Developer’s Guide
Table Of Contents
- Preface Introducing FileMaker Developer 5.5
- Chapter 1 Installing FileMaker Developer 5.5
- What you need to install FileMakerDeveloper
- System requirements for FileMaker Developer 5.5
- Networking requirements
- Web publishing requirements
- Requirements for advanced features (Windows)
- Requirements for advanced features (MacOS)
- Installing FileMaker Developer 5.5 in Windows
- Installing FileMaker Developer 5.5 in the MacOS
- New features in FileMaker Pro
- FileMaker Pro 5.5 and Mac OS X
- Contents of the FileMaker Developer 5.5 folder
- Contents of the Developer Extras folder on the FileMaker Developer 5.5 CD
- Read Me file
- Electronic documentation
- Abiding by the license agreement
- Registration and customer support
- About the TechInfo database
- Chapter 2 Creating a database solution
- Overview of preparing your solutionfiles
- Considerations for a runtime databasesolution
- Considerations for Kiosk mode
- Using scripts to control your solution
- Protecting your database solution files
- Providing user documentation
- Design tips for cross-platform solutions
- Creating a consistent appearance
- Simulating outline and shadow text styles
- Using common character sets
- Designing text layouts for cross-platform solutions
- Using a common color palette
- Using graphics in cross-platform solutions
- Using QuickTime movies in cross-platform solutions
- Showing the status bar in Windows
- Using separate scripts for printing
- Using the Status (CurrentPlatform) function
- Creating platform-specific scripts
- Your responsibilities as a developer
- Testing before and after creating yoursolution
- Converting and upgrading solution files
- Chapter 3 Creating custom layout themes
- Chapter 4 Using the FileMaker Developer Tool
- About the solution examples
- Using the FileMaker Developer Tool
- Binding your databases into a runtime database solution
- Creating Kiosk-mode solutions
- Renaming your databases
- Removing design access to your databases
- Customizing the About, Help, and Scriptsmenus
- Adding the FileMakerPro extension to database filenames
- Saving your settings in the Developer Tool
- Chapter 5 Distributing FileMakerPro runtime database solutions
- Chapter 6 Publishing your database on the Web
- Types of web publishing
- Using the FileMakerPro Web Companion
- Creating a custom home page
- Creating a custom home page for Instant Web Publishing
- Creating a custom web site using a database layout
- Web Companion support for Internet mediatypes
- Monitoring your site
- Exporting data to a static HTML page
- Testing your site without a networkconnection
- Opening password-protected databasesremotely
- Chapter 7 Using FileMakerPro XML to deliver your data
- About the XML examples
- General process for custom web publishing using XML
- Generating an XML document
- Using the FMPDSORESULT grammar
- Using the FileMakerPro Extended XMLgrammars
- About UTF-8 encoded data
- Generating FileMakerPro CGI requests for an XML document
- Using style sheets with your XMLdocument
- Comparing CSS, XSLT, and JavaScript
- Looking at the XML Inventory example
- Chapter 8 Custom web publishing using CDML
- About the CDML examples
- General steps for custom web publishing using CDML
- About CDML format files
- Generating FileMakerPro CGI requests using CDML
- Using the CDML Tool and templates
- Modified CDML tags
- About the CDML Reference database
- Creating error messages
- Using an encoding parameter with a CDML replacement tag
- Planning your web site
- Chapter 9 Using Java and JDBC to deliver your data
- About the JDBC examples
- About JDBC
- Using the FileMaker JDBC Driver
- SQL supported by the FileMaker JDBCDriver
- FileMakerPro support for Unicodecharacters
- About the FileMaker JDBC Driver interfaces and extensions
- Example 1: Looking at the FileMakerPro Explorer application
- Example 2: Creating the JBuilder Inventoryapplication
- Example 3: Creating the Visual Cafe Inventory application
- Using the FileMaker Java classes
- Chapter 10 Understanding external function plug-ins
