Hello,

I've been using FM for years but this is my first effort with the web companion. Is it normal for web companion to override the scripts entered prior to publishing? Example would be that none of the "find" scripts that I've entered will work. The only scripts that function are those provided through the web companion. By the way, can these be disabled?

Thanks,

Todd

Hi Todd. I hope you are ready for a learning curve.

In IWP certain limited ScriptMaker scripts are allowed. They are documented. You might check the Knowledge base at FMI.

Pretty soon you will find that you really don't want to get too involved with IWP. IWP writes the html on the fly. That means you have to design your web db with an inherent understanding of how that html is generated and what it does.

Then you will find out about the enhanced abilities of Custom Web Publishing (CWP). You will find ways to do things without using ScriptMaker, which handles only one event at a time and does not queue event requests, a problem with multi-users on the web. And you will learn a new way to approach database design.

Then you will encounter discussions about whether one should limit oneself to just CDML, or whether one buy and learn Lasso or learn PHP or ASP or XML.

And you will feel overwhelmed for a while.

But one thing is for certain, you do not want to get too deep into IWP. It is far too limiting. IWP is good for, as Anatoli would say, showing a stamp collection. Anatoli never said anything about interacting with IWP.

Bon Chance.

Thank you Unable. It appears that I do have a lot to learn concerning the web. I'm not experienced with the web, only surfing, to know how to start a Custom Web Publishing system. I've done some online research. Are there any reference books that you would recommend?

Thanks,

Todd

Take a look at this thread.

There is a discussion of a few different web technologies, and book recommendations at the end.

Todd, you will find many solutions/demos of web and CDML in the Sample Files forum if you choose the simple route. If you have serious security needs you should follow the advice in the thread which Mariano posted and use a middleware.

Also, the most useful tool for CDML is the CDML Reference database, a link to which can be found by searching that string in the CDML Forum.

But the first and easiest thing to try is to upgrade to FM7. The upgrades to IWP are awesome. The large majority of script steps are now enabled for iwp and multi-step scripts work. It is obviously not as powerful as some othe the advanced techniques mentioned above, but for a newbie type (that includes me), you can now get a lot done, very easily! Try the free demo (you can run both versions in parallel, at least on a windows machine).

LeoG, that is mighty swift advice you've given. Not necessarily good advice, but swift. Is ScriptMaker in FM7 multi-threaded? Does it queue event requests? Have you rigorously tested your solution using multiple, near-simultaneous ScriptMaker event requests, especially on the "multi-step" scripts? You need to do at least a half-dozen near-simultaneous requests on ScriptMaker events from different browsers, and you need to do that several times, examining the browser results and the database results. The last I knew WC did not recognize ScriptMaker events which failed to run, and that near-simulatneous requests to ScriptMaker were not queued because ScriptMaker has been single-threaded.

So when you've tested Pro7 in this rigorous manner, I'd sure like to hear about your results.

Just because it seems easy does not mean it works the way you've been led to believe it should.