Here at Dr. Bott we pride ourselves on our employee’s familiarity and knowledge of our vendor’s products. So we were very happy when Twelve South approached us with an offer to supply our sales team with a number of their products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using information provided about the existing desk set-up and electronic equipment of each team member, Twelve South was able to determine which of their products would help to provide the ultimate working environment for each person.  We then surprised everyone with a number of products; it was like Christmas.  Smiles were all around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end result is a team of happy, productive individuals with really stylish desk set-ups who can speak with authority about Twelve South and how great their products are.

 

 

 

 

 

This Monday & Tuesday, there is a great “Unconference” taking place for the FileMaker Developer community here in Portland known as PauseOnError (more information can be found on the Pause on Error wiki).

Chris and I will be co-presenting a session on Tuesday afternoon titled “Using Extensible Objects as a FileMaker scripting foundation”. We’ve got some awesome material to share with our fellow developers and are very excited for the opportunity!

Be sure to follow the Twitter hashtag #pauseonerror from March 3 – 6, 2013 for updates, reactions, tips, tricks and more.

If you are going to attend, we would love the opportunity to meet you and say hello. Please be sure to seek us out!

–Perren

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Perren Smith is a FileMaker Developer at Dr. Bott. He’s been working with the FileMaker family of products since 1996 and is a FileMaker 12 Certified Developer. He loves to solve puzzles of all sorts using technology and is an avid Apple evangelist to anyone who will listen. When he’s not conquering all things 1 and 0, he enjoys playing golf, spending time with his three boys, and getting outdoors in the Pacific Northwest as much as possible.

Feel free to follow Perren on Twitter at @peabodyfmdev

Join me tonight, 2/19/2013, for the Portland PHP Users Group @ AppFog.

I’ll be providing a brief talk about PHP as a platform extension for FileMaker Pro. SmartPill PHP is a favored tool we use at Dr. Bott. to solve a broad set of problems.

Just a few areas I plan to cover:

• Introduction to FileMaker Pro for developers
  • Database & Application runtime
  • Database field types with calculations
  • Expression Engine
  • Scripts
  • Custom Functions
  • Everything is an Object with an ID
  • iOS runtime FileMaker Go
• Introduction to SmartPill PHP
  • Built as a plug-in to FileMaker’s expression engine
  • Include support (Pear or custom)
  • FileMaker is state-ful, expression engine is single threaded
  • Hello World
  • Replace Field Contents (fill down)
• Use Cases
  • Writing Parsers (PHP has better string manipulation and data structures)
  • External database connectivity (PHP has mysqli)
  • Web Services Glue (PHP has curl, provider librares)

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Chris Irvine is currently the IT Manager at Dr. Bott. He over 10 years of development experience in both PHP and FileMaker Pro. He takes pleasure applying technology to help solve problems for a variety of businesses and non-profits.

At Dr. Bott we use the FileMaker family of products for just about everything we do. It’s the platform we started with over 10 years ago and we have used many versions over that time. In October we upgraded to the latest and greatest – version 12. We are excited to be using it – there have been many improvements to system performance as a result.

One of the core focus areas for our IT team is to identify performance bottlenecks and find ways to remove them. We have installed a suite of measurement tools to watch server performance metrics, capture script performance metrics and client usage data. When we upgraded to v12 we instantly saw our server load average drop – that is awesome! We also saw trends that hinted that some scripts our clients run were slower than in v11. Our users backed that up claiming that certain processes felt slower. It was time for us to investigate what was going on.

In version 12 FileMaker introduced the new CSS based design surface. I was really happy with this change – it presented me with a new set of tools to enhance our layouts to provide efficiency gains that just weren’t possible previously. Unfortunately while re-writing a core process I discovered there is something distinctly different in window behavior between v11 and v12. I’ll save the back story, but the long and short is we believe there are negative performance impacts related to the “New Window” script step.

What? “New Window” isn’t good you say?

No! Don’t get me wrong – I love the “New Window” step. It provides me a way to solve many different problems. Fetch some data from a different table? Yep. Create a set of related records? Absolutely. Keep the user’s current context intact while doing those things? You bet! That’s why it’s so awesome – it reduces the amount of code I write. It allows me to write scripts that can be called from anywhere at any time. It facilitates having multiple developers working in our solution day in and day out. It’s a cornerstone in our FileMaker scripting best practices.

So, what’s the performance issue then?

Over time “New Window” gets slower…much slower. At first I decided to run a simple test to find out how long it takes to create a new window and close it. I created a script that did this – 10,000 times. On average the per window cost was around 1/2 a second. 10,000 new windows took 1 hour and 23 minutes to setup. That’s insane, right? For comparison I did the same thing in v11. This only took 21 minutes. That led me to believe there’s a cost to the new design surface in v12. I’m fine with a slight increase in overhead for what we gained, but 400% isn’t acceptable.

