FileMaker Plugin Dev

Vincenzo Menanno of Beezwax

FileMaker Pluginss — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:01:53 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: Beezwax

Vincenzo Menanno is Director of FileMaker Development at Beezwax.

When did you first start using FileMaker?

Oh boy… I can’t even remember – it must have been around 1986.

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

There were things that I wanted to do with FileMaker that were not possible, but with the plug-in API, all of a sudden there were ways to do things if you were thinking creatively.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

Yes, I have used many over the years, but the ones I am using currently are: Simple Dialog from 24U, Super Container and Scribe from 360Works.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

I feel that our Web Services Plug-in is probably the best plug-in that we have ever done, just because it opens the door to so many ways to integrate with other services. And Web Services is a hot topic these days.

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

I think it used to be. Now it feels like things are moving away from that and the web and mobile (smart phones) are taking front stage.

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

I think its inevitable that they do this, and I am glad that FileMaker Inc. is integrating these features into the product. I just hope that they would also do 2 other things along side this:

Continue to improve the plug-in API so that developers can continue to innovate and do great things
When they do end up going into a space where there used to be a plug-in for a particular feature, I wish that they would consider all the things that those plug-ins did. For example,a one of my biggest frustrations with the current implementation of script triggers is that there is no way to turn them off.

When we did Script Scheduler (which was a plug-in that gave people the ability to trigger a script from the result of any calculation), we had a way to disable the triggering of scripts. I wish they had really looked at many of these plug-ins to see what and how the developers were using them.

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

Charts was the recent thing that was added but the next one I have no idea … I wish they would build native support for Web Services

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

I personally don’t know how people have the time to even do free stuff!

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

Oh boy! I could get very detailed here, but I won’t so I’ll be very general.

Modern UI look and Modern UI widgets – the dream would be to use Interface builder to be able to build front ends for FileMaker.
A compelling web strategy – that is up to date and solves the performance issues that we have been seeing.
A FileMaker iPhone and iPad application that we can use to develop solutions for our clients.
Improving the plug-in API that will allow developers to continue to innovate.

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

You definitely need to have good programming skills or get together with someone who has programming skills and knowledge.

Bogdan Boon of Dacons

FileMaker Pluginss — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:34:23 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: Dacons

Number of Plugins: 5 FileMaker Plugins

Bogdan Boon is Head of Programmers Department at Dacons

When did you first start using FileMaker?

In 1997.

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

FileMaker 4 introduced the first plug-ins interface, which allowed to extend the database facilities.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

No.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

We believe each of our plug-ins is a best work.

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

Yes.

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

On one hand, this is a FileMaker development: any plug-in fulfills the missing functionality, and time-to-time FileMaker implements this functionality as a base facility. On the other hand, this certainly strikes plug-in developers.

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

No idea.

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

No.

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

There is no limit for perfection. However we’d suggest FileMaker to focus on tables relationship dialog and options. There is a lot of space for improvements.

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

First learn existing FileMaker native facilities, and practice in database development.

Jeff Hough of Sitecraft

FileMaker Pluginss — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:23:23 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: Sitecraft

Number of Plugins: 1 FileMaker Plugin

Jeff Hough is the owner of Sitecraft.

When did you first start using FileMaker?

After I graduated from college. (1990) I was hire to build an event scheduling solution using FileMaker II (not FileMaker Pro 2).

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

I wanted a cross-platform solution for compressing and decompressing archives. I hired a developer to write it for me.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

Tons. I have been using plug-ins since they first appeared. Some of my favorites are from Troi, CNS, New Millennium, Scodigo and of course 360Works.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

We only have one on the market. Archive Toolbox works great!

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

Very. I have very few single platform clients.

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

It might sound funny, but I would love if FMP included the features provided by plug-ins. It would make deployment much easier. But, I understand the reasons not to. Back to the question, I think it is a complement to the plug-in author when the functionality is implemented into the program natively.

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

Hard to say. I would love to see FMI give the FileMaker developer the ability to build custom dialog using layouts. Don’t confuse this with using a layout as a dialog. I am looking for the ability to control the delivery of a layout as a dialog, something like RealBasic use of views and OS native dialogs.

