V3 FileMaker Pro Progress Bar – Gangsta with Gradients!

OK, one last riff on FileMaker progress bars! The V2 FileMaker Pro Progress Bar demo file showed how to have the bar change color based on the percentage, such as changing the entire bar from green to yellow to red as the percentage increased. That approach has some good uses (showing how full a container is, for instance), but some developers had something else in mind: having the bar incrementally change color as it progressed. In other words, a gradient.

In the course of solving that problem, I created a native FileMaker Pro 13 gradient generator. Enter as many colors and steps as you wish and the file will create a corresponding 100 x 1 pixel gradient image. You can even specify whether it should use an RGB or HSB gradient. The RGB option is probably what most people are used to, while an HSB gradient will traverse the color wheel on its way from one color to the next. The first sample gradient is a good example to demonstrate the difference. The resulting gradient can be used on its own as a native image or generated dynamically.

The progress bar portion is very simple. It takes three parameters: the progress percentage, a background color (in base64) and a 100 x 1 pixel image (also in base64). It then simply reveals the portion of the image as specified by the progress parameter and displays the background color for the remainder.

How cool is that! Enjoy!

Download Demo of V3 Gradient FileMaker Pro Progress Bar

If you prefer video tutorials, check out this video that takes you through Andy’s technique step-by-step.

About Excelisys, Inc.: Founded in 2001, Excelisys (www.excelisys.com) is an FBA Platinum Partner and FileMaker Certified developer organization. Excelisys specializes in designing, developing, customizing, supporting, consulting, migrating, upgrading, fixing, and integrating of FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Go database solutions, MySQL, PHP, CodeIgniter, PostgreSQL, QuickBooks-FileMaker Pro Integration, Excel and MS Access to FileMaker Pro conversions/migrations, iPhone and iPad business solutions, and other various database frameworks and web technologies that automate your organization’s data solution needs for use on the web, mobile, and desktop platforms. Contact Excelisys today for a free estimate and consultation about your business software automation needs @ 866-592-9235.