• cloud,  FileMaker,  Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment,  Network Infrastructure,  Time Machine,  Xsan

    Obtain Information From Watchman Monitoring Using a Script

    July 3, 2013

    Watchman Monitoring is a tool used to monitor computers. I’ve noticed recently that there’s a lot of traffic on the Watchman Monitoring email list that shows people want a great little (and by little I mean inexpensive from a compute time standpoint) monitoring tool to become a RMM (Remote Management and Monitoring) tool. The difference here is in “Management.” Many of us actually don’t want a monitoring tool to become a management tool unless we are very deliberate about what we do with it. For example, that script that takes a machine name of ‘rm -Rf /’ that some ironic hipster of a user decided to name their hard drive…

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  • FileMaker,  Final Cut Server

    Scripting Productions and Assets in Final Cut Server

    June 5, 2010

    When you’re integrating Final Cut Server with other products, you often find yourself writing scripts to perform various tasks. One of those tasks might be to create a new project, or a production as it’s called in Final Cut Server. Because a production can have a number of attributes, a great way to do this is to create a template production and then make copies of it (or clones) when you want to create subsequent projects. To do so, you’ll use the fcsvr_client command, along with the clone verb. The -name option will allow you to set the name of the production which would then be followed by the unique…

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  • FileMaker,  Unix

    Delete All WordPress Comments

    December 1, 2009

    WordPress uses MySQL as a back-end. I’ve seen a number of scenarios where someone was comment spammed. The comments weren’t approved and so never appeared on the site, but they were starting to fill up the MySQL database given that there were about 40,000 in one case and about 55,000 in another. In order to trash them you can use the following query from mysqladmin (once connected to the database of course): DELETE FROM wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = ‘0’

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  • FileMaker,  Final Cut Server,  Mac OS X Server

    Final Cut Server: Migrating FileMaker Metadata

    October 23, 2008

    So my buddy Nick Stokes had a project recently where he was migrating metadata out of a FileMaker database and into Final Cut Server.  Here’s what he had to say about the steps: Step 1. The FileMaker DB has all the metadata for all the assets. Step 2. Create a mirror of the metadata in Final Cut Server, leaving the data empty. Step 3. Upload all of the assets into Final Cut Server. Step 4. Outputted a Write XML of every asset out of Final Cut Server. Step 5. Build a php script to parse those WriteXML files and merge them with a CSV dump from the Filemaker DB based…

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  • FileMaker

    New RepTools!!!

    May 20, 2008

    Originally posted at http://www.318.com/TechJournal 318, Inc. is proud to announce the immediate availability of our flagship software product, RepToolsâ„¢ 2008. RepToolsâ„¢ 2008 is a customer relationship management (CRM) suite developed specifically for the entertainment industry. RepToolsâ„¢ 2008 has nine integrated modules that are designed to efficiently manage all of the information businesses need to manage sales forces automation, asset management, and customer relationships from the beginning to the end of production. With instantaneous access to every aspect of the production process and comprehensive metrics for detailed analysis, RepToolsâ„¢ 2008 will let you worry about what matters the most: your customers. Over 100 New Features: Document Management – RepToolsâ„¢ 2008 has an all new…

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  • FileMaker

    Biometrics in Rapid Application Development

    December 18, 2006

    I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal Biometric systems measure the physical traits of users to offer a high level of security. As part of their nature biometric security requires users be present in order to log into the systems they protect. Biometric systems typically rely on the combination of a biometric trait and a password. They can also rely on the use of an access card, resulting in a situation where there are three forms of security present to access a system. Biometrics measure physical traits such as hand geometry, retinal patterns, facial scans, fingerprints or voice patterns. The use of biometrics has a potential in a number of situations…

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  • FileMaker

    FileMaker and Directory Services

    March 26, 2006

    I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal Did you know FileMaker can be configured to authenticate with Open Directory and Active Directory? What does that mean? Well, most companies use a Windows Server or Macintosh Server to allow their employees to log in every day. FileMaker Server 7 now has the ability to connect to those same user accounts instead of having to remember usernames and passwords for both your FileMaker account and your computer account. This also allows companies easier account maintenance when employees join or leave companies. You no longer have to add an account for both the network and FileMaker. In addition to all these benefits, external authentication…

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