getting started FM on the web

[Aussie John]

I really am not sure where to start with this.

I would like some fields of a database (hosted on FMS) to show on a webpage and be searchable. I can do this through web direct but I would prefer a user not to be kicked out of the company website to go to a web direct one. Any thoughts and guidance? Unfortunately im not good a web coding nor understanding the protocols for interaction. thanks

[jbschwartz]

This is what Custom Web Publishing (CWP) is for using the PHP API. In short, web pages in your main company website can be outfitted with php code to offer the search form you desire, the ability to query your FMP database and return data in the format you desire. Every FMS system since version 7 offers this capability. It provides a “normal” web experience for your end user.

That’s the good news. The hurdle of using CWP is mastering the full stack of tools that are involved:  HTML, CSS, PHP, the PHP API, Apache/IIS, and probably JavaScript, JQuery, AJAX , BootStrap... and more... too much to ask when you just want to get it done  

I’ve dedicated myself to CWP since it was introduced by FileMaker. If you contact me directly, I can provide some time and cost estimate. Or, take a look at my website for some examples. www.exit445.com

Good Luck!

Jonathan

[IdealData]

I started here

https://bluefeathergroup.com/blog/introduction-to-filemaker-custom-web-publishing-cwp/

I didn't know any CWP a couple of months ago - now I'm comfortable with reading PHP/JavaScript and can adapt code snippets from around the web.

Good luck.

[Aussie John]

Thanks I’ll get reading.

 

this looked useful too

http://sixfriedrice.com/wp/up-to-speed-with-the-filemaker-php-api/

Edited February 21, 2018 by Aussie John

[Aussie John]

I have followed the link IdeaData suggested but I am getting this error on trying to log onto the page

Communication Error: (22) The requested URL returned error: 503 Service Unavailable - This can be due to an invalid username or password, or if the FMPHP privilege is not enabled for that user.

As far as I can see I have password set up correctly and FMPHP is selected.

As a bit of a check - web direct is working but it gives a message that my certificate is only the default one and that some items might be missing. Is this a possible culprit?

[IdealData]

You would be better posting the code from your php file.

[jbschwartz]

Error 22 in CWP is the catchall for a failed connection between the API and FMS. Although the message mentions username and password as potential causes, the list is much broader than that. For perspective, I wrestle with Error 22 on nearly every new project until all the settings are tweaked. 

One setting that I don’t believe I saw mentioned...have you opened the required ports on the server firewall?

[Aussie John]

The firewall is open for 80,81,443 and 444 anything else?

As FMS server uses 81/444 I should try adding :81 to the domain?

[jbschwartz]

There are  slew of them, depending on whether you have a one machine or two machine installation, and what version of FMS we're talking about.

See this page to pick your FMS version. 

https://support.filemaker.com/s/answerview?language=en_US&anum=14402

Hope that helps.

[Aussie John]

Thanks appreciate the help

OK some progress: I checked the ports and they were OK so I changed the code to that suggested in http://sixfriedrice.com/wp/up-to-speed-with-the-filemaker-php-api/ (FYI the the blue feather tutorial code didn't authenticate).

https://arina.biz/testprojects.php directs to what appears to be an authenticated page for my domain, except it is blank.

 

Here is the code.

<?php

include("filemaker.php");

$connection =& new FileMaker("TestProjects", "fms.arina.biz");
$connection->setProperty(‘username’, ‘PHP User’);
$connection->setProperty(‘password’, ‘arina’);

$cmd =& $connection->newFindCommand(‘PHP test’);
$cmd->addFindCriterion(‘Name’, ‘pamela’);

$result = $cmd->execute();

if (FileMaker::isError($result)) {
echo ‘unable to find Pamela: ‘ . $result->message . ‘(‘ . $result->code . ‘)’;
die();
}

?>

 

For info I have attached a local version of the hosted file.

 

thanks for any assistance.

TestProjects.fmp12

[jbschwartz]

Aussie John:

Based on your code, it SHOULD be blank. You are only echoing a result if there is an error. What do want to do with the found record?

[Aussie John]

For this exercise, display the result "Pamela" - based on $cmd->addFindCriterion(‘Name’, ‘pamela’).

But what I am working toward is for the user to perform a quick find

 

I added hoping this might work (sadly not).

<?php

include("filemaker.php");

$connection =& new FileMaker("TestProjects", "fms.arina.biz");
$connection->setProperty(‘username’, ‘PHP User’);
$connection->setProperty(‘password’, ‘arina’);

$cmd =& $connection->newFindCommand(‘PHP test’);
$cmd->addFindCriterion(‘Name’, ‘pamela’);

$result = $cmd->execute();

if (FileMaker::isError($result)) {
echo ‘unable to find Pamela: ‘ . $result->message . ‘(‘ . $result->code . ‘)’;
die();
}

$record = $result->getAllrecords();

$name = $record->getField("Name");
$color = $record->getField("Favorite Color");
 
echo("$name - $color");

?>

cheers 

[jbschwartz]

Try this:

$records = $result->getRecords();

$record = $records[0];

$name = $record->getField("Name");
$color = $record->getField("Favorite Color");
 
echo $name.’ -  ‘. $color;

[Aussie John]

JB Sorry to report but this still leaves a blank page.

