Ajax Implementation

[johnwiliams]

HI,

i m new in filemaker,can anyone suggest that how can i implement ajax in filemaker as its a database.

thnks to all in advance.

waiting for ur response.

Thanks,

williams.

[Genx]

Hey John,

AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML) is a method used in web development to deal with an issue specific to that. It can be used in conjunction with FileMaker but only when FileMaker is being used as a datasource via CWP (XML based Custom Web Publishing) for a web application / site and not when you are utilizing it in it's native file format via the FileMaker pro clients.

It might be useful to know what you're trying to achieve?

[johnwiliams]

hi,

i m creating a application that is on web in which i m seeing that in fm every control is getting post back so i think that its not good for web development.thats why i asked u guys regarding ajax.

plz suggest me what can i do .

[Genx]

Unfortunately that's just the way CWP works - it posts back the entire layout including portals etc. and not just the fields you request.

You'll have to create individual layouts with just the objects you want back if it's of paramount importance to you. That being said remember that each call to the FileMaker server takes time to be processed.

[drowelf]

Hi, I recently started thinking about AJAX+fmp as well to implement an auto-fill feature my users keep bugging me about.

I understand why in the stanard retrievepage-editdata-postbacktoserver model of IWP something like auto-fill isn't possible without a trip back for every character you type (that would be slow and messy).

However, how can I achieve the functionality of an auto-fill. In other words, my user wants to type characters in the NAME field and get a list of names that are consistent with what she's typed so far. Could this be done with plain old fmp scripting? Maybe as you type in the NAME field, a generic SUGGEST list gets populated with the candidates. Click on an item in the SUGGEST field and it gets put in the NAME field?

Ok...so one way to do that would be the messy solution I hinted at above where you go back to the server everytime NAME updates. Instead, could you retrieve ALL the names in the current set when the first character is types in NAME, so that subsequently the auto-fill is working on data that has already been retrieved locally?

This type of approach would eliminated the necessisity of ajax.

Note: I know the above is messy since you have the suggestions in a separate list. Another approach is to have the NAME field be a dropdown list that gets populated as you type and contain the current candidates. Then no extra code is need to put your selection into the NAME field...you just click it like any drown down choice.

What do you think?

[Genx]

fmp scripting has nothing to do with ajax.

Can you please clarify relating to the technologies that you have experience with i.e. PHP / Javascript?

[drowelf]

I know....I'm basically asking how you can achieve the type of functionality one usually associates with AJAX based database solutions (e.g., being able to do things like auto-fill because you can prefetch data...and other tricks that don't necessitate a trip back to the server). My example above asks specifically how to achieve autofill using just fmp scripting.

to answer your question about my coding background...html,javascript,a little ajax, and dozens of non web scripting and programming languages (python, c++, java, pascal, you name it).

[Genx]

To be honest i'm still confused about how to answer your question - I kind of get what you're asking but am struggling to find relevance. The entire point of FM is that it handles the CRUD stuff itself internally - along with conditional value lists etc.

I guess strictly speaking "AJAX" via "ScriptMaker" is impossible - Scripting is very very synchronous in FM - i.e. the entire screen locks up when you execute a script and the user is unable to do anything while it's running. Additionally the CRUD features are also broadly quite synchronous.

That being said, the things you usually use ajax for aren't necessarily relevant here given that FM is broadly designed to act as a network based solution with large pipes between client / server that present very little latency.

Additionally what exactly do you define as autofill?

[Martin Brändle]

Have a look at YUI Autocomplete. It uses a caching algorithm to reduce server load.

I use it here: http://www.clicaps.ethz.ch/

Type in a few words, e.g. "gly boyer"

That it be very fast, avoid sorting of any kind.