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Questions s I offer personalized FileMaker training on-site or off-site. Read below for my packaged training offering, Philosophy of Scripting 101 and 201. It covers scripting and calculations at an intermediate or advanced level. If you would like training customized to your specific needs or onsite training, please contact me at jmo@filemakerpros.com. I am located in Chino Hills, California. My phone number is 909-393-4664.

Philosophy of Scripting Training
These are the classes I developed based on my wildly popular book and CD ROM, Scriptology - FileMaker Pro Demystified. Intermediate Scripting is a three day intermediate scripting course. Advanced Scripting is a two day advanced scripting course.

The curriculum for these classes has been rewritten from the ground up to include more hands-on exercises and the latest techniques in FileMaker Pro 18! Private classes in FileMaker Pro 3, 4, 5 and 6 are still available but only the FileMaker Pro 18 version is taught publicly.

The fee for each class is $995.00. Both classes together are only $1,750. A remote version of this class is also available for a reduced price of $750.00 for 101 and $500.00 for 201. Save $250.00 if you take both classes. Remote classes are taught via GoToMeeting with several advantages over traditional classroom settings. Classes are spread out over a 5 week period with training four times a week for a total of 8 hours per week. This gives students time to absorb the material at slower pace and also complete homework assignments.

Register for a Class

Registering for a class does not require payment. It reserves a seat in the class. Payment is not required until 3 weeks prior to class.

   Current Schedule

*** No Classes are currently being offered since John Mark Osborne is focusing on video training! ***

Find out more about video training

Private training also available

   Testimonials

"It's a great course, the lessons are exciting and the instructors engaging. REALLY, REALLY fun and full of incredible FileMaker tools." - Patricia Sheehan, Schlotzsky's, Inc.

"At the completion of Scriptology 101 and 201, I'd picked up over 70 powerful tips, tricks and shortcuts. Thanks for pushing the FileMaker envelope and sharing your knowledge with others!" - Shawn Baccus, The Baccus Group

"I'm sure you've heard it MANY times before but......... an outstanding course. Your humor and wit are only matched by your knowledge." - Steve Monroe

"Thanks to both of you for an outstanding course on FileMaker Pro this past week. The course exceeded my expectations (which were high to begin with). I feel that I have saved at least one year in moving through the learning curve necessary to master FileMaker at its highest levels." - Vincent Lackner

"I learned a tremendous amount and have already put some of these lessons into new databases." - Geoffrey Winship

"I don't recall a single question that could not be answered by one of you off the top of your head. I would highly recommend any class you offered." - Bruce Littrell

"Just a quick "googly" of a message [from the U.K.] to say a great big thank you for all your hard work over the last fortnight in providing an excellent course. I know I speak for everyone by saying that it gave us so much help. Both of you must be congratulated for it all. Thank you." - Edward Calaghan

"Thanks again for a wonderful class. I learned a lot and I've already started evening 'study sessions' with the textbook to become a decent scripter." - Georgena Terry

   Curriculum

The curriculum for these classes has been rewritten from the ground up to include more hands-on exercises and the latest techniques in FileMaker Pro 15! Private classes in FileMaker Pro 3, 4, 5 and 6 are still available but only the FileMaker Pro 18 version is taught publicly.

The primary material for the course is specially designed exercises that will help you learn everything you ever wanted to know about scripting. This course was inspired by the Scriptology book and CD ROM co-authored by John Mark Osborne

Every student will have a computer. You will have plenty of opportunity to follow along with the instructors and practice the scripting techniques as they are presented.

Although each class will cover techniques and solutions for real-life scripting scenarios, the emphasis for the class will be on thinking creatively. Students will be challenged to discover multiple approaches to the same problem and asked to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each. Our goal is to teach you how to solve the problems specific to your work.

Philosophy of Scripting 101:

New FileMaker 18 features overview
Scripting Overview - keyboard commands, most important script steps and steps to avoid
Organizing Scripts - naming conventions and section dividers
Modular Scripting - improve readability, reuse code and troubleshoot easier
The Ultimate Find - idiot proof your solutions, understand error capture, allow users to modify find criteria, use one find script across multiple tables and much more
Find Similar - analyze the advantages and disadvantages of one approach to a solution versus another
Restore - covers powerful restore feature including alternatives with more power
Marking Records - learn how to script for a multi-user solution
Deleting Duplicates - four methods for deleting duplicates
Calculations - this is the longest section covering parsing text, dates and times
Go to Related Record - understand how GTRR reacts under a variety of scenarios so you can better control the outcome of your scripts
The Many Faces of Set Field - learn the techniques that make Set Field the most important script step like Append, Subtract, Push and Pull

