TWD – Translate with DeepL
TWD is a FileMaker addon that connects your solution with the translation power of DeepL. You only need a (free) API key from DeepL to get started.
Multilingual FileMaker-solutions
In today’s world, multilingual software solutions become increasingly important. This addon for FileMaker solves one question: How can you get access to a high-quality translation? Once you have a translation option, it becomes easier to consider multilingual solutions.
How do you handle multilingual text labels?
This add-on does not solve all you need. While the addon solves the riddle of how to get a translation, you also must manage, edit, and display translations as you wish. That is an entirely different challenge. How you can do that is shown in an example file, which you can download from this website. Look at fmstarter.com under “Free > Examples” for “MTL – multilingual text labels”.
Translations made simple
DeepL is well known for its high-quality translations. At the time this description was made, over a hundred languages were supported, and constantly new languages are being added.
Make your solutions multilingual
With platforms like DeepL, high quality translations are within reach of everyone. This addon should get you going. Enjoy!
Email does not work?
We are happy to send out free content, but sometimes require you to provide a valid and personal email address. This excludes free, gibberish, or discardable email addresses. We were forced to take action and tighten rules, as we were flooded with hundreds of fake addresses. Usually, a business address works well, as long as it is personal and not a generic address (like info@ or tech@, which are considered unsafe). We will then send you the download link. Enjoy your free software.
Multilingual text labels
Most developers work with a single language. Many countries, though, have multiple official languages. In our globalized world, having a multilingual software solution will give you instant advantages and much more flexibility. How do you build multilingual solutions? Here is one way to achieve that.
Two things you need
FileMaker is not multilingual in itself. The software is extremely versatile, yet there is no system to create or display text labels, let alone translate them. You have to build this yourself. Thus, there are two sides to take care of:
- Organizing
You need a system within your software that can switch languages. Along with it, you need to create labels in multiple languages, create a switch to change the language, and edit the entries while making it easy to display each label at a desired location. This article addresses this need. The sample file shows you one systematic approach to solve that issue. - Translating
This is an entirely different thing. Translation can be handled in multiple ways. You start with a label in one language, then translate this by hand or by using a translation engine into any number of other languages. If you are interested in a solution to automate translations, check out our free addon “TWD – Translate With DeepL” on this site.
Start with a table
The example shows a solution for handling multilingual text labels in FileMaker. It is based on a simple table, in which there is a translation field. This field has a number of repetitions. Each repetition represents a language. In a list view, each column is a language. You then take the first field repetition as a base. All other repetitions have the translation of that phrase in the defined language.
Why work with repetition fields?
Repetition fields are not considered to be safe for customer data. I fully agree with that. For the interface, though, repetition fields have many benefits. One of them is that they are represented with a number. Consider, for example, that the first repetition is your base language, and it is English. The second repetition could be Spanish. The third repetition could be Slovenian. The fourth repetition could be Japanese. Numbers are not language-dependent, and therefore work with any language. Choose 1 or 2 or 5 is perfectly fine if you know what is meant by that. A simple value list for languages solves this and makes a selection transparent. See the sample file.
Whatever languages you create, you can refer to them by the repetition number. That is much easier than working with naming language fields. A repetition field in FileMaker can have up to 32’000 repetitions. That should be more than enough to cover all your language needs.
From the table to real-life usage
You now have all your translations in a translation table. From here it is a single step to load that table into a global repetition field (as in the sample file). Other options are possible. Here is the trick to use: You do not load the entire table into a global repetition field, but just the language you need. You select a language, and only that language will be loaded into the global repetition field. It will be a single column of your table, representing only a single language.
The global repetition field then has all text labels, and you can refer to them by using the number of the repetitions of that field. If the table is called “Text” and the global field is called “Textlabel”, you can address a repetition of that field as “Textlabel[52]”, which refers to the 52nd repetition of that field.
In a practical solution, you could select a repetition number and build a merge variable from it, like “<<Text::Textlabel[52]>>”. Put that on your layout, and it will display the text for that repetition in the loaded language. This is what is shown in the sample file.
Avoiding pitfalls
How do you create a reliable repetition number? The order number of the table (1st entry, 2nd entry, 3rd entry, and so on) is not reliable. What if you delete the 2nd entry? The 3rd entry would become the 2nd entry. You cannot adjust your solution for that scenario. You must find a reliable way to always display the correct text.
The simple solution is to create another field in the language table and run that alongside the entries. This field has a serial number, starting at 1 and running up with a single step each time. This will create a unique number in your translation table for each record, independent of the number of entries in that list. Never change that number. Use that number as an indicator for the repetition number of the global repetition field where you load your languages.
Once you load the table into the global repetition field, it will store the information in the repetition represented by the field with the counter. This simple setup always works, even if you delete records from your table. Some repetitions will ultimately not be used, but that doesn’t do any harm. It is much more important that any reference to any repetition number on your layout will stay the same and thus is reliable.
Check the sample file
The sample file introduces you to the concept you step-by-step. Download the file and see how it is done.
Sample file showing how to create multilingual text labels for a universal application within FileMaker solutions.
Attention: This is not about translation, but about how to manage multilingual text labels.
Requires FileMaker Pro 20 or newer.
AddOn Lab FREE
Addons are great to transfer reliable building blocks to multiple FileMaker solutions. However, the documentation is scattered across the internet. What we found is combined in this file.
What are addons?
Addons are files that FileMaker exported into an addon folder. The result is a series of files that together make up the original file and functionality (file types: XML, PNG, JSON). These addon folders can be created to transport a certain functionality to another file easily. Think of addons as building blocks. You first create a reliable and good functioning file with a certain functionality, then export an addon package of that file.
