William Keyte

Gosh - I've only just returned to this thread and hadn't realised how much people had written - not least the slightly patronising response to my earlier post ;-) Nothing personal, I'm sure. Thank you KaosMaker for your supportive points you made so well. I also agree with you Wim, about broader points and people not knowing the specifics of a solution. I think there will always be a place for a force-login and it depends upon how you handle it. In another thread I had explained that I had built a system of mirrored alias accounts that expire automatically. In addition we were also using SSL etc. Steven, I do take your point about security and having been developing in Filemaker (and in other technologies) for a good 20 years this was obviously not lost on me. Having said that, it was functionality that was there before that has now been removed which could upset the apple cart for many, I would think. I would have been happy if they'd at least included the ability to pass parameters - but no matter; this can be achieved other ways ;-) Blessings to all Will

I occasionally speak to Kieran - the Sales Engineer Manager in the UK and he confirmed for me just before Christmas that the ability to pass the username and password to invoke automatic authentication is not now available in web direct. I did express my disappointment to him quite strongly ;-) but he did point out of course, the obvious security issues. But I agree with you, KaosMaker; there are times when this would be appropriate. Completely killed some functionality in something we're doing. Thanks for your tip above - might investigate that.

Yes, there really are some worrying omissions here. For me, the most serious (as James said above) the lack of facility for passing a username and password for force-logging-in a user. I know this is inherently insecure as you're passing this in plain text but I've developed a set of alias accounts which are re-constructed regularly consisting of randomly calculated characters for precisely this purpose. Present a single clickable URL to a user in an email allowing them to dive straight into a database. In this case, the database doesn't need to be that secure anyway. These are the URL schema that are offered from the WebDirect guide: http://<IP address>:<Port number>/fmi/webd/ http://<IP address>:<Port number>/fmi/webd#<database name> http://<IP address>:<Port number>/fmi/webd#<database name>&lay=<layout name>&viewstyle=<vie w>&record=<record number>&mode=<mode> I'm sure it would be possible to engineer something by passing a user number as the record number to a a table of users - landing on their own user record and thence picking up further context parameters; but what a hassle. Once again: implement something but don't quite complete it! Geez. I'm being unfair - coz' there are some great things about 13. :-) Will

Has anyone used the 'Import XML data over http' feature at all? It could be one of the most powerful tools in the product if only they had developed it properly and finished the job! Sorry I'm having a bit of a whinge here as I cannot quite believe that no facility has been created for allowing proxy details to be entered. This is one of those slightly hidden or 'less-known-about' features of Filemaker which could now prove to be one of the post powerful. As demand for web usage and interoperability increases etc. how can this feature be left not fully developed?! I'm staggered. The reason we want to use this - and I'm interested to know if anyone else has used it, is we develop shrink-wrapped 'application'- like databases that are locked down but upgradeable. This means that the database has to behave like a real compiled application. It will not be accessed by developers once installed on the customer's computer and has to stand on its own feet, as it were. Customers' data sets are imported and exported in their entirety. But we were looking for ways for the database, once out there on its own, to access critical data (usually some sort of 'meta' data) from our servers. This allows us centrally, to control some of the behaviours of the product in copies already out there. Now the import xml data over http is such a slick and easy way to allow a database to 'draw-in' data without having it fully 'connected' to another database. All you need is an 'http' URL. It's utterly brilliant… Except, of course, Filemaker have only done half a job. They've implemented this feature without any proxy control. That means that this feature will not work on any organisation networks where they don't allow unfiltered internet on port 80. If any proxies are involved and the router/firewalls are not set to accept requests on port 80 it's utterly useless. In actual fact, that means this feature is useless in 90% of educational establishments, most of Asia where proxies are normal even on home connections and certainly a majority of businesses where their IT departments are particularly security-minded. So… that's most of the world then. Filemaker, how and where are you intending this feature to be used, exactly? Sorry to sound so irritated but, really! I think what winds me up so much about this is just how good this would be if it were finished off! The fact that Filemaker Server can serve xml data as a specific service is an indicator of how seriously Filemaker has taken it at that end of the equation. So how on earth is it that this feature can ever be used?! Does anyone use it successfully? And if so how are you getting around the proxy/gateway issue? Many thanks for reading by rant! I'm just so disappointed. Will

