Category: ExecuteSQL

ExecuteSQL, JSON, Level: Any, SQL, Virtual List

October 2025 Full Access Resource Page

Kevin Frank

Here are links to articles and resources related to presentations/discussions I will be participating in at the [Full Access] un-conference Oct 20-23, 2025.

JSON Demo Files

JSON Articles

JSONQuery

Virtual List Demo Files

Virtual List Articles

SQL Articles

ExecuteSQL, Level: Any, Virtual List

October 2025 FM Training Livestream

Kevin Frank

Here are links to articles and resources related to today’s FM Training Livestream presentation: Best of FileMaker Hacks Tips, Tricks and Traps, part 2

YouTube link

Demo Files

FMH Articles

Other Articles

ExecuteSQL, JSON, Level: Advanced, SQL, Summary List, Version: FM 20.2 or later

OnWindowTransaction JSON

Kevin Frank

Demo file:  on-window-transaction-json-v2.zip
Credentials:  admin / admin
Minimum version:  20.2  [for both client and server]

Note: This demo file is optimized for Perform Script on Server (PSOS), and is intended to be hosted on FileMaker Server or FileMaker Cloud.

Introduction

Recently a colleague mentioned that they were running into a performance issue trying to load a complex found set (customers, invoices and line items) as an array of objects into a $$variable. It was simply taking too long across a WAN connection, and contributing factors included unstored calculations referencing related unstored calculations, and the rendering taking place client side as opposed to server side.

We’ve explored rendering a found set as JSON here previously…

…but both of the above involve constructing the JSON on the fly at runtime. My colleague was hoping for something faster, and today we’re going to look at a fresh approach. Continue reading “OnWindowTransaction JSON” →

ExecuteSQL, Level: Advanced, SQL, Version: FM 18 or later

Exploring Wordlespace with SQL and While

Kevin Frank

Recently we’ve discussed optimizing SQL queries in FileMaker, and had some fun with various SQL experiments. Today we’re going to explore some ways FileMaker can use ExecuteSQL and the While function to perform letter frequency and text pattern analysis on candidate words for the popular Wordle game.

The list of words comes from https://github.com/tabatkins/wordle-list and purports to include the actual answer words, as well as all allowable guess words. I don’t know how valid this list of words actually is, or, assuming it is currently valid, whether it is carved in stone or will change at some point in the future.

Demo file: SQL-Multi-Table-Experimentation-Wordle.zip

Some Notes

  • Today’s file is functionally identical to the one from last time; if you already have it, there’s no need to download this one.
  • No attempt is made to differentiate between daily Wordle words that have already appeared vs. those that have yet to appear.
  • SQL is case-sensitive in the WHERE clause; all our examples today use lower case letters so we may safely ignore the issue for the duration of this article.
  • For a general-purpose introduction to SQL in FileMaker, see Beverly Voth’s Missing FM 12 ExecuteSQL Reference.

Continue reading “Exploring Wordlespace with SQL and While” →

ExecuteSQL, Level: Advanced, SQL, Version: FM 18 or later

SQL Multi-Table & Miscellaneous Experimentation

Kevin Frank

INTRO

Today we’re going to pick up where we left off last month, and today’s article will assume the reader is familiar with the material we covered last time (in SQL Multi-Table Query Optimization).

This time we’re going to dig a little deeper into multi-table SQL queries, conduct some SQL experiments, and look at a way the While function can help speed up and/or extend the capabilities of an ExecuteSQL query.

Demo file: SQL-Multi-Table-Experimentation.zip

Continue reading “SQL Multi-Table & Miscellaneous Experimentation” →

ExecuteSQL, Level: Advanced, SQL

SQL Multi-Table Query Optimization

Kevin Frank

Demo file:  sql-multi-table-query-optimization-v2.zip

Recently a colleague requested help w/ a SQL query that was performing slowly. I wrote back:

  1. Make sure there are no records open locally, i.e., on your machine, in the tables you are querying (for more information see this article by Wim Decorte: ExecuteSQL – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly)
  2. Only query stored values — if you’re querying a single table it should be fast
  3. If you’re querying multiple tables, make sure to construct the query to run optimally

Well today we’re going to take a look at #3 and see what we can learn re: optimizing multi-table queries. But first, I should point out that what follows reflects my current understanding of how things work. I hope this can be the start of a conversation where others will chime in and share their knowledge. Continue reading “SQL Multi-Table Query Optimization” →

ExecuteSQL, Level: Advanced, SQL, Version: FM 18 or later

Fun with SQL Joins and Currency Formatting

Kevin Frank

Demo file: sql-join-fun-etc-v2.zip requires FM 18 or later.

[26 Feb 2022: demo file has been updated to v2 to address the concern raised by Phil McGeehan in the comments section. Screen shots have not been updated.]

Recently I was asked to create a mini-report combining data from a pair of related tables via ExecuteSQL.

This provided an opportunity to think about SQL joins, and also to come up with a way to apply currency formatting to dollar amounts in the SQL query result, given that FileMaker’s SQL implementation does not support the standard SQL way of accomplishing this (e.g., CAST AS NUMERIC or CAST AS DECIMAL) . Continue reading “Fun with SQL Joins and Currency Formatting” →

ExecuteSQL, Level: Advanced, SQL, Version: FM 18 or later

File IDs, Table IDs and Field-Level Schema

Kevin Frank

21 Jan 2021: demo has been updated to fix a couple bugs; article has been updated to reflect these changes.

Demo file:  file ids, table ids and field schema, v4.zip (requires FM 18 or later)

INTRODUCTION

Recently I was asked to help document a FileMaker solution by creating and populating a “schema” table as per the above screen shot.

One of the requirements was to programmatically determine internal ID numbers for the file and for the tables (as opposed to table occurrences) within that file, and this was accomplished by leveraging some script steps that were introduced in FileMaker 18.

(Thank you Rob Russell for pointing me in the right direction, i.e., to Save A Copy As XML.)

RUNNING THE DEMO

Clicking this button…

Continue reading “File IDs, Table IDs and Field-Level Schema” →

ExecuteSQL, Level: Intermediate, SQL, Version: FM 10 or later

GetFieldName Revisited

Kevin Frank

Long time readers of this blog will be familiar with the following scenario —

An ExecuteSQL expression is given, e.g.,

ExecuteSQL ( "
   SELECT SUM ( net_amount )  
   FROM cc_transactions 
   WHERE batch_date = ? 
      AND batch_region = ? 
      AND card_type = ? 
" ; "" ; "" ; $theDate ; $theRegion ; $theCard )

…followed by a disclaimer along the lines of

For readability, static code has been used… in the real world I would employ robust coding practices to prevent accidental breakage due to field and/or TO renaming.

…with the link pointing to custom functions utilizing a combination of GetFieldName and Quote to ensure that using reserved words or potentially-problematical characters (such as a space or #) in table occurrence or field names, or renaming either of the preceding, will not break your SQL code. Continue reading “GetFieldName Revisited” →

ExecuteSQL, JSON, Level: Advanced, Version: FM 16 or later, Virtual List

Virtual Portal

Kevin Frank

Demo file: virtual-portal-v1b.zip

This is a follow-up to last month’s article on virtual list, and this time we’re going to explore a way to use virtual list in a portal.

Imagine you have built a system where a Company can be a parent of a Mill, Refinery, Estate, or another Company.

2020-02-18_044932

Each of these entities exists as a separate table in your database…

2020-02-16_18-26-43

…and from the perspective of a Company record, you’d like to be able to see all immediate children. Continue reading “Virtual Portal” →