Once I thought I had this issue nailed I found two core scripts that can open anywhere from 4 to 10 windows per run. These two scripts are called thousands of times per day. I looked at the performance data and each execution was taking a handful of seconds. If I can find a way to shave a couple of seconds then we’re going to get hours of time back per week, right? Sure – let’s go with that. So, how do I find away around needing a new window without altering the user’s current context? That’s where ExecuteSQL has become my new best friend. A good percentage of our script are just reading data from records. These scripts are modular and usually open a new window, perform a find, gather data and return a result. Now I don’t need the new window or the find – just use an equivalent ExecuteSQL step! It was great – I cut about 1/2 the new window steps out. Now it was time to sit back and see how much time I saved over the course of a couple days.

This morning I reviewed the performance data. “Show me the money!” I was thinking to myself. Um, no…sorry. The average run times hadn’t budged significantly. Wait, a new window costs 1/2 a second. I tested this! Where’s my savings?!? Was my test flawed?

My test couldn’t be flawed. It was too simple – a loop and 10,000 windows. Well, it turns out the test was too simple. Time to go back to the drawing board…

I enhanced my test to record the time of each new window iteration. That’s where the light bulb went off and a very interesting pattern emerged. A handful of new windows aren’t slow – they were averaging about 0.1 seconds each. Then why the heck was I seeing a different answer with lots of windows?

In short:

• New Window gets slower over each execution until the FileMaker application is quit.
• At a regular interval a new window is really slow compared to the rest. That’s a research topic for another article.

Great, how do I deal with this new information? I’m not entirely sure yet. Making sure my users quit FileMaker each night is a start. Continuing to leverage ExecuteSQL and other techniques to reduce the number of windows is good too. We are in our busiest time of year and every clock cycle counts!

I really hope that FileMaker can find a way to fix this issue. We’re also interesting in hearing from the developer community on other ideas. What have you seen or done to keep performance in tip top shape in version 12?

PS – I posted my test file here. Feel free to download and take a peek at the raw data and how I collected it.

Last Tuesday, Apple revealed the long-awaited smaller sibling to Apple’s industry-leading tablet, the iPad mini.

With the newest version of Apple’s industry-leading tablet now announced alongside of an upgrade to the full sized iPad with Retina, online resellers and retail stores will be anticipating a high demand for iPad mini and iPad 4G compatible products and accessories. Thanks to the hard work of our team here at Dr. Bott, we were able to announce last Tuesday hundreds of products compatible with the iPad mini and iPad 4G available for order, as well as a number of accessories that are made specifically for the iPad mini. Our Vendor Relations team is hard at work, adding new skus to both categories daily.

New accessories for iPad mini and iPad 4G are available for order here:

See all products “Made for iPad mini”
See all products “Compatible with iPad mini”
See all products “Compatible with iPad 4G”

So what’s new in the new iPad mini?
Sporting an aluminum body that’s only 7.2mm thin and weighs just 0.68 pounds (the weight of your average legal tablet), the iPad mini still features a 7.9-inch display, A5 processor, 5 MP iSight camera, a front-facing FaceTime HD camera, and Apple’s new Lightning connector. Pricing starts at $329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model. The iPad mini is available in black with slate back or white with anodized aluminum back, and ships November 2nd.

For more information on the iPad mini, visit Apple’s product webpage here.
See all available models and specs here.

What else?
While the iPad mini was the leader of the rumor mill over the past several months, it wasn’t the only new iPad on the block. A fourth-generation iPad with Retina display was released, now replacing the barely 6-month old “iPad 3″. The iPad 4G features a retina display, a new A6X processor, 4G LTE, dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) 802.11n Wi-Fi, and the new Lightning connector.

While iPad stole the show, a number of notable updates to a range of Apple hardware were made Tuesday as well, including a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, an updated Mac mini, and a brand new iMac desktop computer with a 4mm “thin” design.

To shop all compatible accessories with the new Apple hardware, click each of the links below:

13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina
Mac mini
iMac 21.5″
iMac 27″

And don’t forget to check our website regularly for newly added iPad mini compatible products, which are being added every hour!

Yesterday, Apple revealed the newest generation of the iPhone – the iPhone 5, as well as updates to the iPod lineup including all new iPod Touch and iPod Nano.

Dr. Bott announced yesterday hundreds of products compatible with the iPhone 5 available for order, as well as a number of accessories from over a dozen manufacturers that are made specifically for the iPhone 5. We’re hard at work, adding new skus to both categories daily.

You can order accessories for the new iPhone 5 here:

Made for iPhone 5
Compatible with iPhone 5

While there are not as many accessories immediately available for the new iPods, more will be added throughout the coming days and weeks:

Compatible with the new iPods

Overview
For a quick snapshot of the updates from yesterday, please see the bulleted list below. For additional information, continue reading!

