Cards are Cool

Now that we have been working with FileMaker 16 for a while, I would like to reflect on some new features that I believe will have a huge impact on future development practices.

The first is the new Card Window style

Card windows allow us to effectively switch context without leaving the starting layout which has the potential to simplify our scripting and the relationship graph. In the past many processes would follow the pattern

Freeze Window
Got to Layout [new]
Do a load of stuff
deactivate script triggers
Go to layout [Original]
activate script triggers
 

With Card Windows we can use a simplified approach

New Window[Card, New Layout]
Do a load of stuff
close Window
 

So far we have been using card windows for the following tasks

  • Creating line items (and other child records)
  • General progress indicators
  • Detail views over a list
  • Location Map displays from multiple contexts
  • Custom Dialogs

The Location map card window I developed is a completely independent module that receives all required data as a script parameter and can be used to both view and update the location data for a record in any table.

Location Map Card Window

Our experience so far leads me to believe we are only just scratching the surface of the potential of card windows and I am really excited to see the imaginative ways the FileMaker developer community will exploit this great new capability to build even better solutions for our clients.