- About external functions
- About the plug-in example file
- Installing, enabling, and configuring the exampleplug-in
- Description of the FMExample plug-in’s externalfunctions
- Using the example plug-in
- Customizing the plug-in example
- Requirements for writing an external function plug-in
- FileMakerPro messages sent to theplugin
- Debugging your plug-in
- Avoiding potential MacOS resourceconflicts
- Providing documentation for your plug-in
- Registering your plug-ins
- Appendix A Feature comparison of the runtime application and FileMakerPro
- Appendix B Valid names used in CGI requests for FileMakerProXMLdata
- Generating a –find, –findall, or –findany request
- Generating a –view request
- Generating a –new request
- Generating an –edit request
- Generating a –delete request
- Generating a –dbnames request
- Generating a –layoutnames request
- Generating a –scriptnames request
- Generating a –dbopen request
- Generating a –dbclose request
- Generating a -dup request
- Generating an -img request
- Specifying parameters for the request
- –db (Database)
- –lay (Layout)
- –format (Format)
- –recid (Record ID)
- –modid (Modification ID)
- –lop (Logical operator)
- –op (Comparison operator)
- –max (Maximum records)
- –skip (Skip records)
- –sortfield (Sort field)
- –sortorder (Sort order)
- –script (Script)
- –script.prefind (Script before Find)
- –script.presort (Script before Sort)
- –styletype (Style type)
- –stylehref (Style href)
- –password (Database password)
- field name (Name of specific field)
- Appendix C FileMakerPro values for error codes
- Index
7-4 Developer’s Guide
Spaces or single colons in field names are converted to underscores
in the element names (for example,
<FIRST_NAME>). Double colons
in portal fields are converted to periods (for example,
<PHONE.PHONE_NUMBER>). This is done because colons are
reserved in XML for specifying namespaces and spaces are not
allowed in XML element names.
For repeating and portal fields, each FIELD element will contain a
DATA element that corresponds to each repetition or portal record.
Note The content of container fields in the database will be
generated in the form of the relative URL used for retrieving the
content instead of the actual content (such as an image).
To qualify the XML elements for the FileMaker Pro application, the
names of all elements and attributes in this grammar are associated
with the unique XML namespace http://www.filemaker.com/
fmpdsoresult. This namespace is declared in the grammar as the
default namespace.
The following is an example of XML data generated with the
FMPDSORESULT grammar.
Example of XML data in the FMPDSORESULT grammar
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<FMPDSORESULT xmlns=“http://www.filemaker.com/fmpdsoresult”>
<ERRORCODE>0</ERRORCODE>
<DATABASE>PhoneList.fp5</DATABASE>
<LAYOUT>Web Layout</LAYOUT>
<ROW RECORDID=“3” MODID=“23”>
<FIRST_NAME>John</FIRST_NAME>
<LAST_NAME>Smith</LAST_NAME>
<PHONE.PHONE_NUMBER>
<DATA>555-444-3333</DATA>
<DATA>555-222-9999</DATA>
</PHONE.PHONE_NUMBER>
</ROW>
<ROW RECORDID=“6” MODID=“32”>
<FIRST_NAME>Barbara</FIRST_NAME>
<LAST_NAME>Jones</LAST_NAME>
<PHONE.PHONE_NUMBER>
<DATA>555-666-7777</DATA>
<DATA>555-333-0000</DATA>
<DATA>555-111-7654</DATA>
</PHONE.PHONE_NUMBER>
</ROW>
</FMPDSORESULT>
Note If the –lay parameter is not specified in the FileMaker Pro CGI
request, the LAYOUT element is empty and data for every field in
the database is returned. (See “Generating FileMaker Pro CGI
requests for an XML document” on page 7-8 for information.)
Using the FileMaker Pro Extended
XML grammars
The FileMaker Pro Extended XML grammars contain additional
information about field types, value lists and layouts that is not found
in the FMPDSORESULT grammar. Use the FMPXMLRESULT and
FMPXMLLAYOUT grammars if you require layout information or
want the METADATA information provided by these grammars.
Note These grammars are not well suited for cascading style sheets
with positioning. See “Using the FMPDSORESULT grammar” on
page 7-3 if you want to use CSS with your XML data.