FileMaker developer, Adult fan of LEGO, nature conservationist - not necessarily in this order
FileMaker Pro’s export command and its script step do what they must do with plenty of options (CSV, tab-text, xlsx, FMP, xml and more; and many possible encodings for both Mac and Windows). However, on the programability and user experience side, one could wish for more. But for some of these problems workarounds are possible. … More Problems with FileMaker Pro’s export command and some workarounds
I ran into the pun ‘Weeks of coding can save hours of planning’ somewhere on the FileMaker community forum (now the Claris community forum). Found it hilarious! Today, I realized that I have been way too eager to come up with smart solutions for programming problems and started working before searching. It is a type … More Weeks of coding can save hours of reading
In both research and programming, variables need a name and contrary to what one might think, this is not a trivial thing. The only documentation is the name and perhaps some settings or formatting. I can come up with a minimal set of criteria for the naming of a variable. … More Good variable names
In this text, I will explain the problem that the sea turtle researchers at Osa Conservation asked me to solve. It turns out that they have a data problem that I am sure many other researchers and organizations have. The solution is a database tool to stitch data from multiple tables together, while addressing differences … More Table stitching : a solution to a common problem
Book review: Michael J. Hernandez, ‘Database design for mere mortals’. Many software manuals and help-functions are written in the format ‘If you want to do X, you need to click this button. If you want to do Y, you need to select option this-or-that’. This is why software manuals can be useless to beginners: they don’t explain why you would want to do X or Y. This book tells you all about that. It teaches you how to design a relational database, rather than how some database software package works. … More Book review: Michael J. Hernandez, ‘Database design for mere mortals’
If you are designing software, database systems, websites or other digital stuff, this book deserves your attention. The book indeed describes ‘100 Ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions.’ as it’s subtitle claims. Organized alphabetically, each method receives two pages of attention. More tagging and indexing to make the book better accessible would be nice extras, but that does not take away that, as it is, it already is a good read and a treasure trove of design methods. Perhaps not all methods apply to your needs, wishes and circumstances as a designer, but those may change and as long as they don’t, I am sure there will be some interesting methods for you left worth exploring. … More Book review: Bella Martin and Bruce Hanington, ‘Universal methods of design’
Rubber Boots Data 