Script Steps Reference

130 FileMaker Script Steps Reference
Options
• Perform without dialog prevents the “Open URL” Options dialog box from
displaying when the script step executes.
•Click Specify to display the “Open URL” Options dialog box, where you can type the
URL directly in the text entry area or click Specify to create your URL from a
calculation.
Web compatibility
This script step is web-compatible.
Description
Windows:
Allows the user to open a URL. Open URL supports http, ftp, file, and mailto URL types.
For example, if the URL starts with http, FileMaker Pro opens the user's web browser and
processes the URL.
Note FileMaker Pro uses the preferences stored in the Windows system file URL.DLL to
determine the application to handle the URL. The URL is then passed to ShellExecute for
execution.
Mac OS:
If the user has configured the internet system preferences, this script step allows the user
to open a URL. Open URL supports http, ftp, file, and mailto URL types, using the
applications specified in either the control panel or system preferences. For example, if
the URL starts with http, FileMaker Pro opens the user's web browser and processes the
URL.
Examples
The following example opens the user's web browser and displays the FileMaker, Inc.
home page (the URL specified when the Open URL script step was defined).
Open URL [No dialog; "http://www.filemaker.com/"]
The following example opens Windows Notepad and opens the file My_File.txt on the root
level of the user's hard disk.
Open URL [No dialog; "file://c:/My_File.txt"]
The following example launches the preferred email application, opens a new email
message, and uses the value in the Email Address field to address the message. The
email address must start with mailto:.
Open URL [No dialog; "mailto:email address"]
You can also use the Open URL script step to open a shared FileMaker Pro file running
on another system, as follows:
Open URL [No dialog; "fmp7://system:user@testlab-mac/testdb"]