Ease of Use

[Gary Weisbrodt]

What I most like about FM is it's ease of use. I used to be able to create demos of projects using FM 4 and Claris Home Page in days and watch developers recreate them in what they than termed robust products like Silverstream in months. I never understood why it was so complex to connect to the high end databases. My fear with using Flash as a GUI is that I will have to learn and suffer the pain of those developers.

Just how difficult is it to connect Flash to the FM files? I have FM 7 developer on OSX 10.3 Server. I also have Dreamweaver Studio 2004. My initial take is that I have a long learning curve to produce a working interactive site.

[Garry Claridge]

It is not so much the concept of Flash connecting to FM but of the Application connecting to FM.

The Application I was involved with is a Game (built with Flash) that connects to FM. The Game uses FM for User Registration/Login, highest score, etc.

All the best.

Garry

[Gary Weisbrodt]

What FM product was used for login and score keeping in the game?

[Garry Claridge]

We used FM Unlimited as the database management system. This was also being used for a very large childrens' talent agency database.

Garry

[Gary Weisbrodt]

So FM Unlimited or FM Server Advanced would be the middleware required in the following snipet from the Flash documentation?

Data Storage in Online Databases

If you need to access evolving information such as stock quotes, account information, and

product orders, you need to store your data in an online database. There are several

database applications that range in complexity and price, from Oracle to MS Access to

FileMaker Pro. Usually, you need to integrate another software application (known as middleware

or application servers) to retrieve and format data from the database for use in Flash

movies or other Web applications. Examples of languages commonly used to communicate

with middleware servers include CFML (ColdFusion Markup Language), ASP (Active Server

Pages), PHP, and Perl. The type of middleware server required depends on the language you

are using, and may include ColdFusion Server, IIS (with built-in support for ASP), PHP

Application server, and so on.

[Garry Claridge]

The middleware for FM Unlimited is CDML, whilst other middleware, such as php, can be used. You could also combine middleware such as php/CDML, Flash/CDML or Javascript/CDML. However, it is worth noting that Flash and Javascript are browser (client) based hence some may argue that these are not middleware.

For FM Server Advanced you need to use other middleware such as php, Java, Flash, etc.

All the best.

Garry

[Todd Dignan]

You can use Flashes XML connector to commuicate FileMaker via XML. Its pretty easy. If you are going to use server advance. You make a connection using a socket and then filemaker will act as service. You need to have Server Advance on a PC box.

[Guest]

Hi Tod

I searched all the pdf documents that came with FMP 7 looking for XML connector and found nothing. Only than realising that it would be foung in the Flash documentation. I searched on just XML in FMP and spent about 30 minutes reading but still nothingthat explained how the XML document is accessed by FMP. I see that FMP will publish and import XML manualy, but it seems far from easy to me.

I remember CDML being easy.

Any direction on where to look would be appreciated.

Darn it Kirk, I'm a designer not a developer!

[Garry Claridge]

Re: I'm a designer not a developer!

Maybe you can work, as a team, with a Developer! I work with designers, because they design and I develop.

It is very difficult to find a one-person designer/developer that is both extensive and effective!

All the best.

Garry

[Guest]

Hi Garry

I'm starting to think you are right. I'll have to chew on the bullet and find come cash to pay a developer.

[Gary Weisbrodt]

I seem to forget to login.

cheers

[Bounce]

Todd,

What port do you specify in Server Advanced when using XML connector in Flash?

I have a server Advanced on a PC Box and I am trying to exchange data with a Filemaker Server. I can successfully pull data from the database using XML.load but I don't know how to send data to the database.

Could you help me out?

Thanks!

B.

[ChouChou]

@Todd

You can use Flashes XML connector to commuicate FileMaker via XML. Its pretty easy. If you are going to use server advance. You make a connection using a socket and then filemaker will act as service. You need to have Server Advance on a PC box.

Is this the same you did described in your other thread; Flash XML Connector Object to FileMaker 6 ? I would like to know, to understand what is going on in this example. So in that example, if I got it right, Flash uses a socket connection and FM works as a service, just like that ? Ifso, great !

ChouChou