<?php

include("filemaker.php");

$connection =& new FileMaker("TestProjects", "fms.arina.biz");
$connection->setProperty(‘username’, ‘PHP User’);
$connection->setProperty(‘password’, ‘arina’);

$cmd =& $connection->newFindCommand(‘PHP test’);
$cmd->addFindCriterion(‘Name’, ‘pamela’);

$result = $cmd->execute();

if (FileMaker::isError($result)) {
echo ‘unable to find Pamela: ‘ . $result->message . ‘(‘ . $result->code . ‘)’;
die();
}

$records = $result->getRecords();

$record = $records[0];

$name = $record->getField("name");
$color = $record->getField("favorite color");
 
echo $name.’ -  ‘. $color;

?>

EDIT; Changed Echo to Echo 'xxx' and nothing returns either

Edited February 26, 2018 by Aussie John
additional info

[jbschwartz]

Aussie John,

Not sure if the single quotes you are using are "legal."  I just tried the code on my local machine and got a syntax error... another source of seeing a black page.  To be sure, change all to double quotes.

When I did that, the page did run but returned a different error but I'm not running the current PHP API on my local development machine.

What do you get?

 

 

 

I 

[Aussie John]

Chrome gives me an HTTP 500 error which from my search can be;

"

• A Permissions Error. In most cases, a 500 Internal Server Error is due to an incorrect permission on one or more files or folders. In most of those cases, an incorrect permission on a PHP and CGI script is to blame. These should usually be set at 0755 (-rwxr-xr-x).

EDIT

the permissions although not what the web search indicated are the same as other accessible files. (see below)

 

drwxr-xr-x+ 25 svradmin  admin    850 26 Feb 17:12 .
drwxrwxr-x+ 10 root      admin    340 26 Feb 14:53 ..
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin   6148 26 Feb 16:58 .DS_Store
drwxr-xr-x+ 14 svradmin  admin    476 26 Feb 17:09 FileMaker
-rw-r--r--+  1 svradmin  admin  14751  5 Apr  2017 FileMaker.php
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin    626 26 Feb 16:38 TestProjects.php
drwxr-xr-x+  2 svradmin  admin     68 26 Feb 14:51 blocs-export-img
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin  12452 26 Feb 14:52 briefing-and-projects.html
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin  11737 15 Feb 10:15 briefing.html
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin   5119 26 Feb 14:52 contact-us.html
drwxr-xr-x+  5 john      admin    170 21 Feb 17:10 css
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin  41562 15 Jul  2016 favicon.png
drwxr-xr-x+  8 svradmin  admin    272 14 Feb 12:40 fonts
drwxr-xr-x+ 46 john      admin   1564 21 Feb 17:13 img
-rwxrwxrwx@  1 svradmin  admin   7592 26 Feb 14:52 index.html
drwxr-xr-x+  7 john      admin    238 21 Feb 17:10 js
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin  11564 26 Feb 14:52 masterplans-and-project-definition.html
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin  10862 15 Feb 10:15 masterplans.html
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin   1135 26 Feb 14:52 sitemap.xml
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin   7385 26 Feb 14:52 staff.html
-rwxrwxrwx@  1 svradmin  admin  23835 26 Feb 14:52 style.css
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin     33 26 Feb 16:01 test.php
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin   9193 26 Feb 14:52 testimonials.html
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin   2728 26 Feb 12:02 testing.html
-rw-r--r--@  1 svradmin  admin   3371 26 Feb 14:52 testing.php

 

I also changed the quotes to no effect

 

 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Aussie John

[Mike Duncan]

19 hours ago, Aussie John said:

$connection =& new FileMaker("TestProjects", "fms.arina.biz");
$connection->setProperty(‘username’, ‘PHP User’);
$connection->setProperty(‘password’, ‘arina’);

You can try to remove the "&" after the equals sign in the first line here. Also, you can try adding "https://" in front of the host.

You can also add this line in your PHP to toggle showing errors in the php code:

ini_set('display_errors',1);

And to turn it off, set to:

ini_set('display_errors',0);

The WPE only uses 80 or 443, depending if you have SSL turned on or not. If you do not have SSL enabled, then you would use http:// on the default port, 80.

