Tag: While

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” →

JSON, Level: Advanced, Version: FM 18 or later

JSONQuery, part 2

Kevin Frank

Continuation of interview with Steve Senft-Herrera

[Editor’s note: the demo file and custom function have been significantly updated since part 1.]

Demo file:  CF_JSONQuery_20211130_0120_PUBLIC.fmp12.zip

KF: Welcome back Steve for part 2 of our JSONQuery conversation.

SSH: Thank you, Kevin.

KF: One thing we didn’t mention last time, because they were late-breaking additions, were the inequality operators.

Continue reading “JSONQuery, part 2” →

JSON, Level: Advanced, Version: FM 18 or later

JSONQuery, part 1

Kevin Frank

Interview with Steve Senft-Herrera

[30 Nov 2021: Custom function and demo file have been updated. Some of the screen shots and example numbers referenced here in part 1 will deviate slightly from what you will find in the updated demo.]

Demo file:  CF_JSONQuery_20211130_0120_PUBLIC.fmp12.zip

KF: Good afternoon, Steve. You’ve been developing JSONQuery over the last few years, and today I have the honor of presenting and discussing it here with you on FileMaker Hacks. I was wondering if you could start out with a brief description of what JSONQuery is?

SSH: Sure. JSONQuery is a custom function, and it operates on JSON. Typically you’re going to be feeding it a large JSON array you’ve received back from the FileMaker Data API, or somebody else’s API, where each record is a JSON object within a larger parent JSON array, and the purpose of this function is to be able to find child elements in that parent array that match certain criteria and return just those elements to you. 

Above and beyond that it has a lot of bells and whistles, some of which I’m sure we’ll cover, but the main impetus for writing it was giving you an easy and fast way to essentially query a JSON array.

For example, let’s say you have an array filled with a lot of orders, but you only need to get the order items that are being shipped to a certain city, or to a certain state, then this function would allow you to easily obtain those elements in an efficient manner. Continue reading “JSONQuery, part 1” →

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” →

JSON, Level: Advanced, Version: FM 16 or later

Ordering Elements within JSON Objects

Kevin Frank

Introduction

If you’ve generated JSON objects via FileMaker, you’re likely aware of the disparity between the order in which you specify the elements, and the order in which they subsequently appear (i.e., alphabetized by key name). As I wrote two years ago (in Thinking About JSON, Part 2)…

Both JSONSetElement and JSONFormatElements will automatically alphabetize key/value pairs within JSON objects. This can be disconcerting if you aren’t expecting it, but eventually you work through the stages of grief and come to accept that it’s just the way things are. The JSON Data Interchange Standard definition at json.org specifies that “An object is an unordered [emphasis mine] set of name/value pairs”, whereas an array is an “ordered collection of values”. In other words, by definition the order of the key/value pairs within JSON objects simply does not, and should not, matter.

Well… okay… you know that, and I know that, and FileMaker knows that, as do the JSON Jedi… but what if you are demonstrating a proof of concept to a client, and to avoid cognitive dissonance and unnecessary explanation you’d like to “doctor the evidence” (so to speak) and order the elements meaningfully?

For example, you’d like them to see this…

2020-04-29_165223 Continue reading “Ordering Elements within JSON Objects” →

JSON, Level: Advanced, Version: FM 18 or later, Virtual List

Virtual Portal, part 2

Kevin Frank

[Note: several hours after posting this article I realized the “Hide Object” calc could be streamlined. Screen shot and demo have been updated to reflect this.]

Demo file: virtual-portal-v2b.zip (requires FM 18 or later)

This is a quick follow up to the Virtual Portal article I posted the other day. As you may recall, the objective was to use virtual list to display disparate entities in a portal…

2019-12-26_154835

…via an array like this…

2020-02-16_18-29-04 Continue reading “Virtual Portal, part 2” →

JSON, Level: Advanced, Version: FM 18 or later

FM18: JSON.InsertArrayElement

Kevin Frank

18 Sep 2022 – these custom functions have been upgraded – see JSON Custom Functions for FM 19.5, part 2 for details.

Disclaimer: the technique shown in this article is provided on an as-is basis. Use with appropriate caution and at your own risk.

Demo file: JSON-Array-Custom-Functions.zip (requires FM 18 or later)

201-08-23-animated

Have you ever noticed that FileMaker does not provide a JSON function to insert a new element into an existing array? For example, given this array (and bearing in mind that JSON uses a zero-based index)…

[ “A” , “B” , “C” , “D” ]

…JSONSetElement ( array ; 2 ; “XXX” ) will transform it to…

[ “A” , “B” , “XXX” , “D” ]

… but we have no native JSON function to “push” a new element into position 2 so that existing elements slide one position rightward to accommodate, like so:

[ “A” , “B” , “XXX” , “C” , “D” ]

Continue reading “FM18: JSON.InsertArrayElement” →

JSON, Level: Advanced, Version: FM 18 or later

FM18: JSON.UpdateArrayElement

Kevin Frank

18 Sep 2022 – these custom functions have been upgraded – see JSON Custom Functions for FM 19.5, part 2 for details.

Disclaimer: the technique shown in this article is an attempt to work around an annoyance that can crop up when using FileMaker’s native JSONSetElement function, and is provided on an as-is basis. Use with appropriate caution and at your own risk.

Acknowledgement: I owe a debt of gratitude to Paul Jansen for many illuminating JSON-related discussions over the last year or so. Thank you Paul.

Introduction

Today we’re going to look at a custom function, JSON.UpdateArrayElement, written to circumvent a problem you may encounter when using JSONSetElement. (Note: see Thinking About JSON, part 1 and part 2 if you need a basic FM/JSON overview or refresher.)

Demo file: JSON-UpdateArrayElement-v3.zip (requires FM 18 or later)

2019-08-13_16-02-58.png

Why did I write a custom function to do what JSONSetElement apparently already does? Because under certain circumstances JSONSetElement does not work the way I believe it should. We’ll get to the custom function in a minute, but first there are a couple issues we need to examine. Continue reading “FM18: JSON.UpdateArrayElement” →

Level: Intermediate, Version: FM 18 or later

New in FM 18: While, part 2

Kevin Frank

Today we’re going to dig a little deeper into the new-in-18 While function, and to avoid repetition, will assume readers are familiar with last month’s article on SetRecursion and While. We’ll look at some new examples ranging from basic to advanced, investigate the circumstances under which While can use variables previously declared via Let, and check out some benchmark results comparing While vs. CustomList.

Demo Files

Continue reading “New in FM 18: While, part 2” →