FileMaker® Pro 9 Bible

Chapter 18. FileMaker Pro Advanced Features

If you're reading this chapter, we figure the fact you are here means you're serious, right? When the going gets tough, FileMaker developers' reach for FileMaker Pro Advanced, an extended version that does everything FileMaker Pro can do, with a host of powerful additions.

FileMaker Pro Advanced makes things easier, giving you professional tools to debug and document your code. By itself, this benefit may be reason enough to pawn your second computer and buy a copy, but FileMaker Pro Advanced offers you several other powerful features.

In this chapter, we walk you through what we consider the key features of this leading-edge FileMaker Pro version, giving you insights into where your development can take you when you become an Advanced developer.

Script Debugger

Scripts run at blinding speed, doing their thing; when they work, it's a bit magical, but when your scripts don't do what you expect them to do, figuring out the cause can be quite a challenge. To help, FileMaker Advanced provides a Script Debugger that lets you step through your script one line at a time, watching what happens, and checking for errors.

Choosing Tools → Script Debugger prior to running a script activates the Script Debugger. While the Script Debugger is active, its window "floats" over your solution's windows and, when you run a script, the text of the script appears in the Debugger window, as shown in Figure 18.1.

Watching code in action

Along the top of the Script Debugger ...