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

There are times when a free plug-in is the right choice for a client. Most of my work these days is with a commercial solution. We make use of 5 plug-ins, all commercial.

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

There are too many to list.

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

Unless you have the chops, hire someone. There are lots of contract developers out there that can help you get going. If you want to just learn something, the free framework from 24U will help you get going quickly. Also, the plug-in developer community is really great at helping new developers get started.

Mike Faulkner of Sky Dancer Studios

FileMaker Pluginss — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:34:04 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: Sky Dancer Studios

Number of Plugins: 2 FileMaker Plugins

Mike Faulkner is Chief Software Artist, Telephone Answerer and Head Janitor at Sky Dancer Studios.

When did you first start using FileMaker?

When version 1.0 came out back in the 1980′s!

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

When I needed functions that FileMaker didn’t provide internally.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

Not presently.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

Our flagship plugins are our cross-platform encryption plugins, BlowFish. Developing cross-platform binary encryption that took into account all the various possible processors, memory storage, character set encodings, etc. was very challenging. Making things binary compliant across PCs and Macs with various processors was interesting indeed!

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

YES!!!!!!!!

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

I think most plugins simply provide functionality that FileMaker should actually have included internally. For instance, our encryption plugins are, in my view, are simply providing database encryption protection that should rightly be included in any database these days. I think, as FileMaker continues to improve and grow, many of the current functions provided by plugins will be increasingly internally provided by FileMaker. It’s just a natural progression of the continued development and improvement of FileMaker, and it’s to be expected.

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

No idea! But I think internal database data encryption (our own plugin’s functionality) would be a natural!

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

No. Not in the slightest! There will always be a market for functions that have not been coded yet! (And there is no guarantee for the life of software of any kind…3-5 years is about the average lifespan for almost all software as computer technology evolves.) As old functions die away or become readily available for free, new opportunities open up just as rapidly. And I always welcome new talent and ideas in the marketplace AND in the free software movement. I think it all improves the overall suitability of FileMaker for more and more database tasks and user’s and business’ needs.

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

Documentation! There is scant documentation about plugin development from inside FileMaker other than their simple “sample” (which leaves many unanswered questions about many aspects of how FileMaker processes data internally.) This makes many tasks of plugin development up to “trial-and-error” to see how FileMaker really works internally!

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

Mostly, learn from existing developers of plugins from forums, user groups, etc. Much more information is available from people outside of FileMaker than from inside about data handling, triggering of calculated field updates, binary data handling, containers, etc.

Tony Kargas of Kargas Software

FileMaker Pluginss — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:25:11 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: Kargas Software

Number of Plugins: 4 FileMaker Plugins

When did you first start using FileMaker?

I started using Filemaker in 1999 with FileMaker Pro v4

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

We were using the Troi Dialog Plugin for all our solutions. However, after using it for years we had a huge wish list for it and so since i had C/C++ experience i decided to dabble a little bit and the rest is history.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

Yes. Mainly the Troi File plugin.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

My Dialog Plugin is quite good but am proud of my DICOM plugin as well.

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

Very Very important. It is frustrating when i come across a plugin that only works on the one platform. Before adding a feature to a plugin i make sure that it is possible to do on both platforms. After all that is the biggest draw of Filemaker.

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

The more features the better as it won’t require plugins to be installed at all.

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

I am hoping they fix or at least update the Custom Dialog box.

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

I don’t believe so. I like the old saying You get what you pay for.

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

There are many features that i would love for it to have. But the most important in my opinion is to do something about the Relationships graph. In large systems it becomes very difficult to use.
Another nice feature would be the ability to create relationships on the fly. Currently you must create a relationship in the graph. It would be nice to be able to create a relationship in script and then after the script is done the relationship disappears. This would clean up the Relationships graph alot.

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

Make sure to test everything and every possibility.

Jason Erickson of WorldSync

FileMaker Pluginss — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:50:03 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: WorldSync

Number of Plugins: 1 FileMaker Plugin

Jason Erickson is the founder of WorldSync.

When did you first start using FileMaker?

