What is CDML

[Webugarit]

I'm new here and i don't know much about CDML. So if anyone can tell me something about it. You can write to me at [email protected]

thanks

[Chip Wallace]

If anyone answers this question, I hope they post it on this forum. There are others who are here to learn what we can.

[Kingston]

Maria Langer, in her book "Database Publishing with FileMaker Pro on the Web", provides the following definition of CDML:

"CDML is a collection of tags, similar in many respects to HTML, that can be interpreted by Web Companion. They provide the instructions that Web Companion needs to interact with a FileMaker Pro database." (36).

CDML is an acronym for Claris Dynamic Markup Language. Web Companion is the included plug-in that provides FileMaker Pro's web publishing capabilities.

A very simple example of a CDML tag is [FMP-field:Name]. When processed by Web Companion, this tag is replaced with the contents of the specified field for a record from the FileMaker database. So if there was a field defined as LastName in the FileMaker database, and there was a record with "Jones" in that field, the CDML tag [FMP-field:LastName] would be replaced with "Jones" on the web page for that record after being processed by Web Companion.

No knowledge of CDML is necessary for FileMaker Pro Instant Web Publishing (IWP), but is very necessary for Custom Web Publishing (CWP). XML will probably replace CDML for CWP eventually, but the complete abandonment of CDML is a few years away.

To learn more about CDML take a look at Langer, Maria. "Database Publishing with FileMaker Pro on the Web." Berkeley: Peachpit Press, 1998. or Feiler, Jesse. "FileMaker Pro 4 and the World Wide Web." San Diego: AP Professional, 1999. Both of these titles were written for FileMaker Pro 4, but most of the material is still applicable to FMPro 5. There were a few new CDML tags added with version 5.

FileMaker Pro 4 included the CDML Reference and CDML Tool, but these have been removed with 5 (by converting these files to FMPro 5 format, they can still be used if you have them from FMPro 4). HomePage 3 also includes a couple of CWP tools, but the FileMaker Pro Assistant no longer works with Web Companion 5.0v5. It seems that FileMaker is making Developer required for CWP.

Hope this helps,

Brian