WidgetStudio: FileMaker Value Add

WidgetStudio gives all FileMaker developers a break. The dev tool solves a simple or complex FileMaker use case by making a web viewer widget that just works. It saves the developer brain power, frustration, research, and lots of trial-and-error. There are useful widgets available right now in WidgetStudio, and many more on the way. The tool was developed by a FileMaker developer. It is designed to give FileMaker developers the most FileMaker value add to their development of client custom apps.

The benefits to using WidgetStudio are legion:

You can solve a use case faster.
A widget brings a lot of functionality and modern user-interface elements.
The deployment process is painless
There’s little to no testing involved.
The widget you employ can be customized to any client app and data.
The Widget you employ can interact directly with FileMaker data
You don’t need to know how any of it works.

Let’s dive in and see how WidgetStudio brings value add to your development process.

Solving use cases faster

First, every single widget so far in WidgetStudio solves a typical case for FileMaker developers. Nothing’s in there that is superfluous.

When a client asks for a portal-like list view with column sorting (including multiple columns), as-you-type filtering, and pagination, the DataTables widget is your solution.
When you need to chart a lot of data, all the charting solutions are useful.
Progress bars can show the progress of a project.
A Data tree can be used to show data in a tree.
And there’s many more.

The value add by WidgetStudio is that these widgets are created in a very short amount of time. There’s really no comparison. Creating a pivot table using ‘idiomatic FileMaker’ would take hours.

WidgetStudio includes complex widgets that would take a lot of time to create in FileMaker.

I can deploy a pivot table using WidgetStudio in under 15 minutes. The time I saved by deploying a widget can be then spent on additional features or additional scope. That’s a lot of FileMaker value add.

Full functionality

Second, each of the widgets in WidgetStudio is a complete feature set. Much of it exactly what we can use in our custom apps. The Date & Time picker, for example, contains all the text and buttons and code and styles to select one date or a range of dates.

This library comes with additional functionality that allows for custom date ranges.

The value add comes in that in the single deployment from WidgetStudio, a FileMaker developer has ‘created’ all necessary UI elements and functionality. In one button click.

Painless deployment

I’ve written about this before. And believe me: I’ve experienced all the ways possible to deploy a web viewer widget. Nothing comes close to the ease by which WidgetStudio deploys a widget.

Again, the FileMaker value add comes in the little time it takes to deploy. But so too is there value in the way widgets are deployed. There’s no extra schema or fields or relationships necessary. There’s zero to one script and the web viewer object. That’s it. This object and the script can be placed anywhere in your app.

Another value-add factor: I have absolute control over the widget. Of the three deployment methods, two of them create the script steps necessary to load the widget. I prefer that. I prefer to control everything with scripts.

It just Works

The JavaScript library was built by a JavaScript developer and has been tested hundreds of times. Most or all of the bugs been worked out, so we get a widget that is very much bug free. The value add here is simply the time we get back not having to test EACH SCRIPT that is part of the widget.

Customizations galore

WidgetStudio’s interface is brilliant as it provides a clean, simple way to customize the options of each widget.

You don’t have to dig into the CSS to change the font or the size or color of the text. It’s a simple few options. The value add here is (of course) the time saved, but also the success you’ll get in customizing the widget and seeing the results.

Interact with FileMaker data

Furthermore, WidgetStudio makes it simple to pass data from the widget to FileMaker. It just works. You set up the name of the file and the name of the script to run, and WidgetStudio sends the data back in the form of a JSON object to FileMaker. There’s plenty of information in the widget to let you know what to expect. And WidgetStudio can even CREATE the script steps for you. Do you see the value add here?

You don’t have to know anything about it

And finally, the biggest FileMaker value add to a developer is that all the above benefits just work, and you don’t need to know about it.

The lack of knowledge isn’t because the workings aren’t a secret like a magic trick. Instead a FileMaker developer doesn’t need to worry about any of this. She doesn’t need to think about much of it. This frees her up to consider other things. We exert a lot of brain power during normal development. A Filemaker developer can use the brain power she saved to puzzle something else out