Philosophy of Scripting 201:

Dynamic Scripting - the opening exercise has students participate in a parsing solution. The goal is to parse an email from a single field into separate fields. The name of the exercise comes from the solution which allows new fields to be added without modifying the script. Students will also be challenged to optimize the script and apply their skills to 3 other tasks.
Restoring Records - most developers know how to restore a find using script steps. However, this does not enable users to save their own found sets. This technique is covered in class and then students are challenged to replicate the technique with some changes. Multi-user scripting considerations are the focus of this exercise. New techniques with the New Window will also be explored and contrasted as well as a technique for restoring find criteria.
Referential Integrity - this term refers to the data integrity between related files. Since FileMaker doesn't support this feature, students will replicate the feature using scripts and calculations. This is a very challenging exercise that students work on their own or with a partner to better understand the different types of loops.
Visibility - have you ever wanted to make objects appear and disappear from the layout. This technique is so important to stretching the capbilities of FileMaker Pro that it is a integral part of the Database Pros training experience.
Accounts and Privileges - With the new granular security in FileMaker Pro 15 some things are easier and some are harder. In this exercise, we'll take security to the next level by showing how to change the interface based on the logon password. This is an essential developer technique! In addition, all secuirty script step will be covered in depth.
Custom Form Letters - putting power into the hands of the user is the most important developer concern. If you can enable users to add a new form letter on their own, you will have more time to work on new projects instead of adding new layout all the time. New FileMaker Pro 15 techniques will also be employed to change font attributes with a calculation and a script.
Custom Functions - this FileMaker Advanced feature will be explored to help re-use formulas with a simple parameter interface and to create recursive formulas.
Filtered Portals - think of this exercise as a time not to use calculations and scripts. Filtered portals are even more useful in FileMaker Pro 7/8/8.5/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18 without the need for complicated formulas or scripts.


   Instructor

John Mark Osborne is the author of the Philosophy of Scripting courses and the primary instructor. For 5 years, John was the Technical Lead for FileMaker Pro at Claris, serving as an escalation path for other technical support representatives and writing a large portion of TechInfo, their technical information reference. He is also the author of the popular FileMaker Pro web site Database Pros www.databasepros.com with over 35,000 hits a day. When John Mark left Claris, he wrote the wildly popular Scriptology book and CD ROM that is considered the primary source for serious FileMaker developers. John also conducts FileMaker classes on behalf of the MacWorld Expositions and is a featured presenter at the FileMaker Developer Conference. In 1999, John Mark received the prestigious FileMaker Excellence award from FileMaker, Inc. for developing outstanding technical resources. John Mark is also an FBA members and 1 of 15 trainers authorized to teach their Professional Training Series of classes. Recently, John Mark was one of a handful of developers to pass the FileMaker 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 certification test on his first attempt.

   Prerequisites

You should have the following knowledge before you come to the Intermediate class:

- understand the basics of creating and using relationships in FileMaker Pro
- know how to create and use portals
- understand how to define fields and design layouts
- in general, feel very confident using basic FileMaker Pro features
- you don't need to know anything about ScriptMaker, but a quick read through of the script steps can really help you get the most out of the class

The Advanced Scripting course is NOT for beginners. You should have the following knowledge before you come to class (or attend the Intermediate course):

- confidence designing relationships in FileMaker Pro
- know how to create and use portals
- familiarity with most scripting steps
- familiarity with most calculation functions
- in general, feel confident designing FileMaker database solutions

   Registration

Course fee for the Intermediate Training is $995.00 for all 3 days. Course fee for the Advanced Training is $995.00 for 2 days. The price for both classes is $1,750.00. The remote class is $750.00 for 101 or 24 hours of training and $500.00 for 201 or 16 hours of training. Save $250.00 if you take both classes. The remote class is taught four times a week on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday each week during the 5 week course from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific time.

These classes are usually sold out well in advance. To guarantee a seat in any class, please register no later than 3 weeks before date of class. All class fees must be paid one week before class. (Corporate and Government Purchase Orders also accepted.)

Register for a Class

Registering for a class does not require payment. It reserves a seat in the class. Payment is not required until 3 weeks prior to class.

   Current Schedule

*** No Classes are currently being offered! ***

Register for one of these classes!

Private training also available

For general questions about course content, call or email John Mark Osborne at:

909-393-4664 PST

jmo@filemakerpros.com


Exclamation s If you can't afford one of these classes, try my video tutorials. There are over 50 hours of training!

Philosophy of FileMaker Blog