Is there a "ScriptMaker" manual?

[philipcaplan]

I have FM 8.5 on a Mac, and the folder "English Extras > Electronic Documentation" contains 5 PDF files.

But none of them is for scripting!

Is there a manual/users guide/reference book for scripting?

[ThatOneGuy]

Hey Philip!

Well, there's FM's built-in Help system, but I don't think many would claim it's terrific.

When FM7 was released, a new crop of books was published. Most of them probably address scripting basics; some may go a bit deeper.

The book that opened my eyes is the much-acclaimed Scriptology by Matt Petrowsky and John Mark Osborne. I found it fantastic, and it was a turning point for many of the developers I know. Amazon has a few copies. The only drawback is that it was last published in 1998, and a fair amount has changed since then. But Scriptology is so strong on fundamentals and concepts that it cannot go unrecommended. (JMO is a frequent contributor to this forum ... I hope he's listening.)

That's all I've got. Maybe other members have some ideas....

[Lee Smith]

I think the book [color:blue]FileMaker 8 Functions and Scripts Desk Reference, by Scott Love, Steve Lane, Bob Bowers, is a good next step after [color:blue]Scriptology: Filemaker Pro Demystified

Lee

[philipcaplan]

Thanks for your response, ThatOneGuy.

After reading the replies from you and Lee Smith, I also tried googling "Filemaker scripting reference" and to my surprise got this link to the "Script Steps Reference" manual for FMPro 8 !!

Presumably little has changed in Scripting between 8 and 8.5 apart from the WebViewer stuff, but why didn't they include this manual in the documentation folder for 8.5!!

Anyway, between this and what you kindly suggested, perhaps I'll be a little less in the dark from now on.

Thanks again. PHILIP CAPLAN

Edited October 12, 2006 by Guest

[philipcaplan]

Thanks for your suggestion, Lee. Please look at my response to ThatOneGuy's message.

Regards, PHILIP CAPLAN

[Lee Smith]

The link didn't work.

Lee

[ThatOneGuy]

You're very welcome, Philip, and I'm glad you found some resources to may be helpful. Do keep in mind, though, the Scriptology book. It is much more than a reference or collection of script steps; it was instrumental in helping me learn scripting fundamentals and concepts (and I'm still learning.)

If you run into problems, just post another topic with your questions. Best of luck.

[philipcaplan]

Sorry about that. Apparently a discrepancy between the link that Google shows below the entry, and the one you get when you click on the result line at the top of the entry!

The correct link is http://www.filemaker.com/downloads/documentation/fm8_script_steps_reference.pdf

[comment]

but why didn't they include this manual in the documentation folder for 8.5!!

Because it's included in the online help?

[philipcaplan]

To quote from the "Chapter 1 - Introduction" of the very book itself:

"The content in this document ... has been collected in this format to allow solution developers to read the information independent of the help system.

The following chapters present the script steps by category. Each script step topic describes what the script step does, and what its options and parameters are. It also shows the format for the script step and provides a usage example."

If they did this for FMPro8 (and I personally find a good reference like this invaluable as both a learning and troubleshooting tool) I'm just surprized they omitted it for FMPro8.5.

Maybe it will follow later.

[comment]

The documentation that comes with v.8 doesn't include it either.

[philipcaplan]

How strange! I guess I have to be thankful to Google for finding me the v8 book on Filemaker's website, then. :