FileMaker 9 Certification

March 10, 2008 - Los Angeles, California
Just weeks after the official FileMaker 9 certification program was announced, The Alchemy Group once again met the rigorous criteria for this significant milestone. Certification is not only a sign of our commiment to the FileMaker platform, but our assurance to our customers that we remain on the cutting edge of FileMaker technology.

Visual Design Presentation Given By AG President Bob Shockey

Jan. 11, 2008 - Los Angeles, California
At today's monthly meeting of FMDiSC (FileMaker Developers in Southern California), Alchemy Group president Bob Shockey gave a presentation on the importance of good visual design in FileMaker databases. "A database user's first impression is often the last," says Shockey. "If it's not pleasing to the eye, well organized, and fitted to the needs and sensibilities of those using it, resistance will be very high. Good design increases user confidence and invites exploration and discovery." The lecture was geared toward helping typically left-brain oriented programmers understand basic design principles, such as color theory, positioning of elements, use of space, icons, and organization. Also presenting on the topic of visual design were Linda Preuss of Graphics to Go, and Jonathan Reff of Imaging Solutions.

 

FileMaker 9 Impresses with ESS and PHP

July 10, 2007 - Santa Clara, California
FileMaker Inc. has released an amazing new major update of its product with FileMaker 9. The software not only includes some very nice user interface features, but also boasts significant improvements in the area of connectivity. Sharing data between SQL databases built in Oracle, MS SQL Server, and MySQL is now extremely easy and powerful. This new technology, officially dubbed ESS (Extended SQL Source), allows FileMaker to connect to these data sources as if they were native tables. Another excellent new feature is the PHP Site Assistant, which can create a fully functional PHP site with just a few clicks. Contact us for more info on how these great new features can help your organization succeed.

 

Alchemy Group Once Again Earns FM Certification

Oct. 31, 2006 - Claremont, California
The Alchemy Group remains a pre-eminent FileMaker development firm with the addition of FileMaker 8 certification. We are committed to continued excellence in the field of FileMaker development by keeping up with current trends in the FileMaker arena and in the technology world at large.

 

FileMaker 8 - A Fantastic New Upgrade!

Bob and Dina have recently returned from the 10th Annual FileMaker Developer Conference in Phoenix. At this year's conference, FileMaker, Inc. announced the release of FileMaker Pro 8.0, a significant upgrade of their award-winning suite of database products. FileMaker 8 features a robust set of new features that greatly enhances its already strong performance. Besides offering significant speed gains for certain common functions, FileMaker 8 also offers:

- Automatic generation of PDFs and Excel spreadsheets
- Sending of Email directly from the database
- Type-ahead/Auto-complete in any field
- Pop-up date picker (calendar) on any date field
- Enter a day of week into a date search field and see all matching dates
- Real-time visual spell-checking
- Tool tips/help pop-ups
- Support for mouse wheels
- Custom menus

...and a host of new development improvements that make it possible for developers to build better, faster solutions for your business. In fact, this update offers more significant developer tools than any previous release, and streamlines the development process in ways never before possible. Call us for details!

 

Alchemy Group Earns Official FileMaker Certification

Nov. 3, 2004 - Claremont, California
The Alchemy Group has earned the title of "FileMaker 7 Certified Developer," as awarded by FileMaker, Inc. The Certification program, begun in August of 2004, provides an avenue for identifying and recognizing FileMaker developers who have gained a high level of competency in FileMaker 7 database development. This certification further cements The Alchemy Group's reputation as a leader in its field.

 

Alchemy Group President is the New “FileMaker Idol”

Sept. 1, 2004 - Phoenix, Arizona
Alchemy Group president Bob Shockey was awarded the grand prize in the “FileMaker Idol” solution competition at this year’s FileMaker Developer Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Seven finalists were selected from over 50 entrants. Along with the other finalists, Bob demonstrated his "CareMinder" medical solution at the opening session of the conference in front of 1500 attendees, who then voted for the winner. The criteria for selection included best use of FileMaker 7 features, best interface design, and originality.

"I’m thrilled to be honored in this fashion," says Bob. "FileMaker has created an environment that is very conducive to developing powerful, elegant solutions, and I feel lucky to have helped showcase some of those benefits. I wish to thank the helpful staff at FileMaker and my wonderful friends from FileMaker Developers in Southern California (FMDiSC), as well as my client on this project, Cancer Care Consultants, for their encouragement and support. Also special thanks to my associate, Dina Torok, and my QA staff, Anthony and Candice, for all their fine work and helpful advice. It's said that it takes a community to raise a child, and I believe it is the same with any good work to be done."

In addition to the recognition that Bob received for his solution, he was awarded prizes from Apple Computer and FileMaker, Inc.

 

FileMaker 7 Offers Over 100 New Features

Most Extensive Upgrade in Years

March 9, 2004 - FileMaker announced today the release of FileMaker 7, boasting an impressive array of powerful new features:

1. Greater stability. FileMaker 7 is far more robust than any version that we have seen before.   Where previous versions were sensitive to crashes and could become corrupted, FileMaker 7 is far less susceptible to file corruption.

