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
4-8 Developer’s Guide
Providing user documentation
There are several ways that you can provide documentation for your
database solution, including printed manuals, an online Help system,
and an About layout screen that is available from any layout in the
solution.
Create custom About and Help screens that document what your
database solution is, how to use it, and where users can go for more
information. Then use the Developer Tool to attach scripts to menu
commands that open the About and Help screens. These menu
commands are made available in FileMaker Pro along with menu
commands for FileMaker Pro Help and About FileMaker Pro. For
runtime database solutions, these menu commands will replace the
FileMaker Pro Help and About FileMaker Pro menu commands in the
runtime applications.
Note The FileMaker Pro Help system is not available in
FileMaker Pro runtime applications. However, Status Bar Help
(Windows) Balloon Help (Mac OS), and Help tags (Mac OS X) are
available. In addition, you can provide What’s This? Help for
runtime database solutions that run on Windows machines. See
“Providing What’s This? Help (Windows)” on page 4-10 for
information.
Creating an About layout
For runtime database solutions, the FileMaker Developer license
specifies that you must create an About layout (or screen) that
provides information for your users on how to contact you for
technical support.
An About layout helps protect your database solutions in the event
that your users approach FileMaker, Inc. for passwords. FileMaker,
Inc. uses the About layout to distinguish databases created by
developers using FileMaker Developer rather than users of the retail
version of FileMaker Pro.
Example of an About layout
For more information about what is required to appear in the About
layout for runtime database solutions, see “Your responsibilities as a
developer” on page 4-15.
For a demonstration of an About layout in the primary file of a
runtime database solution, see the runtime solution example on the
FileMaker Developer CD:
\Developer Extras\FileMaker, Inc\Examples\Runtime Solution\
To create an About layout:
1. Create a blank layout in the primary file of your database solution
and include the word “About” in the layout name. (In FileMaker Pro,
choose View menu > Layout Mode, choose Layouts menu > New
Layout/Report, type About <your solution> in the Layout Name
box, select Blank Layout and then click Finish to create the layout.)
Note For runtime database solutions, you must include the word
“About” in the layout name. You must also include certain specific
information in the layout. See
“Your responsibilities as a developer”
on page 4-15 for details.