• iPhone 5 launched with 4″ display and LTE, prices start at $199
• iPhone 5 pre-orders announced for Friday September 14, release date a week later on September 21
• New iPod Touch released, available in October
• New iPod Nano released, also available in October
• iTunes 11 with complete redesign announced, due out in October
• iTunes 10.7 released, required to install iOS 6
• iOS 6 release set for September 19 as a free download
• iOS 6 GM for developers released
• Lightning is the new Dock connector name
• EarPods, new earphones for iOS devices released

So what’s new in the iPhone 5?
There are a number of new features to the new iPhone 5, but the most immediately noticeable is the updated form factor and industrial design. Made entirely of glass and aluminum, the taller form factor accommodates a 4 inch screen (up from the 3.5 inch screen of the 4 and 4S), while maintaining it’s width for comfortable, single-hand use. The iPhone 5 boasts a 4″ 326ppi retina display featuring a natural 16:9 aspect ratio while slimming down to be the thinnest and lightest iPhone made. (7.6mm thin – 18% thinner than 4S). The iPhone 5 is now the worlds thinnest smartphone.

Packed into its thinner and lighter frame, the iPhone 5 will feature a brand new A6 processor which can potentially double the speed of the phone and graphics response. Also, the new LTE cellular connection means a significantly improved user experience (more time using and less time waiting). An updated camera promises 44% faster captures, as well as the ability to seamlessly stitch panoramas with built in software.

And speaking of software, the iPhone 5 will ship with iOS 6 (which will also become available to iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4S, iPod Touch 4th and 5th generation, iPad 2, and the new iPad on September 19th), which features a number of exciting updates to Maps, Siri, Shared Photostreams, Facebook integration, and more (click here for more info on iOS 6).

iPhone 5 pre-orders were announced for Friday, September 14th with the release date a week later on September 21st.

To explore the iPhone 5 further, visit Apple’s iPhone 5 web page here.

Music – iTunes, iPod, and EarPods.
While the iPhone 5 opened the show yesterday, there were also some significant updates to iTunes and the iPod Nano and iPod Touch.

Apple announced iTunes 11, which features an updated design with a number of new, user-friendly features, from album browsing to playlist creation.

The iPod Nano appears to be Apple’s hardware design playground; the 7th generation iPod nano features a much larger, but thinner form factor, a 2.5″ screen which can play video, and comes in SEVEN colors. Built-in fitness apps and touch screen capability make this an affordable, feature-rich, slimmed down, and great-looking iPod for the masses, available in October for only $149.

Speaking of great-looking iPods, the 5th generation iPod touch is the best looking version of its breed yet. It’s just 6.1mm thin and has the exact same great display that’s in the iPhone and is now available in 5 colors starting in October at $299.

Finally, Apple has redesigned the classic white earbuds that ship with its products for a better fit and superior sound. The new EarPods will ship with iPhones and iPods, and are on sale separately for $29.

Click here for more details on the updated iPods.

Don’t forget to check our website regularly for newly added iPhone 5 and iPod compatible products, which are being added every hour!

Yesterday, at the San Francisco Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Apple revealed the newest generation of their iPad – simply named “the new iPad”.

Thanks to the hard work of our Vendor Relations team, we were able to announce yesterday hundreds of products compatible with the new iPad are available for order, as well as a number of accessories from over a dozen manufacturers that are made for the new iPad. We are pushing to get new items into stock as soon as possible.

You can check out the accessories for the new iPad here:

Made for the new iPad
Compatible with the new iPad

What’s new in the new iPad?
While the announcement didn’t fulfill either of the “iPad 3″ or “iPad HD” rumors, it did fulfill the leading rumor of an updated display – the new iPad is packing a Retina display, making this the most pixel-packed tablet on the market. The 9.7-inch screen hosts 3.1 million pixels for a 2048 x 1536 resolution — that’s 264ppi. The screen also boasts improved color saturation. And how will the new display keep up? The new iPad has an A5X processor and quad-core graphics chip.

Other notable hardware additions include a new iSight camera on board, which is quite similar to the camera inside the iPhone 4S. It’s a 5MP camera with a backside illuminated sensor and a five element lens. It’s also capable of capturing 1080p video.

On the software front, there were some significant additions to iWork and iLife, most notably to iPhoto. A new and improved UI, as well as some strong photo editing tools will help any iPhoneographer (ok, and iPadographer) edit and tweak their photos with ease. It doesn’t appear that Siri will make a full debut on the iPad just yet – however, the keyboard now features a brand new dictation key that lets you speak instead of type. The new software inside will also let you use the iPad as a portable WiFi hotspot… so long as the carriers will support it. It even has the ability to recognize at least some bezel gestures, as revealed during its iPhoto demo.