I think it was about 1995. FileMaker was in version 2.1 and about a year into it I was just about to look for a new platform that had relational capabilities when I heard of the upcoming 3.0 with relational capabilities. I went to one of the famous FileMaker Kitchen events at the Wedge to get a sneak-peak and I was brought back from the brink.

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

I’ve been a big proponent of plugins since the inception and was probably one of Troi’s first customers. The original SyncDeK for FileMaker 4.0 used four different Troi plugins, three FileMaker files and about 16 scripts you had to add to your database. When we rebuilt SyncDeK as a background Java-based service, I commissioned a couple different developers to build me helper plugins that allowed interaction between SyncDeK and FileMaker. But it wasn’t until about 2006 that I started playing with the plugin API and teaching myself enough C++ to be dangerous. I think the 24U plugin template really helped to make that easier. Then I noticed an interesting little function call with some warning comments about being experimental that allowed for SQL interaction with FileMaker and fmDataGuard was born. It was a perfect extension of the data replication work I’d be doing with FileMaker for years.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

At the moment I don’t, but that’s mostly because I focus almost exclusively on creating products for FileMaker developers rather than building FileMaker-based solutions. If I was doing a lot of development, I would be using one of the PHP plugins to open up all kinds of interaction capability, a Web Viewer interaction plugin like Fusion Reactor and probably one of the dialog building plugins to save on endless layout creation to fake dialogs. That’s not to say that is where I’d stop, but off the top of my head, those all seem like must-have’s for serious development.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

fmDataGuard is really my only stand-alone plugin at this point. SyncDeK has some helper plugins but that doesn’t count. Of course, SyncDeK itself – which isn’t a plugin but uses one enable interaction with FileMaker, is definitely my best work.

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

It’s critical. I suppose a plugin that specifically allows interaction with a platform-specific application gets a pass, but otherwise, it just doesn’t seem professional to release something that only empowers one portion of the customer base.

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

I think that just has to be expected. Plugin makers are like forward scouts. At some point, if a feature really proves itself to be useful, you can’t blame the mother ship from wanting to take over. That said, if a functionality is truly novel and provides not just a bridge but a whole functionality platform, I think FileMaker would be smart to honor that innovation by at least trying to work out a deal with the developer. It’s a small community and I think FileMaker, Inc. knows how bad it would look to roll over one of its own. That said, the best protection for plugin developers is to stay forward of momentum. Make something new!

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

Hmmm. Maybe better dialog options. I think they’ve slowly made improvements in file interaction, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple functions which allow for file copy, move, folder create and such.

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

Not at all. First off, free plugins don’t tend to cover the complex stuff which the good plugins do. Secondly, most enterprise customers will tend to prefer paying a little money to know that a serious effort is behind the plugin’s development and that support can be counted on.

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

There’s never perfect. Only new doors that lead to more new doors. That said, I’d personally like to see two things which will probably sound obscure to most:

Add an option to privilege sets which turns off auto-entry for that privilege set, so that administrative tasks can be performed without causing unexpected data changes regardless whether those tasks are being performed by scripts or external interfaces like ODBC/JDBC or CWP;
Provide a means to rebuild the entire schema structure of a database (Scripts, layouts, fields, value lists, custom functions, table occurrences, relationships, tables) based on a DDR. In other words, allow for offline development to be done, tested, completed and then easily rolled into the production version without the need for cumbersome data imports.

Both of these changes, especially the second one – would be a game-changer for enterprise acceptance, and would open up a new wave of innovation from FileMaker developers.

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

Jump in. The water’s warm. Don’t be overwhelmed by the full breadth of C++ programming. You can learn a little at a time and build up from there. Oh, and use the Internet to find some sample code. These days, somebody has almost always provided some code online that you can leverage to get over the next hurdle.

Plugin API History

FileMaker Pluginss — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:02:24 +0000

What changes between each version of the FileMaker Plugin SDK.

The FMWrapper Framework is only on its second major version, which came out with FileMaker Pro 8, and has only seen a few minor modifications since then.