Hi David Welcome aboard on all this ESS stuff! Nice to see someone else is mucking about with this a bit. Unfortunately, for the moment at least, I've backed away from this area because it's just not quite developed enough from Filemaker's point of view. ESS is quite powerful but what I'm wanting to do is very specific. I'm wanting to use ESS (SQL/Filemaker) as a set of tools that allow me to release data separated projects and deploy them in a way that can allow elegant upgrading so that schema back-end and interface front-end can remain utterly separate. It's quite a big ask actually because it's not really specifically what Filemaker designed it for (yet??). Most people require the ability to manipulate data itself through the ESS tools by employing proper querying etc. Actually I'm not really interested in this at the moment. What I'm interested in is more to do with the DDL commands (Data Description Language). These are a subset of SQL commands that specifically manipulate the schema (Create Field, Table etc), because when I send out a new Filemaker interface file to 'place' over the top of their existing schema, any small changes I need to make in their SQL backend like create a new field needs to be performed by the new interface file. So my interest is more in using ESS as a series of deployment and separation tools. The main problem I've come across is accounts. I want to be able to manage the accounts right within the data. An account is a data record. That account data, therefore needs to be picked up by the interface file and acted upon. So when a new account is created, Filemaker needs to be able to add that record AND manipulate the SQL database. This normally has to be done using the 'grant' command and you cannot send that through from Filemaker. Bang! The whole thing immediately becomes a problem. The problem with all of this is that you're constantly working at the ceiling of Filemaker. Hitting your head on its roof all the time. Filemaker (at the moment) is not really enough of a 'developer's' tool. Its layers of programability just aren't there yet. But I think things are changing. Let us know how you get on, David, and good luck.

yes, I'd like to know the answer to this one. I experienced this one recently doing exactly the same thing with MySQL. Problem is that tables and fields are identified within Filemaker by an internal XML identifier which, of course it loses. Hope you get a more useful reply and get an answer. Will

Right this is a biggy! Need some serious help here... or at least some pointers on where to go next. We're a company based in the UK that specialise in developing neat slick Filemaker apps that are upgradeable. As many of you will know, that brings with it a whole bag of issues in the world of Filemaker! We're currently employing techniques that involve registering all data set tables in a table of its own and recording info like primary table layout, key field, current/next serial number etc and using that info to export/import all data from an old copy and import into a new upgraded version. It is actually very slick but the development overheads are, as you imagine, quite high! :-) ...and if you get it wrong it could be nasty! There's no way we can continue with this in the long term so I'm looking now in more detail at the possibility of data/interface separation using MySQL back-end and continuing to develop our interfaces in Filemaker. Have done some initial experiments and it all works pretty nicely. I've been using the 'Actual' ODBC drivers and have installed MySQL on my macBook for the moment. Will be doing the same on Windows shortly. Not had any real problems so far. The really interesting stuff is to do with how a front-end interface written in Filemaker can be swapped out and any schema changes in the client's already existing data file can be altered (fields/tables added etc.) automatically by the Filemaker front-end interface file. Well, last night I successfully designed a nice Filemaker layout/global fields and scripts system to create my schema change SQL commands and execute them using Filemaker's own Execute SQL function. Works a treat. I created functions for creating a new table, new field, renaming tables and fields, deleting tables and fields etc. all by filling in the parameters in the interface. It allows me to add new fields and tables right from within Filemaker as a user - unbelievably liberating!! I've further developed it so that it creates a series of SQL commands - one for each change, and saves them all as a set of records. A single 'migration' script then runs the whole batch in a loop thus 'updating' the SQL database. Obviously there is still a lot more testing to do but I'm trying to get a feel for whether or not I'm treading new ground here or have you clever people out there done this before. Possible problems might include account management (I'd like to do this from Filemaker) using the 'grant all' command and run that through the ODBC driver but I'm getting errors on that. Basically I want to be able to send out a new interface file, run the schema migration script, and get it to work really smoothly and slickly. My questions to you guys out there are: 1. Am I mad? - careful how you answer that one! :-) 2. Does this have mileage? 3. Can any of you shed any light on any of these issues? Thanks for reading my ramble! Best wishes to all FM developers! Will

