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
9-18 Developer’s Guide
1 the images from FileMaker Pro container fields
The FMProResponse class allows you to access the query results.
The information you have access to includes:
1 a result code indicating if the query was successfully processed
1 the number of records returned
1 the total number of records in the database
1 the names, field types, and value lists (if applicable) for each of the
fields on the specified layout, and field data
1 record IDs for the returned records
This information can be retrieved using the various methods
belonging to the FMProResponse object.
Looking at the Java applet examples
There are two examples of Java applets that use the FileMaker Java
classes to communicate with a FileMaker Pro database. The
FMBanner applet is a simple Java applet that displays a textual or
picture-based advertisement based on data from a FileMaker Pro
database. The FMMemoPad applet allows you to browse, edit, find,
sort, and create records in a FileMaker Pro database.
Note To view these examples, you need a web browser that is
compatible with Java 1.1, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape
Communicator with the JDK 1.1 support patch.
To view the FMBanner applet:
1. Locate the FMBanner folder on the FileMaker Developer 5.5 CD.
2. Place a copy of the FMBanner.html and FMBanner.jar files into
the Web folder in the FileMaker Pro 5.5 application folder.
FileMaker Pro 5.5 > Web > FMBanner.html
FileMaker Pro 5.5 > Web > FMBanner.jar
3. In FileMaker Pro, open the FMBanner.fp5 file.
4. Choose File menu > Sharing, verify that Web Companion is selected,
and click OK to share the database on the Web.
For information about setting up the Web Companion so that it’s
already selected in this dialog box, see “Enabling the Web
Companion” on page 6-3.
5. In your web browser, type localhost or your computer’s IP
address followed by /
FMBanner.html and press Enter.
http://localhost/FMBanner.html
For information on setting up your computer as a localhost, see
“Testing your site without a network connection” on page 6-17.
Changes you make to the FMBanner.fp5 database are reflected when
the Java applet loads in the browser. Images are displayed in the
Picture field—if no image is in the field, then text from the String
field is displayed. You can set the font type and size of the text, and
change the background color for each advertisement. If you specify
a URL in the URL field, clicking the advertisement will load the
URL. The database contains a Temp Pict field that you can use to
store images that you don’t want to display in the advertisement.
To view the FMMemoPad applet:
1. Locate the FMMemoPad folder on the FileMaker Developer 5.5
CD.
2. Place a copy of the FMMemoPad.html and FMMemoPad.jar files
into the Web folder in the FileMaker Pro 5.5 application folder.
FileMaker Pro 5.5 > Web > FMMemoPad.html
FileMaker Pro 5.5 > Web > FMMemoPad.jar
3. In FileMaker Pro, open the FMMemoPad.fp5 file.
4. Choose File menu > Sharing, verify that Web Companion is selected,
and click OK to share the database on the Web.
For information about setting up the Web Companion so that it
appears selected in this dialog box, see “Enabling the Web
Companion” on page 6-3.