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
Publishing your database on the Web 8-7
About the FileMaker WebPortal object
With the Web Companion in FileMaker Pro, you can access the
elements of the Instant Web Publishing home page (such as database
names or the URL to access a Form View of a database) as separate
JavaScript objects and extract data from them to build your own custom
home page.
To access elements of the Instant Web Publishing home page, you
need the following FileMaker CGI request:
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" SRC="FMPro?-webportal">
</SCRIPT>
Note If you are using a Netscape web browser, you must specify
JavaScript 1.4.
This HTML statement places the JavaScript object called WebPortal
inside a window object in your web page. The window.webPortal
object contains the following subobjects:
webPortal.databases = Array of <databaseObject>
webPortal.userName = Name of current FileMaker Pro user
Each <databaseObject> in the array contains the following:
databaseName The string displayed for the link in the Instant Web
Publishing home page
defaultURL The default URL for opening the database in the browser
based on settings made in the Web Companion View
Setup dialog box or the Document Preferences dialog box
formViewURL The URL for opening the database in the Form View
instant web page
tableViewURL The URL for opening the database in the Table View
instant web page
searchViewURL The URL for opening the database in the Search View
instant web page
newViewURL The URL for opening the database in the New Record
View instant web page
Note A URL for the default Form View for a database can be used
with FileMaker WebPortal objects.
A Custom Web Portal example with commented code is included in
the Custom Workgroup Portal folder on the FileMaker Developer
CD.
Overview of setting up a custom home page for Instant
Web Publishing
To create a custom home page using JavaScript:
1. Create an HTML file for your web page using a text editor or
HTML editing program.
2. Include a FileMaker CGI request for the FileMaker WebPortal
object:
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" SRC="FMPro?-webportal">
</SCRIPT>
3. As desired, use scripting to write HTML and text to the document.
4. Save the file with the .htm or .html filename extension and place
it in the root level of the Web folder (inside the FileMaker Developer
folder).
5. In the Web Companion Configuration dialog box, select Enable
Instant Web Publishing, choose your custom web page from the Home
Page list, and click OK.
Creating a custom web site using a
database layout
Features in FileMaker Pro 6 enable you to design your own page
layouts for Instant Web Publishing in Layout mode, and then display
the layouts in the web browser.