Mike

[Aussie John]

Mike I amended the script as suggested but sadly to no avail. Safari still shows a blank page and chrome shows "HTTP error 500"

[jbschwartz]

Please visit the FMS Custom Web Publishing Test page to confirm that the server is working properly.

 

[Aussie John]

Good morning  JB

CWP is working according to the test page.

I have run this script for testprojects.php to test the connection.

 

<?php

include("filemaker.php");
ini_set("display_errors",1);

//And to turn it off, set to:

//ini_set("display_errors",0);

$connection =new FileMaker("TestProjects", "https://fms.arina.biz:444");
$connection->setProperty("username", "PHP User");
$connection->setProperty("password", "arina");

$connected = $connection->listLayouts();

If(FileMaker::isError($connected)){

    echo "not connected";

} else {

    echo 'connected';

}

?>

 

which returns NOT connected

if I make an intentional error of $connected = $connectionS->listLayouts(); I get the following message

Notice: Undefined variable: connections in /Library/Server/Web/Data/Sites/ARINA 2018/testprojects.php on line 14

Fatal error: Call to a member function listLayouts() on null in /Library/Server/Web/Data/Sites/ARINA 2018/testprojects.php on line 14

That tells me that PHP is being read but the final connection to FM isn't working.

So to go back to basics:

I have my root web  folder ARINA 2018 which includes the Filemaker folder and the Filemaker.php and the testprojects.php - this is the correct location?

 

 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Aussie John

[IdealData]

That path does not look right to me. Please read the CWP manual at https://fmhelp.filemaker.com/docs/15/en/fms15_cwp_guide.pdf. In particular section 7 paragraph 4

Quote

4. Copy or move your site directory structure and files to the following folder on the web server.
For IIS (Windows) through HTTP or HTTPS:
[drive]:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server\HTTPServer\Conf where [drive] is the drive on which the Web Publishing Engine component of your FileMaker Server deployment resides.

For Apache (OS X) through HTTP: /Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs

For Apache (OS X) through HTTPS: /Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs/httpsRoot

Incidentally, your test layout name is actually "PHP Test", not "PHP test" as you have used earlier.

[Mike Duncan]

14 hours ago, Aussie John said:

$connection =new FileMaker("TestProjects", "https://fms.arina.biz:444");

You might try setting the properties more explicitly, just to make sure they are in the right order. Your test page appears to be working correctly on the port you specify, but it could also be an authentication error with the credentials you use. Also make sure to have both XML and PHP privilege sets enabled for the "PHP User" account, if that is the one you are using. Both are needed.

    $fm = new FileMaker();
    $fm->setProperty('database', 'TestProjects');
    $fm->setProperty('hostspec', 'https://fms.arina.biz:444/');
    $fm->setProperty('username', 'PHP User');
    $fm->setProperty('password', 'arina');

 

[doughemi]

I was able to make your php script work with the following changes:

• The file was riddled with curly single quotes.
• I changed the login to one I was most familiar with (without the setProperty() syntax)
• Made the find request layout name match the layout name in the FM file.
• Changed the include command to show the correct pathname and filename for FileMaker.php (on my system; YMMV)
• Changed some capitalization. PHP is case-sensitive.

I added the sequence using $accessed. I find it a very useful troubleshooting tool, as well as a visual cue for a user when the server is down.

HTH

EDIT: Even though the attached file is pointed to the copy of your database on my server, I also connected successfully to your server fms.arina.biz

aussiejohnTest.php

Edited February 27, 2018 by doughemi

[Aussie John]

On 27/02/2018 at 8:01 PM, IdealData said:

That path does not look right to me. Please read the CWP manual at https://fmhelp.filemaker.com/docs/15/en/fms15_cwp_guide.pdf. In particular section 7 paragraph 4

Incidentally, your test layout name is actually "PHP Test", not "PHP test" as you have used earlier.

Hi Idealdata - are you saying I should move my website date to this folder - Filemaker and web server are on different machines

[IdealData]

AussieJohn - it would be a good test to follow the FMI instructions. Might help to resolve your issues.

Get it working there first.

[Aussie John]

Thanks Doughemi - I can indeed connect to the FM Server with a "connected" message but it still doesn't show any Filemaker results.

And thanks IdeaData too. I have read the instruction (chapter 7 para 4) but I don't understand it . Im assuming site directory structure refers to my Web data? so why would I move this - no one would find it - as web and file-maker are on different machines. Also the Web Server doesn't have that folder.

Clearly I am not understanding what is expected here.

Manual quote

Copy or move your site directory structure and files to the following folder on the web server.  For Apache (OS X) through HTTPS:
/Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs/httpsRoot

Edited April 3, 2018 by Aussie John

[IdealData]

Aussie John.

I suggested you follow the FMI instructions to test matters - that would at least give you some clues.

Thanks.

