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
8-14 Developer’s Guide
For a complete list of error code numbers, see appendix C,
“FileMaker Pro values for error codes.”
For examples of error pages, see the gb_error.htm file in the Guest
Book example, the errors.htm file in the Employee Database
example, and the reqfielderror.htm file in the Shopping Cart
example. (See “Looking at the three CDML examples” on page 8-15
for more information.)
Developer Extras\FileMaker, Inc\External FileMaker APIs\CDML\
Using an encoding parameter with a CDML
replacement tag
You can use a special encoding parameter with certain CDML
replacement tags to specify how the data will be encoded by the web
browser when it is sent to the web page.
[FMP-Field: Information, Break]
The encoding parameters are displayed in the Parameters pop-up
menu in the CDML Tool when the appropriate CDML replacement
is selected. (See “Using the Tags tab” on page 8-6.)
Planning your web site
You’ll need to create a format file for every type of interaction with
FileMaker Pro that you want your web site to provide. As you create
each format file, you’ll need to know
1 what web users will do on the page
1 what type of requests will be made to the database
1 which format file will be displayed as a result of each request
You’ll also need to create pages to display error messages and other
types of feedback.
As you add CDML tags to a format file, you’ll need to know in
advance what the names are of the database, the layout you want to
use, and the next format file in the sequence. A flowchart can be
useful to map out the page links and interactions with each database.
This encoding
parameter Tells the browser to do this
Raw Don’t perform any encoding
HTML Use standard HTML encoding
Format
(new parameter)
Use standard HTML encoding and replace text, numbers,
dates, times, and container size formatting with FileMaker
Pro formats (for example, to add <BOLD> and <ITALIC>
elements)
This new parameter can be used with the [FMP-Field] and
[FMP-RepeatingItem] replacement tags. (See “Modified
CDML tags” on page 8-9.)
Break Use standard HTML encoding and replace soft carriage
returns with the <BR> HTML element
Display Translate text to the language specified in the Web
Companion Configuration dialog box. Use this parameter
with the [FMP-CurrentAction], [FMP-FindOpItem], and
[FMP-SortOrderItem] replacement tags.
For information, see the CDML Reference database
(described in “About the CDML Reference database” on
page 8-11) and “Setting Web Companion configuration
options” on page 6-3.
URL Use URL encoding, which includes converting spaces to
%20.
This encoding
parameter Tells the browser to do this