Custom Web Publishing Guide
Table Of Contents
- Chapter 1 Introducing Custom Web Publishing
- Chapter 2 Preparing databases for Custom Web Publishing
- Chapter 3 Accessing XML data with the Web Publishing Engine
- Using Custom Web Publishing with XML
- General process for accessing XML data from the Web Publishing Engine
- About the URL syntax for XML data and container objects
- Accessing XML data via the Web Publishing Engine
- Using the fmresultset grammar
- Using other FileMaker XML grammars
- About UTF-8 encoded data
- Using FileMaker query strings to request XML data
- Switching layouts for an XML response
- Understanding how an XML request is processed
- Using server-side and client-side processing of stylesheets
- Troubleshooting XML document access
- Chapter 4 Introduction to Custom Web Publishing with XSLT
- Chapter 5 Developing FileMaker XSLT stylesheets
- Using XSLT stylesheets with the Web Publishing Engine
- About the FileMaker XSLT Extension Function Reference
- About the URL syntax for FileMaker XSLT stylesheets
- About the URL syntax for FileMaker container objects in XSLT solutions
- Using query strings in FileMaker XSLT stylesheets
- Specifying an XML grammar for a FileMaker XSLT stylesheet
- About namespaces and prefixes for FileMaker XSLT stylesheets
- Using statically defined query commands and query parameters
- Setting text encoding for requests
- Specifying an output method and encoding
- About the encoding of XSLT stylesheets
- Processing XSLT requests that do not query FileMaker Server
- Using tokens to pass information between stylesheets
- Using the FileMaker XSLT extension functions and parameters
- About the FileMaker-specific XSLT parameters set by the Web Publishing Engine
- Accessing the query information in a request
- Obtaining client information
- Using the Web Publishing Engine base URI parameter
- Using the authenticated base URI parameter
- Loading additional documents
- Using a database’s layout information in a stylesheet
- Using content buffering
- Using Web Publishing Engine sessions to store information between requests
- Using the session extension functions
- Sending email messages from the Web Publishing Engine
- Using the header functions
- Using the cookie extension functions
- Using the string manipulation extension functions
- Comparing strings using Perl 5 regular expressions
- Checking for values in a field formatted as a checkbox
- Using the date, time, and day extension functions
- Checking the error status of extension functions
- Using logging
- Using server-side processing of scripting languages
- Chapter 6 Testing and monitoring a site
- Appendix A Valid names used in query strings
- About the query commands and parameters
- Using the query commands
- -dbnames (Database names) query command
- -delete (Delete record) query command
- -dup (Duplicate record) query command
- -edit (Edit record) query command
- -find, -findall, or -findany (Find records) query commands
- -layoutnames (Layout names) query command
- -new (New record) query command
- -process (Process XSLT stylesheets)
- -scriptnames (Script names) query command
- -view (View layout information) query command
- Using the query parameters
- -db (Database name) query parameter
- -encoding (Encoding XSLT request) query parameter
- -field (Container field name) query parameter
- fieldname (Non-container field name) query parameter
- fieldname.op (Comparison operator) query parameter
- -grammar (Grammar for XSLT stylesheets) query parameter
- -lay (Layout) query parameter
- -lay.response (Switch layout for response) query parameter
- -lop (Logical operator) query parameter
- -max (Maximum records) query parameter
- -modid (Modification ID) query parameter
- -recid (Record ID) query parameter
- -script (Script) query parameter
- -script.param (Pass parameter to Script) query parameter
- -script.prefind (Script before Find) query parameter
- -script.prefind.param (Pass parameter to Script before Find) query parameter
- -script.presort (Script before Sort) query parameter
- -script.presort.param (Pass parameter to Script before Sort) query parameter
- -skip (Skip records) query parameter
- -sortfield (Sort field) query parameter
- -sortorder (Sort order) query parameter
- -stylehref (Style href) query parameter
- -styletype (Style type) query parameter
- -token.[string] (Pass values between XSLT stylesheets) query parameter
- Appendix B Error codes for Custom Web Publishing
- Appendix C Converting CDML solutions to FileMaker XSLT
- About the process of converting CDML solutions to FileMaker XSLT solutions
- Conversion of CDML action tags, variable tags, and URLs
- Conversion of the -error and -errornum CDML variable tags
- Conversion of obsolete CDML action tags
- Conversion of supported CDML action tags
- Conversion of obsolete CDML variable tags
- Conversion of supported CDML variable tags
- Conversion of CDML boolean parameters to XPath boolean parameters
- Conversion of CDML boolean operators to XPath
- Conversion of CDML intratag parameters to XSLT-CWP
- Manually fixing CDML conversion errors
- Conversion of CDML replacement tags to XSLT-CWP
- Index
Chapter 3
Accessing XML data with the Web Publishing
Engine
You can obtain and update FileMaker data in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format by using the Web
Publishing Engine. In the same way that HTML has become the standard display language for
communication on the World Wide Web, XML has become the standard language for structured data
interchange. Many individuals, organizations, and businesses use XML to transfer product information,
transactions, inventory data, and other business data.
Using Custom Web Publishing with XML
If you know standard XML, then you can immediately start using the Web Publishing Engine after learning
a few unique details about Custom Web Publishing with XML, such as the URL syntax and query
parameters to use.
By using HTTP URL requests with FileMaker-specific query commands and parameters, you can query a
database hosted by FileMaker Server and download the resulting data in XML format. For example, you can
query a database for all records in a certain postal code, and use the resulting XML data in whatever way
you want to.
You can also use the Web Publishing Engine’s server-side XSLT stylesheets to filter the XML data, reformat
the data into HTML or text such as vCards, or transform the data into other XML grammars such as Scalable
Vector Graphics (SVG). See
chapter 4, “Introduction to Custom Web Publishing with XSLT” and chapter 5,
“Developing FileMaker XSLT stylesheets.”
For more general information on XML, additional examples that use XML, and links to XML resources,
see the FileMaker web site at www.filemaker.com.
Note The Web Publishing Engine generates XML data that is well-formed and compliant with the XML 1.0
specification. For details about the requirements for well-formed XML, see the XML specification, which
is available at www.w3.org.
Differences between the Web Publishing Engine and FileMaker Pro XML Import/Export
The Web Publishing Engine and FileMaker Pro both enable you to use XML data with FileMaker databases.
There are, however, some important differences between the two methods:
1 For accessing XML data and XSLT web publishing, the Web Publishing Engine supports the fmresultset,
FMPXMLRESULT, and FMPXMLLAYOUT grammars. For XML import, FileMaker Pro uses the
FMPXMLRESULT grammar, and for export, FileMaker Pro uses the FMPXMLRESULT or FMPDSORESULT
grammar. See
“Accessing XML data via the Web Publishing Engine” on page 28.
1 To access XML data with the Web Publishing Engine, you use a Web Publishing Engine query string in
a URL. To import and export XML with FileMaker Pro, you use FileMaker Pro menu commands or
scripts.
1 The Web Publishing Engine is server-based and can be installed on the same or a different host than
FileMaker Server. FileMaker Pro XML import and export is desktop-based.