?” as your result. It’s just an infinite loop and it’s stuck. What happens if you declare a loop with an eXit condition that depends on an iterator but forget to increment the iterator? Your client will think, “It’s crashed!” Not really. You could have even declared the variables as part of the initial declaration and left them empty.īut wait! There’s more. The logic part of the evaluation is where your variable assignments will change, whereas, the first part of the loop is just the initial assignment or declaration of those variables. Notice how this is just like the declaration assignment of the Let statement, eXcept that we get to assign variables a second time. The classic approach involved a count (and possibly an iterator) and running some logic over and over until we reached an escape point. As I quickly discovered, the baggage that got in my way was years of working with recursive functions or loops, which is precisely the reason why “While” came about. The problem with eXploring new functions in FileMaker is that sometimes we come with baggage - and I’ve got a lot of “developer” baggage after 30 years in the industry. Gotchas - Clue to Self: Stop Thinking Like a Loop So, when I heard that the latest version of FileMaker would include a new function that accomplished both a loop and assignment functions all at once, I was anxious to get my hands on it - until I did. I’ve written a number of custom FileMaker functions through the years and lots of loops in scripting to manage repetitive tasks like complex string manipulation or complicated mathematical calculations. (errr, I mean Claris International) introduced a new function with the release of FileMaker 18 that I was both eXcited and intrigued by until I tried to use it the first time: the “While” function. Don’t Get Thrown for a Loop with FileMaker’s New While Function Check Out This Custom Function for Merging JSON Arraysīy Rob Poelking, eXcelisys FileMaker DeveloperįileMaker Inc. WordPress Repair and Troubleshooting Services.WordPress Maintenance & Support Packages.If you do not wish to reveal your custom functions, you can disable their display in these dialog boxes. Newly defined functions appear under their own category in the functions list of the Specify Calculation and Edit Custom Function dialog boxes.

whether or not the Use advanced tools option is selected.to replace third-party plug-ins for some purposes.

#How to use filemaker pro custom function full#

by any user or only by users with full access privileges.

Once a formula has been written or changed for the function, they do not have to be rewritten to be applied to other fields or used in other scripts. You can copy and paste custom functions between FileMaker Pro files or you can import custom functions from other FileMaker Pro files. The custom functions utility lets you create custom functions that can be reused anywhere in the database file in which they are created. Note This feature is available when the Use advanced tools general preference is selected.