Hello fellow Filemaker experts! I'd love to know your thoughts on this one even though I know there is already another topic that touches on it 'Printing Issues with IWP'. I'm in the process of writing a fairly complex and fully featured school Information Management system which is going well and, in fact, quite close to completion. It organises everything to do with students, departments, teachers, classes, assessments, correspondence etc. Basically, the teacher has a 'portal' which is a separate database which acts as their 'front end' and it behaves contextually. In other words, when the teacher logs in (through directory authentication), it provides tasks to that teacher that are appropriate to them according to what level of privilege they have within the school. (teacher, Head of faculty, head of house (pastoral), Senior management etc). Everything is working well when they use filemaker pro as a client. However, one of our customers is determined that he wants his staff always to access the system through the browser (IWP). For much of the system this is fine - most works well, and I've designed it as best I can to work through a browser. However, as we all know, printing reports (particularly those lists that require more complex summaries and breaks between groups of records) this is impossible through the browser for obvious reasons. So... (sorry for the long ramble!)..,. Have any of you experts considered this problem more deeply and fundamentally. Is there anyway, for example, of triggering some kind of server-side activity to create the report, create a pdf and store it in a container field, for example!? Possibly very difficult. I have considered the approach of having a start script run when the data manager logs in on the back-end to create a series of 'standard' pdf reports that are then stored in a container field. Doing it this way, however, means you can't have dynamically created lists based on a particular found set/specific sort order etc. Basically, my question boils down to... Is it possible somehow, to allow a user using the web access, a way of obtaining dynamically created lists. I wouldn't even mind if they had to 'download' the current set of records in some open format like .text or .csv but you can't 'export records' either from the browser. Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated - thanks! William Keyte UK

Sorry Wim - didn't see your second last post. Thanks for uploading that example. Guess you've answered my questions. Many thanks. Will

Thanks Wim. I'll certainly try it out. What about the triggering from Filemaker itself. Is there a way of doing this or does a vb script always have to sit outside filemaker and be launched as a separate entity. Nice thing about Applescript in FM is that you can call it right from within. Would I use 'Send DDE' or 'Send Event'? Many thanks for your feedback. Will

Wonderful! Thanks for that. That gives me a starting point at least. I'll check out that URL. I do see the name Wim Decorte all over the place - he does sound like an expert! Thanks. Will

Thanks David, you're right I could use a plugin and I have used it before. However, the solution I'm working on is deployed to about 800 users and about 500 different computers. It's a big multi user school pupil tracking system. I should have mentioned this originally - sorry. A plugin would obviously work in theory but we'd have to install the plugin on every machine. I'm able to accept two different methods for two different platforms but I wanted Filemaker and the OS to be able to handle this problem alone. Not wishing to be prejudiced against windows, I suspect that the relatively easy applescript method will not be easy to repeat on windows but I'm prepared to be proved wrong! Apart from anything, any new skills I can learn on the windows side would be a good thing such as VB etc but not sure whether this is even possible. Thanks again for your input though. Will

Yes, you're right. I have used that method. In fact it's the only way really. A 'case' function works better but as you say, this method is not elegant. Thankyou anyway. Will

Hope someone can help. I’m normally a mac guy so the specifically windows only areas of filemaker are new to me. As you know, Filemaker is unable to call one of its own scripts by a calculated value. ‘Perform Script [xx]’ You always have to specify the existing script name and ‘hard code’ it into the trigger (button, other script or whatever). What I’m wanting to do (as I’m sure many developers do) is to call a script based on a name stored in a record. I have a series of ‘resources’ or ‘tasks’ that appear in a menu (using a portal). I want to allow the user to click on a task and for filemaker to run a script based on that name stored in that record. I have found a way of doing this on the mac using applescript. I store the following applescript template in a global... [color:blue]tell application "FileMaker Pro Advanced" do script "XXXX" end tell and then pass the ‘script name’ from the record to a substitute function to replace the ‘XXXX’ with the script name. Works beautifully. Anyone know how to do an equivalent on Windows using combination of ‘Send DDE’ / VB Script / ActiveX etc. I know that you can call an FM script using ActiveX but how could I trigger this from Filemaker itself? Cannot believe that Filemaker hasn’t produced a ‘Perform VBscript’ script step. In fact, cannot believe FM haven’t included a perform script name by calculation but there we are! I know this may be a little complicated but any help much appreciated - thanks guys. Will

Yes, I need to know this too - desperately! The help files in Filemaker server talk about it a bit but it only goes half the way. I rang Filemaker UK on this and apparently even they don't have any information on how to bind FM Server to an OS X Server! ...a commonly required configuration I would have thought! Please, can anyone reply on this subject with some good clear advice. Thanks