FileMaker 8

New
- BinaryData::GetFNAMData
- BinaryData::AddFNAMData
- BinaryData::GetSIZEData
- BinaryData::AddSIZEData
- ExprEnv::ExecuteSQL
- Data::GetFontID
- Data::GetFontInfo
- CharacterStyle::FontScript
- k80ExtnVersion
Changed
- kCurrentExtnVersion Updated to 51
- Values for kFMXT_Developer and kFMXT_Pro were Correcred

FileMaker 8.5

New
- Chinese Added To Locale::Type Enumeration
Changed
- Moved FMX_PACK Define To Outside Of FMX_ExternCallStruct

FileMaker 9

New
- 12 Types Added To Locale::Type Enumeration from WinSoft Version of FileMaker

FileMaker 10

New
- Chinese Added To Locale::Type Enumeration

Chris Dragon of Dracoventions

FileMaker Pluginss — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:39:31 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: Dracoventions

Number of Plugins: 1 FileMaker Plugin

When did you first start using FileMaker?

About five years ago.

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

I thought the existing plugins cost too much and I’ve always liked being able to customize and add features to the software I use every day.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

I use Jazz Styled Text at CNI where they still use FileMaker 7.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

I’ve only got one, although it does what 5 to 15 “regular sized” plugins do. I think the printer automation part of it might be my best work in as much as I’ve never seen it fail to work. I think the drawing part of the plugin is the most ambitious feature, and the trickiest to implement. I’m still finding ways it can be improved and ways to work around limits in how much information FileMaker gives its plugins.

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

It seems to be, especially with Apple gaining market share and the fact FileMaker started on Apple. CNI started with all Macs, moved to all PCs, and is now moving back to Mac, mostly due to the preferences of a new executive director.

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

I think they should have included some of the simpler features like script triggering in FM 8 or earlier. It’s bad business to take the time to code a feature in a plugin that seems like a no-brainer and then a few months later, it appears in FileMaker and your plugin is obsolete. Letting us know what they plan to do in the future would certainly be helpful. It could make plugin developers more willing to take risks on complex new features and polish old ones they aren’t expecting to be coming down the pipe from FileMaker.

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

Searching in scripts. They already added searching for script name so there’s movement in that direction. Then again, I also feel they’ve put a high priority on regular users over developers, so search in scripts might be a very low priority, especially if there’s a plugin like Gap_Filler to handle it already… I can only guess at how they think.

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

Free plugins can cut into the profit of those who sell, but I think it usually cuts into profits they shouldn’t have been making. It’s rare to see features that take a long time to implement given away for free, but all to commonly I see plug-in companies charging a ridiculous price for something that’s easy for them to make. Plug-ins that simply call a FileMaker script by name is one example. That functionality is built into the example plug-in that comes with FileMaker’s development kit, and while some people figured it was a good opportunity to charge people for that sample feature, others released it for free. Strangely, FileMaker has never simply added that functionality into FileMaker itself. I think they try to avoid letting you do anything “by name” because names can change. They didn’t even let you set a field by name until FileMaker 10. A better policy would be to let plugin developers get the unchanging internal ID corresponding to the name and use the ID instead of the name.

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

All the features in my plugin, actually. The biggest thing that bugs me about FileMaker is the script editor being unsearchable and uneditable as text. I like to type code, not point and click buttons representing code. But that’s probably not how non-programmers think.
I also wish FileMaker plugins could do more. Like directly call any standard script step, or any menu command. Or at least set the value of a field by name or run a calculation in the environment of a particular open window instead of just the foreground window.

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

Don’t do it – it’s a trap! Actually, I would say to start with the sample plugin from FileMaker. Don’t use a third party sample plugin – I had a lot of problems getting the one I found to compile. Don’t expect the documentation from FileMaker to be very useful or even always correct. Try looking at source code comments. Use Nabble to search the Troi plugin developer mailing list archive for answers to the easiest questions. After that, you’re on your own, or at least I was. =)

Stefan Husch of Qutic Development

FileMaker Pluginss — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:54:23 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: Qutic Development

Number of Plugins: 6 FileMaker Plugins

When did you first start using FileMaker?

Back in 1993 with FileMaker 1 on a MacIntosh Color Classic.

