Filemaker Pro on & off the Web
Last Modified 1/31/2007.

I do a lot of work with Filemaker. It's a very flexible database program that can be used as a single desktop application or as a server in conjunction with a hundred other users. The most recent version of Filemaker is version 7. I have written an article on the issues I've found when converting systems to version 7 here. Filemaker is cross platform. On the Mac side, it's extremely scriptable. I use a Filemaker system to keep track of my business. A sample system similiar to the one I use is available here. It's a run-time program so you don't need Filemaker to check it out. I call it The Tracker. It tracks my clients, time, billing, expenses and appointments. It also interfaces with Eudora and MacAuthorize on the Mac through applescript. More recently I've written a program designed for lawyers but useful for any professional who charges for their time called "By Friday". This is also a run-time program so there's no need to own Filemaker to check out this program, and this one's available to both Mac and PC users. PC users download here. Mac users download here. In addition to the Tracker, I've written several applescripts that work with Filemaker.

• Archive Emails - Imports your Eudora mail into Filemaker.
• Graphics cataloger - Imports folders of graphics into Filemaker as file references or thumbnails.
• Filekeeper - Archives all your files into a Filemaker database and relates them to a typical web server log.

Filemaker can trigger an external applescript, or it can run an applescript formatted in it's internal scriptmaker or a calculation field. Filemaker can also trigger a Frontier script. To trigger a script called "link", use the "send apple event" command inside Filemaker Pro's scriptmaker. Send two events. The first should be an "open document" event that opens the Frontier root file in case Frontier is not running. The second should be specified as "other", event class "find" event ID "link". The link script should be located within the subtable system.verbs.trap.find in the Frontier root. Cheers to Mike Cohen for sharing this information with me several years ago so that I may share it with you.

Putting applescripts inside Filemaker calculation fields can be powerful since it allows you to integrate field values and other Filemaker functions into your applescript. To create an applescript in a Filemaker calculation field, the entire script must be formatted as a string by enclosing it with quotes. You also need to place paragraph break characters at the end of each applescript line so the calculation doesn't wrap inappropriately. When you need to integrate a field, you have to end your string and attach the field with and ampersand (&). Don't forget to leave spaces within the strings on either side of the field to keep the words from running together. If you need to format a quote within a string in a Filemaker calculation field, use double quotes. If you need to format a quote within a string inside an applescript, preface the quote with a backslash (\). Here's an example of how a one line applescript with complex quotes would look in a Filemaker calculation field:

"display dialog """ & name & " said \""All these quotes are driving me bonkers!\"""""

When displayed, this calculation field looks like:

display dialog "Diana said \"All these quotes are driving me bonkers!\""

Be sure that fancy quotes are turned off inside your Filemaker preferences. If the script doesn't run correctly, copy the calculation field as it's displayed and paste it into script editor where you'll get more specific error messages that highlight the portion of the script where the problem is located. If it runs okay in the script editor but still errors out in Filemaker, look for extra spaces in the calculation field. Filemaker can contain applescripts starting with the 3.0 release, but 4.0 improved this function by allowing Filemaker Pro to send apple events to itself. You can put a tell statement to Filemaker within a Filemaker 4.0 database and it will run correctly. The 3.0 version would give you an error saying the application was busy.

Filemaker 4.0 can also be expanded with plug-ins to format graphs, send mail, schedule scripts to be triggered to print reports or even serve data on the web. There are some great plug-ins available from Waves in Motion. Filemaker 4.0 comes with the web companion plug-in that can act as a web server or a cgi for WebStar; however, there's no point in running it as a cgi. In order to get it to run as a cgi, you have to put an alias of Filemaker in your WebStar folder and set it up as an action. The web companion must still be enabled on a different port and all the HTML pages that format the results of the cgi action must still be located in the web folder beside the Filemaker application.

If you're looking for a free Filemaker cgi, I recommend Lasso Lite from Blueworld. Blueworld also makes a commercial version of Lasso that greatly enhances the Filemaker's web capabilities with inline actions that allow you to perform several actions on your databases from one form submission or link.

Lasso also works with SQL databases making it a flexible option if you want to start simple with Filemaker and move up to an SQL database when the traffic gets heavy. Filemaker is not multi-threaded, and although it handles connections fast enough to serve sites with 100,000+ users, interaction with Filemaker could still slow access down. If you're looking for a Filemaker, Lasso, or web companion host, check out Digital Point or contact Eric Bickford at WebFM.

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