How to implement 24U FM Bench Detective into your FileMaker solution

If you have a large solution with hundreds or thousands of scripts you will like what we are working on for the next version of FM Bench – a fully automated insertion and removal of FM Bench Detective. But if you don’t want to wait, here is something you can use already today… Carl Henshall from Cutting Edge Software Ltd has set up a QuicKeys shortcut that works in conjunction with myFMbutler’s Clip Manager (you may also want to try 2empowerFM Clipboard Exporter from Dracoventions) that will loop through all of the scripts in a file. For each script it:

 

• copies all of the script steps & sets them into Clip Manager
• does a find & replace routine on the xml text to
  • add the Start & Overhead scripts steps to the beginning of the script
  • add the Exit step to the end of each script
  • add the Pause & Resume steps around any Pause Indefinitely steps
  • add the Halt step before any Halt Script Steps
  • add the Exit step before any Exit Script steps.
• turns the xml back into FileMaker’s clipboard
• deletes the script steps & pastes all the script steps with the FM steps added back into the script.

If you run the shortcut you can sit & watch whilst it runs through all your scripts adding the FM Bench Detective script steps for you. Carl hasn’t yet dealt with script steps that require user action, eg. Show Custom Dialog, but you may be able to do a similar thing. But the best thing for you here is that Carl was so kind and let us to share his QuicKeys shortcut with you, so that you can take advantage of his effort. So until we have the new version of FM Bench where implementation of FM Bench Detective will be fully automated, feel free to download Carl’s shortcut right here:

Warning: Since this process involves deleting script steps, make sure to have a backup of your solution before trying it out.

If you have any more ideas or just want to tell others about your experience, feel free to leave your comment below.