FileMaker Server 11 ® Guide to Updating Plug-ins
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Contents Updating plug-ins How automatic downloading works When the required plug-in is missing from the client computer When the required plug-in is out of date on the client computer Preparing Mac OS plug-ins with resource forks for Auto Update Where to store plug-ins on FileMaker Server Windows Mac OS Setting up Auto Update in your database Overview To set up plug-in version checking in your database External functions FMSAUC_Version FMSAUC_ FindPlugIn FMSAUC_UpdatePlugIn 6 6 7 8 9 9 10 11 11 11 12 12 1
FileMaker Server Guide to Updating Plug-ins
Updating plug-ins This guide describes how to use the Auto Update feature in FileMaker® Server. Auto Update ensures that FileMaker Pro database clients have the most current plug-in software installed on their computers. You can download plug-ins from FileMaker Server by including Auto Update functions in user defined scripts saved with FileMaker Pro database files. The following describes the Auto Update feature, an example script, and the Auto Update functions.
FileMaker Server Guide to Updating Plug-ins For automatic update to work properly, you must: 1. Make sure the Auto Update plug-in is installed and enabled on each FileMaker Pro client. 2. Set up your database to call the external functions provided by the Auto Update plug-in. These functions verify the existence and version of required plug-ins on both the client and server computers and download plug-ins, if needed. 3. Remind the server administrator to turn on Auto Update in FileMaker Server.
| How automatic downloading works 7 4. The string is searched for the version returned by the YourPlugIn_Version function. If no version information is returned by YourPlugIn_Version, it is probably because the version on the server is greater than the version of the plug-in on the client computer. 5.
FileMaker Server Guide to Updating Plug-ins 4. The string is searched for the version returned by the YourPlugIn_Version function. In this case, the server plug-in version is newer than the client version, so the version on the server is greater than the version of the plug-in on the client computer. 5.
| Where to store plug-ins on FileMaker Server 9 Where to store plug-ins on FileMaker Server You must store plug-ins in the following folders on a server: The plug-in parent folder must have the same name as the plug-in AutoUpdate folder The subfolder containing the plug-in must have the same name as the plug-in version number Plug-in parent folder Subfolder containing the plug-in file Plug-in Overview of the plug-in folder structure Windows To store plug-in files on a Windows server, create a folder
FileMaker Server Guide to Updating Plug-ins Mac OS To store plug-in files on a Mac OS server, create a folder in the AutoUpdate folder named after the plug-in, and a subfolder for each version of the plug-in. Store the plug-in file in the version subfolder. Examples: /Library/FileMaker Server/Data/Databases/AutoUpdate/FMS_Sample_PlugIn /1.0/ /Library/FileMaker Server/Data/Databases/AutoUpdate/FMS_Sample_PlugIn /1.0/FMS_Sample_PlugIn.
| Setting up Auto Update in your database 11 Setting up Auto Update in your database There are several ways to set up Auto Update in your database. This guide describes one way, which uses simple script steps and global fields, and is based on the sample file named AutoUpdatePlugin.fp7 installed with FileMaker Server. Overview To set up plug-in version checking in your database, you need to write a few simple script steps that run when a client opens your database.
FileMaker Server Guide to Updating Plug-ins 6. Write a script that converts version information to number format and places the result in additional global fields in your Auto Update layout. This conversion to number format is required for a comparison of the plug-in version information collected from the client and server computers. For script syntax, see the Get Version Numbers script in the AutoUpdatePlugin.fp7 sample file. For information about the GetAsNumber function, see the FileMaker Pro Help.
| External functions 13 FMSAUC_ FindPlugIn Format FMSAUC_FindPlugIn("plug-in-name") Parameters plug-in-name – the name of the plug-in file. The parameter must be enclosed in quotes. Data type returned Text Description This function returns a string listing the plug-in versions located in the FileMaker Server AutoUpdate folder or the default database folder. If the plugin can’t be found, the function returns –1 (negative 1). FileMaker Server looks for the plug-in in two places.
FileMaker Server Guide to Updating Plug-ins FMSAUC_UpdatePlugIn Format FMSAUC_UpdatePlugIn("plug-in-name version") Parameters plug-in-name version – the name of the plug-in or support file that you want to download and the plug-in version number. The parameter must be enclosed in quotes. Note There must be a space between the plug-in name and the version number.