If you create an addon, the exported package is a folder plus an addon file (.fmaddon). Once you created such an addon, you can install the addon as a resource for your FileMaker application. Do so by double-clicking the fmaddon-file. Then restart your FileMaker application and the addon will be accessible as a resource.
Configure Addons
FileMaker has a single script to create an addon from any open file. That is not very precise. Additional options are available by naming layouts and functions. There are rules that apply and provide options like a drag-and-drop object, and dynamic linking to tables.
The configuration of an addon is not done by some settings, but you follow naming conventions to make it happen. This is the kind of information you find in AddOn Lab FREE.
Creating addons
AddOn Lab FREE has a simple function to create an addon out of any open FileMaker file. Just select the file and create the addon.
Open addon folder
On the start page of AddOn Lab FREE you will find a button to open the addon folder on your machine. This will work on Mac and Win. Here you will find your addons.
Email does not work?
We are happy to send out free content, but sometimes require you to provide a valid and personal email address. This excludes free, gibberish, or discardable email addresses. We were forced to take action and tighten rules, as we were flooded with hundreds of fake addresses. Usually, a business address works well, as long as it is personal and not a generic address (like info@ or tech@, which are considered unsafe). We will then send you the download link. Enjoy your free software.
FMA Address
FileMaker allows you to create addons. Addons are like building blocks. You create small building blocks to then use them in larger projects. But what is small and what is too big? What can you use it for? This FMA Address addon explores that notion.
Is it useful to create an address database as a FileMaker addon? Probably not. But this add-on is not about what you should or could, but rather a test case on how to perceive addons. Here is an example: Quite a few advanced addons use JavaScript. Does that mean you have to master JavaScript before you can create addons? Of course not.
Addons are about FileMaker, not about external technologies. Even if you can use JavaScript and other technologies, it is because FileMaker is enabling you to do that. There is no obligation to use those options. You can, but it is optional. So it is for FileMaker addons: You can create addons with whatever FileMaker allows you to use. Addons therefore can be quite simple or complex. It is up to your expertise and ideas.
If you ever tried to turn an entire solution into an addon, you might have noticed that FileMaker froze during the creation of that addon. What you wanted was simply too big a task. If you cautiously wait the add-on will eventually be created, but it is evident that Claris did not intend FileMaker addons to be large solutions. It is all about smaller functionalities.
Many addons out in the wild are highly technical. They allow you to integrate great functionality without having to know the ins and outs of such a solution. Simply add it to your Filemaker solution, configure the settings, and off you go.
But what about simple structures? You can build starter files, of course. However, could you also use addons to quickly transfer basic tables, layouts and scripts to any other file? That is the test for this sample addon.
What else?
This addon shows that it is easy to add tables, layouts, scripts, etc. to an add-on. It is then irresistably simple to add that addon to any other FileMaker solution. But what else? Did you know you can create relationships to tables the add-on does not know anything about? Thus, you can enhance existing tables with additional tables and link them automatically.
To learn more about these features, download our product “Add-on Lab FREE”, which is a simple knowledge base about FileMaker addons. It also has two interesting functions: Locate the Extension folder on Mac or Win by a single click. Create an add-on from any open file.
Addons for FileMaker are fabulous. But how far can you go? What are they good for and what are the limits? The aim of this address-addon is to explore these questions. While it is highly unlikely you will create an address database as an add-on first, you might have needs to include other “modules” in any solution. This sample file shows that it is easy to do so.
Requirements: FileMaker 19.1 or higher to open any addon. Better: It is suggested to always use the latest version of FileMaker.
List Files in Folder
How do you list files in a folder on your machine? FileMaker cannot do that by itself. You need a plugin to extend the options of FileMaker for that purpose.
Plugins for FileMaker
FileMaker cannot and likely will not do everything you want to achieve. After all, FileMaker is a lowcode platform. Without knowing for sure, some things are beyond reach. In that case, plugins can extend the functionality of FileMaker. Plugins can be added to FileMaker to enhance functionality and options.
In this sample file, three different plugins are used to perform the same task. It becomes easy to compare the script steps needed and how it works. If you require this to behave differently, you likely can tweak it. Consider this sample file as an introduction to using plugins in FileMaker.
List Files In Folder
This simple example shows how three different plug-ins can be used to obtain a list of files for any folder on your computer. The way these plugins work is slightly different, as are the results.
List Files In Folder is an example file for FileMaker. It shows how to use plug-ins to show all files in a folder. The example file can be considered a mini-introduction to plug-ins.
Plug-ins used (test with free versions):
- BaseElements
- TROI File
- MBS
You must at least have a test version of the plug-in you want to use installed. All download links for the plug-ins are part of the example file.
Requirements: FileMaker Pro 20 or newer.
SimpleBackup
Create snapshots of your local files with a single click.
Working locally with FileMaker files?
If you do, you need to be careful about your backups. This example file shows how you can easily create a snapshot of your current file with a single click on a button. It stores the file with a timestamp and some information about the tool title and version.
SimpleBackup lets you be intentional about your local snapshots. Just before or after imports, new implementations, or any other differences with effect to data or development, you create a quick backup with a single click.
Creating a unique backup file name
Your backup will have a timestamp included, but also can be enhanced with, for example, the title and version of your solution. That information is stored in a separate table and shown to be of help while creating a backup. The backup file can be labeled like:
20260504-163208-565-Simplebackup-0152.fmp12
The structure is like:
date-time-random-ToolTitle-ToolVersion.fmp12
YearMonthDay-HoursMinutesSeconds-Random-Title-Version.fmp12
This creates unique names, which are easily sorted by their alphanumerical value.
Simple solution to create snapshots or backups from local files.
The sample file shows 2 things:
- Single script to save unique snapshots of your files
- Additional table with information about your file, which can become part of the file name.