2. Greatly improved security. FileMaker 7 offers new role-based security options and a greatly improved security interface. It offers enterprise integration and is fully compatible with Active Directory, LDAP, and Open Directory services. FileMaker now also supports SSL Encryption. The level of security granularity is also now enhanced. Logins to served solutions can be fully encrypted. Users can now be limited to seeing only solutions that are designated for their use.

3. No limits. The file-size and field contents limitations in previous versions of FileMaker have now been removed.   There is virtually no limit on the amount of information you can store.

4. Multiple-table support. One file can now hold an unlimited number of tables. Instead of watching many files open one-by-one as you start up your database, you will instead see only one or a few files open.   This self-contained architecture allows FileMaker to function more efficiently.

5. Improved Relational capabilities. FileMaker now supports complex, multi-tier queries that make it even more powerful and flexible than before.

6. Multiple windows. A single file can now display multiple views and sets of records from the same source. For example, you can perform two separate searches in a contacts module and compare the two lists side by side.

7. Storage of all file types. You can store any type of file, from Word documents to Acrobat PDFs in a FileMaker field and access it any time you want with a click of the mouse.

8. Commitment. You can prevent changes to a record from becoming permanent until you choose to save them.

9. Improved LAN/WAN performance under FileMaker Server with server-side calcs and plug-ins. Computing is no longer completely dependent on client workstations. Fewer, larger network packets means increased network speed and faster performance at the user level.

10. New functions. FileMaker boasts a substantial number of new functions, script steps and design features that make it an even more powerful, flexible tool. The developer edition includes tools that make it possible for us to optimize and improve your database solutions like never before.

11. Vastly improved Instant Web Publishing .

Who should upgrade?

While FileMaker 7 offers many enticing new features, not everyone should upgrade right away. Your unique situation and needs will have to be carefully considered before upgrading your solution. Please contact The Alchemy Group or Torok Design Solutions today to discuss an upgrade plan that's right for you.

 

Torok Design Solutions and The Alchemy Group Join Forces

Strategic Alliance Benefits customers

December, 2003 - The Alchemy Group and Torok-Design Solutions, two of Southern California's premiere database consultancies, are proud to announce the formation of a new strategic alliance. "We are very excited about this new business relationship," said Bob Shockey, President of The Alchemy Group. "Torok-Design Solutions and The Alchemy Group have successfully collaborated in the past, and this will give us the opportunity to share our talents and resources on new projects of all sizes. Our existing clients will benefit from our combined expertise, and we will be better positioned to serve larger and more diverse clients in the future."

The Alchemy Group (formerly Shockey Solutions) has been successfully providing database solutions to large and small businesses, educational institutions, and non-profit groups for five years. President Bob Shockey has written for FileMaker Advisor Magazine, and has served on the advisory board for FileMaker Developers in Southern California (FMDiSC). He has delivered several technical lectures before FMDiSC and is an Associate Member of the FileMaker Solutions Alliance (FSA), as well as a member of the Servoy Alliance Network (SAN).

Dina Torok is a computer consultant specializing in providing FileMaker Pro database services.  Dina has been developing solutions with FileMaker Pro since 1994, and has been president of Torok-Design Solutions since 1998.  Her clients range from sole-proprietors to enterprises with over 100 employees.  Dina's personal attention to clients' business needs, her comfortable demeanor, and her development skills have kept her clients raving about her contribution to the success of their businesses.  Dina has served as Topics Committee Chair and as a speaker for FileMaker Developers in Southern California (FMDiSC), and is an Associate Member of the FileMaker Solutions Alliance (FSA).

"Dina brings a unique and refreshing perspective to everything she undertakes. Her database design credentials are impeccable," continues Shockey. "We are very lucky to have her on board, and we are looking forward to working with her and her clients, and having her meet and work with ours."

Torok-Design Solutions is on the Web at http://www.torok-design.com .

 

FileMaker Pro Advisor article demonstrates powerful reporting methods

January, 2003 - FileMaker Pro Advisor, the world's premiere source for Filemaker news and information, has published a new article by Alchemy Group President Bob Shockey. The Article, entitled "Create Custom Reports On-The-Fly," is a technical piece designed to teach intermediate- to advanced-level developers how to give users greater flexibility in creating reports within FileMaker. The article details a system for creating a highly flexible report-building system that allows users to work with information from various areas of a database structure, change layouts, and save data sets and field mapping without affecting the proprietary structure of the database solution itself.

"We found this to be a very useful tool in dealing with our power-user clients, and we felt that others would benefit from it as well. Any developer who is concerned with proprietary database development issues can learn from this article," said Bob. "We are very proud to be published in FMP Advisor. We truly enjoyed the experience of working with them, and look forward to contributing more in the future."

More about the article can be found at http://FileMakerAdvisor.com/doc/09286

 

Alchemy Group President Joins FMDiSC Board

November, 2001 - Bob Shockey, President of The Alchemy Group, has been elected to the Board of Directors for FileMaker Developers in Southern California (FMDiSC), a highly respected professional organization of FileMaker developers and consultants boasting over 100 members. Bob has spoken before FMDiSC on a variety of topics, including technical support issues, video-capture into FileMaker databases, and interface design. Bob is excited to be a part of this valuable organization.

 

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