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
9-8 Developer’s Guide
About the FileMaker JDBC Driver
interfaces and extensions
The FileMaker JDBC Driver implements all of the following JDBC
interfaces:
1 CallableStatement
1 Connection
1 DatabaseMetaData
1 Driver
1 PreparedStatement
1 ResultSet
1 ResultSetMetaData
1 Statement
The following FileMaker Pro-specific extensions have been added:
The following classes have been added in support of the
FileMaker Pro extensions:
The API documentation for these standard interfaces and the
FileMaker extensions is included in HTML format in the FileMaker
JDBC folder on the FileMaker Developer 5.5 CD.
Example 1: Looking at the FileMaker Pro
Explorer application
This developer-tool-independent example is a Java application used
for displaying FileMaker Pro database information, similar to the
Windows Explorer and Mac OS Finder applications. You can use the
FileMaker Pro Explorer application along with the FileMaker JDBC
Driver to view any open database on any computer that’s shared via
the Web Companion, by specifying the JDBC URL that includes the
IP address of the computer where FileMaker Pro is running. You can
view the application’s source code in any text editor or Java editing
tool.
The application was created using the basic Java classes to display a
database tree, and FileMaker Pro-specific extensions have been
added to provide detailed information about the fields and layouts.
The user interface was created using the Swing 1.1.1 class library—
an add-on to the Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.1.8.
For information on the Swing class library, go to the Sun
Microsystems web site.
Setup requirements
Included with the example is the swingall.jar file, on the FileMaker
Developer 5.5 CD.
To view the example on Windows machines, you need:
1 Java.exe (included with JDK 1.1.8 for Windows) or equivalent
Java virtual machine installed in the system path on your computer
This JDBC interface Includes this FileMaker Pro extension
java.sql.DatabaseMetaData com.fmi.jdbc.DatabaseMetaDataExt
java.sql.ResultSetMetaData com.fmi.jdbc.ResultSetMetaDataExt
Class name Description
com.fmi.fmpdb.FMPError FileMaker Pro error codes
com.fmi.fmpdb.FMPLayoutField Information associated with a
field on a layout
com.fmi.fmpdb.FMPLayoutFieldEnumerator Class for enumerating the
fields on a layout
com.fmi.fmpdb.FMPLayoutMetaData Metadata for a given layout
com.fmi.jdbc.Array Class used to represent
repeating and related fields