Custom Web Publishing with XML and XSLT

Chapter 2
About Custom Web Publishing with XML and XSLT
Creating dynamic websites with the Web Publishing Engine
The Web Publishing Engine provides Custom Web Publishing for FileMaker Server using XML data
publishing and server-processed XSLT stylesheets. Custom Web Publishing provides several benefits:
1 Customization: You can determine how web users interact with FileMaker data, and how the data
displays in web browsers.
1 Data interchange: By using FileMaker XML, you can exchange FileMaker data with other websites and
applications.
1 Data integration: By using FileMaker XSLT stylesheets, you can integrate FileMaker data into other
websites, with other middleware, and with custom applications. You can make the data look like it
belongs to another website instead of displaying an entire FileMaker layout in the web browser.
1 Security: The FileMaker Server administrator can individually enable or disable Instant Web Publishing,
XML web publishing, or XSLT web publishing for all databases hosted by the server. As the FileMaker
database owner, you can control web user access to Instant Web Publishing, XML web publishing, or
XSLT web publishing for each database.
1 Server-side stylesheets: Server-side XSLT stylesheet processing prevents unauthorized examination of
confidential database information that might otherwise be possible with client-side stylesheets.
1 Control and filtering of published data: By using XSLT stylesheets, you can control and filter the data
and the type of database information you want to publish, which prevents unauthorized use of the
database. You can also hide metadata, such as database and field names.
1 Based on open standards: You have more access to tools, resources and skilled personnel for Custom
Web Publishing solutions. If you know standard XML or XSLT, then you can immediately start
developing solutions after learning a few unique details about Custom Web Publishing with XML, such
as the URL syntax and query parameters to use.
About Custom Web Publishing with XML
Custom Web Publishing with XML allows you to retrieve data from FileMaker databases, and easily use
the data in other output formats. By using an HTTP request with the appropriate query commands and
parameters, you can retrieve FileMaker data as an XML document. You can then use the XML data in other
applications, or apply an XSLT stylesheet to the XML data. See
chapter 4, “Accessing XML data with the
Web Publishing Engine.”
About Custom Web Publishing with XSLT
Custom Web Publishing with XSLT provides the ability to transform, filter, or format XML data for use in
a web browser or in other applications. You can use an XSLT stylesheet to transform the data between a
FileMaker XML grammar and another XML grammar for use in another application or database. You can
filter the data by controlling which database fields are published by the stylesheet. You can format how the
data is presented in a web page, and control how the web user interacts with the data. See
chapter 5,
“Introduction to Custom Web Publishing with XSLT.”