Semantic Search Updates

The Insert Embedding and Insert Embedding in Found Set script steps as well as the GetEmbedding() function introduced in 21.0 now has support for embedding with images! For AI models that support image embedding, FileMaker can now send said image data, receive a vector, and then perform a semantic find on the image. This opens up a whole new world of being able to search by the description of an image!

Perform Script on Server Enhancements

The "Perform Script On Server" script step is now supported while a script is running on the server. If you call a PSOS from a script running on a server, it will spawn a new session on the same server. This means you can have one script run many processes concurrently, optimizing speeds and getting things done more quickly! Be sure to update your historic scripts in case this new change affects your FileMaker solution.

Improved Script Defaults

Many script steps have new default settings when in the script manager. Please take a look at the items affected:

(Please note that the value(s) in the square brackets [] are the new default values).

• Steps with "Exit after last" [On]

• Steps with "Create folders" [On]

• Paste [No style]

• Show/Hide Menubar [Hide]

• Show/Hide Text Ruler [Show]

• Show/Hide Toolbars [Hide; Include Edit Record Toolbar] -Enable Touch Keyboard [On]

• Undo/Redo [Undo]

• Steps with "with dialog" [Off], (except for Change Password, Delete Portal Row, Perform Find, Convert File, Truncate Table)

External Secure Storage with Less Folders

There is now a new option to to store externally stored container fields with less folders. This will decrease the number of folders used in the secure storage folder structure, making it easier to move securely stored files around. Please note that this feature will not be backwards compatible with older versions of FileMaker, so be cautious when enabling this setting.

Open Quickly Updates

The "Open Quickly" feature (Cmd + K on Mac, Ctrl + K on Windows) got a facelift in the previous version, 21.0. With this new version, Open Quickly grants easy access to additional resources. It can now search Tables, Fields, and Table Occurrences AND be used while in the Manage Database dialog. There is also a new privilege "Allow Open Quick access to layouts and scripts" to control whether or not you want users to have access to "Open Quickly".

ExecuteSQLe() Function

A new function is being introduced in FileMaker Pro 21.1 called ExecuteSQLe() . This function will act identically to the ExecuteSQL() function, except it will return error text from SQL if any errors were encountered. Before, it was much more difficult to troubleshoot errors from the ExecuteSQL() function, so this is definitely a welcome change.

Get(SystemStorageAvailable) Function

This new function returns the remaining amount of storage on the drive where FileMaker is currently installed. This can be particularly useful when calculating how much storage is needed to perform large exports coming out of the system.

Miscellaneous Updates

• The "Classic Theme" can now be deleted from the themes menu in legacy systems.

• The "Preferences" window has now been renamed to "Settings" on both Windows and MacOS.

• You can now set the default file cache size during an assisted install using the AI_SET_FILE_CACHE=### variable. (### being the number)

• 21.1 adds support to macOS Sequoia 15.

Conclusion

Another update to FileMaker Pro brings another set of shiny new features to play with! Claris continues to improve FileMaker Pro by improving quality of life and the feature set available. Hopefully you can make use of some (or all!) of these new tools. Contact us at DB Services if you have any questions or have Claris FileMaker needs.