Developer’s Guide
Table Of Contents
- Chapter 1 Welcome to FileMaker Developer
- Chapter 2 Installing FileMaker Developer in Windows
- Chapter 3 Installing FileMaker Developer in the Mac OS
- Chapter 4 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 your solution
- Converting and upgrading solution files
- Chapter 5 Creating custom layout themes
- Chapter 6 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 Scripts menus
- Adding the FileMaker Pro extension to database filenames
- Saving your settings in the Developer Tool
- Chapter 7 Distributing FileMaker Pro runtime database solutions
- Chapter 8 Publishing your database on the Web
- Types of web publishing
- Using the FileMaker Pro 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 network connection
- Opening password-protected databases remotely
- Chapter 9 Custom web publishing using CDML
- About the CDML examples
- General steps for custom web publishing using CDML
- About CDML format files
- Generating FileMaker Pro CGI requests using CDML
- Using the CDML Tool and templates
- About the CDML Reference database
- Creating error messages
- Using an encoding parameter with a CDML replacement tag
- Planning your web site
- Chapter 10 Using FileMaker Pro XML to deliver your data on the Web
- About the XML examples
- General process for custom web publishing using XML
- Generating an XML document
- Using the FMPDSORESULT grammar
- Using the FileMaker Pro Extended XML grammars
- About UTF-8 encoded data
- Generating FileMaker Pro CGI requests for an XML document
- Using style sheets with your XML document
- Comparing CSS, XSLT, and JavaScript
- Looking at the XML Inventory example
- Chapter 11 Using JDBC to deliver your data
- About the JDBC examples
- About JDBC
- Using the FileMaker JDBC Driver
- SQL supported by the FileMaker JDBC Driver
- FileMaker Pro support for Unicode characters
- About the FileMaker JDBC Driver interfaces and extensions
- Example 1: Looking at the FileMaker Pro Explorer application
- Example 2: Creating the JBuilder Inventory application
- Example 3: Creating the Visual Cafe Inventory application
- Chapter 12 Understanding external function plug-ins
- About external functions
- About the plug-in example file
- Installing, enabling, and configuring the example plug-in
- Description of the FMExample plug-in’s external functions
- Using the example plug-in
- Customizing the plug-in example
- Requirements for writing an external function plug-in
- FileMaker Pro messages sent to the plug-in
- Debugging your plug-in
- Avoiding potential Mac OS resourceconflicts
- Providing documentation for your plug-in
- Registering your plug-ins
- Appendix A Feature comparison of the runtime application and FileMaker Pro
- Appendix B Valid names used in CGI requests for FileMaker Pro XML data
- 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 FileMaker Pro values for error codes
- Index
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 10-8 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.
The FMPXMLRESULT and FMPXMLLAYOUT grammars are
available on the FileMaker Developer CD (Developer
Extras\FileMaker, Inc\External FileMaker APIs\XML\Documentation )
Note These grammars are not well suited for cascading style sheets
with positioning. See
“Using the FMPDSORESULT grammar” on
page 10-3 if you want to use CSS with your XML data.
When you specify “–fmp_xml” as the format for a FileMaker Pro
CGI request, the Web Companion will generate XML data using
either the FMPXMLRESULT or FMPXMLLAYOUT grammar,
depending on the request you specify in the CGI command:
• The Web Companion will generate the FMPXMLRESULT
grammar when you specify –edit, –delete, –find, –new,
–dbnames, –layoutnames, –scriptnames or –dbopen as the
FileMaker CGI request.
• The Web Companion will generate the FMPXMLLAYOUT
grammar when you specify –view as the FileMaker CGI request.
The Web Companion will also generate the document type definition
for the grammar if you specify “–fmp_xml_dtd” as the format. This
is useful if you want an XML parser to validate the XML before your
document goes to production.
Using FileMaker Pro XML to deliver your data on the Web 10-5
For a list of valid FileMaker CGI requests, see “Generating
FileMaker Pro CGI requests for an XML document” on page 10-8.
Note When using XML grammars, you should do a case-insensitive
compare for proper results.
Description of elements in the FMPXMLRESULT grammar
In the generated FMPXMLRESULT grammar, the DATABASE
element contains attributes for the name of the database, the number
of records in the database, the name of the layout that was used to
generate the result set, and the format of dates and times in the XML
document.
The DATEFORMAT attribute of the DATABASE element specifies
the format of dates in the XML document.
Field Full form Short form
Year yyyy (4 digits) yy (2 digits)
Month mm (2 digits) M (1 or 2 digits)
Day dd (2 digits) d (1 or 2 digits)
The TIMEFORMAT attribute of the DATABASE element specifies
the format of times in the XML document.
Field Full form Short form
Hour (1 – 12) hh (2 digits) h (1 or 2 digits)
Hour (1 – 24) kk (2 digits) k (1 or 2 digits)
Minute mm
Second ss
AM/PM a