FMWebFrame Container Issues/Comments

[Davesmind]

To start off this is by far an awesome addition to the PHP side of Filemaker. I have been so frustrated with Filemaker's own PHP Api and how little information there is available. This has given me almost everything I need to build a larger system with Filemaker as the main db access and the PHP to support the users who really don't need anything but some data stored on the system.

I am using version 13e of FMWebFrame

I have installed the demo application and after fighting with the settings here and there I have a working demo system. I think an easier approach is to build set framework locations (similar to CodeIgniter/Cake PHP and just have the end user put all of the required files into a specific location (IE Filemaker API goes here). I know you want to allow flexibility, but If you keep a standard then the end user will have to follow your direction and issues that come up will be easier to identify. In my case i ran into issues such as the nickname without the quotes, various setting issues where i thought something was supposed to be part of the file location was actually something you defaulted for your own setup. In my case once removed everything started to work. Unfortunately i am continuing to run into issues and it is with the container section of the system.

If I upload a document via Container Uploading. Everything works fine until the system generates the link to the new file. That link leads to a Not Found Page.

Above is the link created. The file is uploaded and found in the FMWebFrame demo database, but the link itself does not exist. I did notice that it generates a similar cache file in the temp folder, but there is less than 1kb of data. I also noticed that it adds an html extension to all file types as part of the link.

The second issue is the Container Publishing. The entire page just does not function. This may be linked to the Container uploading, but it is starting to become needle in a haystack as i don't want to break what does work. As you can see below the default image does not get loaded. The two demo links also go to folders that do not exist, but even if they are directed to the correct temp folder there is no file found in that folder. The links shown on the screen are also different then the actual links they direct you to. In both cases the link on the page shows the eagle/test/../temp/item.png. The actual link is eagle/temp/item.png. Any help would be appreciated. I've also included my settings.php as an attachment below.

settings_copy.php

[Wim]

I  also had do a little playing around and customizing of the FMWebFrame php functions to get it to work.  If I recall, I had the same extra /,../ in the middle of urls.

However, once I got it working, it has been absolutely awesome!  It is worth figuring out.

I am not an expert on php or I would try and help you figure it out. I recall having to just go line by line and use fmDump to track the variables to see what they were and when the issue was inserted.  Once I figured it and fixed it, never had an issue.

It works so great that I even modified Tim's functions so it can either pull something from FileMaker or pull a file from Dropbox.  We store file references to Dropbox in Filemaker, but when we first use them to get files we had issues where some folks were blocked by corporate firewalls and could not view the Dropbox files.  I used the same functions, just pass two more arguments, if i want to grab a Dropbox file instead of from Filemaker.  The code grads the file from Dropbox, puts the latest file on my server, and servers it up from there.  Works great.

[Davesmind]

I agree. I really wish Filemaker put more effort into the documentation and abilities regarding the PHP API's. I know their focus is now on webdirect, but licensing for that aspect just does not work when you need to build intranet services that do not need the features of Webdirect. I built a scanning system for Filemaker (using NAPS) and now i need a way for the end user to perform a lookup for a file that was scanned. Giving them Filemaker Pro or even Webdirect is a waste of a license. Giving them a simple find page is perfect and where PHP fills the gap. I still retain the speed of development on my Filemaker applications, but gain the robust abilities of PHP. 

On a side note I copied over all of the files and restructured my demo application. I made only 2 changes to the entire demo application ( single quotes around the $fm_databases section and defines the HTTP_ROOT_URL ( define ( 'HTTP_ROOT_URL', 'http://' . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] . '/test' );). I did not change any other settings, but the end result is the same. I think the issue is either a setting on the database or a setting regarding the container. I do not get any errors when the pages load so i believe the database is set correctly. I am under the impression that when a page loads and the system cannot pull the file from the FM db that it will end the code and result in a 404 error. Instead the page loads without issue, but i am unable to open the file itself and the link returns the 404 page. I did see all of the temp files (.info ) and they do reference the files within the FM DB.

I think a cool feature to add in a status page that a lot of PHP drop ins provide (OSTicket is a good example). This page could check the functionality and accessibility of all of the defined parts of the settings.php and determine if they work or not. I know Tim is doing this all on his own and I commend him on his progress and abilities. This is not to complain about anything, but more to help the programmer see what the end user deals with and possible fixes to make the next user experience all the better.

I did use Tim's debug.php file, but that seems to check more for server settings. The server works and most of the application features work. This appears to be more of a settings issue in my case. I am continuing to debug.