update from website

[joegold]

I sell a runtime solution that comes with a rolodex of addresses. But these addresses change frequently. Currently I send out address update files that are imported by a script. But I would prefer to have a button that says "update addresses" Whenever the user presses the button, the solution goes online and updates the records from a master database on my website. I have no idea how to do this. Can someone point me in the right direction?

[Anatoli]

IMHO -- it cannot be done...

[The Bridge]

There is a Mac-only plug-in called TCP Extra available from Max Ribuoli. I haven't really tried this myself, but this plug-in is supposed to allow you to upload/download from/to a FileMaker database. I presume this includes runtime solutions.

[Anatoli]

I feel, that Runtime application is very limited in communications. Only Import and Export is there. I doubt, that plugin will work, but I didn't test that.

[amccallum]

Just a few thoughts... could you have a couple of buttons and a two step process, one with a script triggered to connect to a URL which downloads a tab-delimited or whatever file, another to import the data into the database. This one can probably be done without too much effort.

Another possibility may be connecting to a Filemaker db directly over an internet connection and importing from there. This would rely on ports being open through firewalls etc and would be less likely.

What would be really nice would be if you could export/import XML directly from the web by setting your Filemaker db up as a web service and maybe with a v6 runtime this will be possible, but I don't know that it is yet.... could be worthwhile investigating.

[joegold]

I tried using a tab delimited file instead of a filemaker file, and had some more success. The part I don't like is that when you use the open URL script command it switches the user to his browser, and filemaker (or my runtime) is no longer the active program. The user then has to select a location for the file to be saved (a step I would like to eliminate), then switch back to filemaker, and then as long as the file has been placed in the right place with the right name, only then can the import take place without a dialog box. It's still pretty messy. I'd love to make this easier. Anyone have any thoughts?

I am not well-versed in xml so I am not sure how to move forward on that suggestion. Any suggestions where I can learn more?

[joegold]

I solved this problem thanks to CobaltSky who pointed me to the new Troi URL Plugin. See the thread in the Filemaker Developer section with the same title, "update from website."

It really is possible!