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

In 2003 we started with plug-in development for a product called iptcBatch, an innovative caption writer software for photographers. We needed things like double click, better window management or writing native jpegs or tiffs. None of the existing plugins were able to accomplish these features – so we started with plugin development.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

We did in the past, but today all needs are satisfied by our own plugins.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

I think FM-iCal-Connector is the best, because of the integration of iCal into FileMaker and the innovative way of doing it: FileMaker records are created automatically from iCal data – with one call of a plugin function. Easy for the customer to use, but hard work under the hood to get it done!

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

It depends. For the moment only one plugin is cross-platform (the second is coming soon), the others are MacOS X only. Most of our clients are companies who only uses Macs. And we love it to develop on a modern UNIX system – all you need for development is still there.

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

Writing plug-ins is a way to extend FileMaker because of missing features. If FileMaker is adding that feature (and make it better) – that is fine! Were will be always features FileMaker developer will miss – a good start for doing new plugin development.

OK, they should never do iCal integration into FileMaker

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

I don´t know. FileMaker is always going their ways – not hearing to the community.

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

No. Companies and even end users running plugins need support and continuity a developer of free plugins cannot afford.

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

A lot:

Deployment: Easier deployment (not only) for runtime solutions. Building a solution with command line scripts.
Stability: Fixing bugs first before adding new features – that should be always the case.
Database integrity: We want to be sure that the database is not corrupted. Building a database with command line scripts.
MVC: Split the data from the view and make the product real MVC (Model View Controller) compliant.
Speed: Speed up database queries. Ever deleted a 100.000 record set? Done that with MySQL or SQLServer? You know what I am talking about…
FM lite: A stupid client without any development logic.
Linux Support: Running the server daemon on Linux.
…

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

Learn C, Objective-C, C++ and start writing code. And test it – always! Better: write your tests first!

And a last word: If you want to make the big money with plugin development – forget it It is more a contribution for the FileMaker community.

Tomas Rycl of 24U Software

FileMaker Pluginss — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:02:57 +0000

FileMaker Plugin Developer: 24U Software

Number of Plugins: 11 FileMaker Plugins

Tomas Rycl is Chief Plugin Developer at 24U Software.

When did you first start using FileMaker?

Four years ago when I started with plugin development.

What made you start making FileMaker Plugins?

I programmed in C on university and my colleague Ondra Chaloupka contacted me with job proposal for 24U. I tried to write some simple plugins and it worked well.

Do you use any plugins created by other people? If so which ones?

I am not a typical FileMaker user. I have tried several other plugins from other people and companies to learn how to create better plugins. Usually I wanted to create something better or more simple.

Which of your own plugins do you feel is your best work?

I am proud of all my plugins My best work? I have put my best to our new plugin which will be released this summer. To these days my best plugin is SimpleFile.

Do you think making plugins cross-platform is important?

Yes, it is very important. But sometimes it is very hard too. For example 24U SimpleFile or 24U SimpleDialog contains almost two separate products for each platform which must behave exactly the same way. From our support I know that ratio between Mac and Windows users of our plugins is near 1:1.

What do you think of FileMaker adding features that come from Plugins? Such as Printing to PDF and Script Triggering?

This make us to think about new features and possibilities. We must be faster and better than FileMaker. If FileMaker adds tooltip we create HTML tooltip, interactive tooltip or complete help system in our SimpleHelp Plugin.

What do you think the next feature originally come from a plugin FileMaker will add will be?

I don’t know. This is very hard to predict for me because I don’t work with FileMaker in usual way.

Do you think Free plugins harm companies who sell plugins?

It makes us to be better. If we want to sell the plugin we must be better, we must provide better support and our plugins must provide better functionality.

What features would make the next version FileMaker perfect?

I would prefer better documented Plugin API and ability to define custom script steps from plugin. Copy and paste can work in more cases.

Any tips for people who want to make a FileMaker Plugin themselves?

Our FM Template simplifies plugin development a lot. It is used for developing all of our plugins. My second tip for developers is: create your own library of most used functions. Specially conversions from and to various FM API types are used very often in plugins.