[doughemi]

PHP files need to be in that directory if FMS and web server are on the same box. In your case, that does not apply.

Can you post your PHP connect to FM file so we can see if there are any errors there?

[IdealData]

Aussie John.

I loaded your test file on my own server and used the code by doughemi. The code has a fault in the error trap - there is no method for code(), it is actually getCode(), see below my modification:

<?php

//=================================

define('FM_HOST', "localhost");

$fm_file = "TestProjects";

$fm_user = 'PHP User' ;

$fm_pass = 'arina';

include("FileMaker.php");

 

//include ('include/filemaker14/FileMaker.php');

# instantiate a new FileMaker object

$connection = new FileMaker($fm_file, FM_HOST, $fm_user, $fm_pass);

 

$accessed = $connection->listLayouts();

if(FileMaker::isError($accessed)){

    echo $accessed->getMessage();

    echo "Sorry, the database is not available at this time.<br /><br />Please use your browser's back button to return to the AMYA webpage.";

    exit;

} else{// else not usually left in file; it is here for testing purposes

    print_r($accessed);

    echo '<br>';

}

 

$cmd =& $connection->newFindCommand('PHP Test');

$cmd->addFindCriterion('Name', 'xpamela');

 

$result = $cmd->execute();

 

if (FileMaker::isError($result)) {

echo 'unable to find Pamela: ' . $result->getMessage() . '(' . $result->getCode() . ')';

die();

}

 

$records = $result->getRecords();

 

$record = $records[0];

 

$name = $record->getField("Name");

$color = $record->getField("favorite color");

echo $name.' - '. $color;

 

?>

Now the error trap actually works and should return you a FileMaker error code - notice I have changed the find criterion to 'xpamela' to deliberately force the error - which is of course a 401.

getCode() is NOT DOCUMENTED in the Filemaker API for PHP Documents, nor in the Custom Web Publishing Guide and IS INCORRECT on the sixfriedrice blog (I think that's where you started from?).

See also the following posting to confirm the undocumented "feature" (!!)

https://fmforums.com/topic/74737-geterror-as-code-not-text/

10-4.

[Aussie John]

Thanks Idealdata - that is very helpful.

I am now getting results from the database.

[Aussie John]

Firstly Thanks to everyone who help get me started. Not surprisingly I have plenty of questions but I think I will start a new thread.

[Aussie John]

If anyone is interested here is the final code - (which can be viewed at Arina.biz/testprojects.php )

<?php
//================================= 
define('FM_HOST', "localhost");
$fm_file = "TestProjects";
$fm_user = 'PHP User' ;
$fm_pass = 'arina'; 
$layout_name = 'People';

include("FileMaker.php");
//include ('include/filemaker14/FileMaker.php');
# instantiate a new FileMaker object
$connection = new FileMaker($fm_file, 'https://fms.arina.biz:444', $fm_user, $fm_pass);
$accessed = $connection->listLayouts(); 
if(FileMaker::isError($accessed)){
echo $accessed->getMessage();
echo "Sorry, the database is not available at this time.<br /><br />Please use your browser's back button to return to the ARINA webpage.";
exit;
} 
// else{
// // else not usually left in File; it is here for testing purposes
// // print_r($accessed);
// echo '<br><br>';
// }
Echo 'Enter a colour and click <b>SUBMIT</b> (or <b>RETURN</b> key)<br>Separate multiple colours with a space<br><br>';



?>
<form action='testprojects.php' method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <input type="text" name="search">
    <input type="submit">

</form>


<?php 
$find = $_POST['search'];

$cmd =& $connection->newFindCommand('People'); $cmd->addFindCriterion('colour', $find);

$result = $cmd->execute();
if (FileMaker::isError($result)) {
echo 'Unable to find this colour: ' . $result->getMessage() . ' - ERROR CODE (' .
$result->getCode(). ')';
die(); 
}



$records = $result->getRecords();
$record = $records[0];


//the GET VALUE COMMAND
$options = $record->getField("Getvalue");  
echo 'Choose from… '.$options.'<br><br>';


echo 'Last searched for… '.$find,'<br>';
echo '<br> Found…<br>';
foreach ($records as $record)
{
$name = $record->getField("FirstName"); $color = $record->getField('colour'); 
echo $name.' - '. $color;
echo '<br>';
}


?>

)

Edited April 6, 2018 by Aussie John

[Aussie John]

One thing that is eluding me (well actually multiple things) but when the page first loads it is supposed to show a list of colours that are in the database (from a calculation field of the valuelistitems). Unfortunately this only shows after the first search is run. If I move the list before the find commands the find stops working or the input box doesn't show.

[doughemi]

You have to access the database twice: once to download the list of available colors (before displaying it in html or a php echo statement) and again after the form is submitted  (so that $_POST['search'] is populated. 

Check your PM.