Custom Web Publishing with XML and XSLT

16 FileMaker Server Custom Web Publishing with XML and XSLT
The Web Publishing Engine uses your stylesheets to dynamically obtain data from a FileMaker database
whenever a web user sends an HTTP request and a URL that references one of your XSLT stylesheets. The
Web Publishing Engine uses a stylesheet to transform and format the XML data, and generates the resulting
HTML page that the web user can work with.
For additional information about using FileMaker Server Custom Web Publishing with XML and XSLT,
visit www.filemaker.com/downloads.
About developing XSLT stylesheets
FileMaker Server includes a tool for developing XSLT stylesheets. FileMaker XSLT Site Assistant is an
application you can use to create basic XSLT stylesheets as a starting point for Custom Web Publishing with
XSLT. XSLT Site Assistant is a good way to learn how FileMaker XSLT stylesheets are constructed. You
can then use your own XSLT stylesheet authoring tools to modify the stylesheets as necessary. See
“Using
FileMaker XSLT Site Assistant to generate FileMaker XSLT stylesheets” on page 46.
Note FileMaker Server supports XSLT 1.0 as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium. Any XSLT
authoring tools you use must produce standards-conforming XSLT 1.0.
Key features in Custom Web Publishing with XML and XSLT
FileMaker Server Custom Web Publishing with XML and XSLT provides several important features:
1 Databases are hosted on FileMaker Server, and FileMaker Pro is not required to be running.
1 You can use server-side XSLT stylesheet processing, which is more secure than client-side stylesheet
processing.
1 You can use server-side processing of JavaScript in XSLT stylesheets. For information, see “Using
server-side processing of scripting languages” on page 76.
1 You can prevent the unauthorized use of query commands and query parameters with your FileMaker XSLT
stylesheet by statically defining the query commands, parameters, and values that you want to use when
XML data is requested. See
“Using statically defined query commands and query parameters” on page 55.
1 Like FileMaker Pro, access to data, layouts, and fields is based on the user account settings defined in
the database’s access privileges. The Web Publishing Engine also supports several other security
enhancements. See
“Protecting your published databases” on page 20.
1 Web users can perform complex, multi-step scripts. About 70 ScriptMaker script steps are supported on
the web. See the section
“FileMaker scripts and Custom Web Publishing” on page 22.
1 You can pass a parameter value to a FileMaker script. For more information, see “–script.param (Pass
parameter to Script) query parameter” on page 100, “–script.prefind.param (Pass parameter to Script
before Find) query parameter” on page 101, and “–script.presort.param (Pass parameter to Script before
Sort) query parameter” on page 101.
1 The fmresultset XML grammar enables you to access fields by name and manipulate relatedset (portal) data.
1 Using session functions in an XSLT stylesheet, you can store a web user’s information and transactions
in server-maintained sessions.
1 To access data in a database, you must specify a layout. See appendix A, “Valid names used in query strings.”
1 Each web user can have a unique global field value that persists as long as a session is active. For general
information on global fields, see FileMaker
Pro Help. For information on using global fields with
Custom Web Publishing, see
“About the syntax for specifying a global field” on page 90.