Finally, the new iPad will have the new connectivity options of LTE. It will feature 21Mbps HSPA+, but it’s also rocking an LTE radio, which claims to be capable of downloading 73Mbps on both Verizon and AT&T here in the US.

With all of the added features, Apple still maintains the iPad will have 10 hours of battery life. The lengthy battery life, as well as the updated camera are likely the reasons behind the slightly increased weight and 0.6mm thickness increase.

The new iPad will be available March 16th, starting at $499 for the 16GB WiFi model and scaling up to $829 for the 64GB version with 4G. So, on the price front, nothing has changed. Pre-orders started yesterday in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, with much of the rest of the globe to follow on March 23rd.

Apple TV
During yesterday’s event, Apple also announced a new generation of their Apple TV, which most notably features 1080p and a new user interface. The new Apple TV is available on March 16th for $99.

Apple’s Tim Cook took the stage at Apple Town Hall this morning, delivering his very first product introduction as Apple’s chief executive officer, “Let’s Talk iPhone”.

While Cook kicked off and finished the presentation, it was a tag team effort to introduce to the world the iPhone 4S. From Phil Shiller to Scott Forstall, there were many faces introducing the many new additions to the best selling smartphone of all time.

Here are a few notable features:

iPhone 4S
• A Dual-core A5 chip promises to deliver up to two times more power and up to seven times faster graphics
• Siri: an intelligent assistant that allows you to use your voice to use your phone. It figures out the right apps to use to find the right answer. Then, just like a personal assistant, it answers you. Siri can make phone calls, send messages, schedule meetings, set reminders and more
• An 8-megapixel resolution and custom (f/2.4 aperture) lens. Improved backside illumination senseor, new auto white balance, better color accuracy, and reduced motion blur
• Video recording in 1080p HD
• iOS 5 (notification center, iMessage, twitter integration, Reminders, upgraded photos app, camera enhancements, Newsstand, Safari improvements, and PC Free set-up and updates)
• iCloud (all your content, pushed to all of your devices through the cloud)
• Better antenna response (up to 14.4 Mbps downloads – compare to 7.2 Mbps maximum download speed on the original iPhone4)

Check out our new category for iPhone 4S, as well as a list of all compatible products with the links below.

iPhone 4S Category | iPhone 4S Compatible Products

When searching the App store recently for some new additions to my iPhone, I came across one app that seemed too practical to pass up; like if my grandpa owned an iPhone, he would have this app – that kind of practical. The app is “AAA Roadside”, made by AAA for their legendary roadside assistance.

With this app, if you are a AAA member, you can submit a roadside claim and receive immediate assistance, even during the busiest times of day, without having to make a phone call. The app stores a copy of your AAA membership card, so you can access everything you need, even if you left your card at home.

The app is FREE, and available on the iTunes App Store now. Here’s to hoping I never have to use it!

Update: Directly after I finished writing this, I locked my keys in my car; the app worked perfectly, and AAA came to my rescue within 15 minutes.

NOCS is a high quality headphone and earbud manufacturer from Sweden with offices in the United States, and is a new vendor for Dr. Bott. NOCS makes headphones and earbuds that are priced at the high end of the range of comparable products, but deliver sound to match the price.

NOCS has four earbud sets in their line ranging from the Aluminum 200 series earbuds at $69.95 to the high end 800 series stainless earbuds at $199.95. All four sets are available in either black or white cabling and earbud fitments, and housings in either metal finish or black (with the exception of the housings on the stainless units whereby only the cabling and rubber earfits are white). Another unique feature of each model is in-line microphones, as well as iPod/iPhone controls to allow the user to control volume, play/pause/skip for music and answering your iPhone (a great feature for active types).

I was able to test the NS200 aluminum model. First off, these earbuds sound amazing with very realistic bass response (frequency of 20 Hz – 20 kHz) and excellent mid-range sound. As with many earbuds, the high frequencies can be obnoxious at times; however, with good equalizer settings, the sound of the NS200’s can be compensated to account for the high end noise. I used these NOCS NS200 earbuds with a wide variety of music and they had great sound and frequency response with slower, mellow music, as well as rap and dance music.

Another excellent feature is the in-ear fit of the rubber pieces. They have a concave shape around the speaker, which provides both an excellent fit as well as structural noise isolation on par with much more expensive over-ear headsets. I was able to wear mine for an hour with no discomfort or pressure points within the ear. Each set of earbuds comes with multiple sizes of ear sleeves for a comfortable fit, as well as a soft carrying pouch.

All things considered, the NOCS NS200′s are a solid set of earbuds. With a retail of $69.95, they may be at the higher end for most consumers, but with higher end price comes higher end sound, making them worth the extra $$ both in terms of quality of construction and quality of sound.