This text will give you a brief overview of using FileMaker plug-ins.
What is a FileMaker Plug-In?
A FileMaker plug-in is a peace of software that extends the capabilities of FileMaker (Pro, Developer, Runtime) by adding new functions, and/or modifying the functions already built into FileMaker.
Why Do I Need Plug-Ins?
FileMaker gives you the ability to quickly build elegant, easy-to-use, and easy-to-customize information management solutions. However, since it is targeted to a large variety of users, several specific functions are either not included, or too generic. By extending FileMaker with plug-ins specific to your needs, you can solve your specific issues much more easily, effectively, and spend much less time and money than if you would have to reinvent the wheel by using strictly the FileMaker's built-in functionality.
What Plug-Ins Should I Choose?
Using a plug-in is not always better than living without it. Before you buy a plug-in, make sure it is cross-platform, as you never know when you will need to move to another platform. Also make sure that the plug-in's vendor can offer quality future support for their plug-ins. At last (but not least), make sure the plug-in will actually make your work easier, not more difficult.
Note: All FileMaker plug-ins from 24U Software are cross-platform, easy to learn, and easy to implement. 24U Software keeps developing new versions and new plug-ins since our first cross-platform plug-in was released in May 2001. Technical support by e-mail is available for free to all registered users.
Where Do I Install Plug-Ins?
For a plug-in to be recognized by FileMaker, you have to put it into the FileMaker Extensions folder (Mac OS and Mac OS X) or the System subdirectory of the FileMaker application's directory. Each required plug-in must be installed on every client (every computer running FileMaker Pro and connecting to FileMaker Server) calling its functions. FileMaker Server cannot host a plug-in to a client machine, but it can distribute it to your clients using an Auto Update feature.
Plug-in installation targets on Mac OS X and Windows
How Do I Install or Update Plug-Ins Using Auto Update?
If you are using version 5.5 or newer of FileMaker products, you can use the Auto Update feature to distribute plug-ins to your clients. For your convenience, all 24U plug-ins come with a ready-to-use AutoUpdate folder and the pre-configured 24uPlugInInstall.fp5 database. You can use this database within your multi-user solution for auto-installing and auto-updating all your plug-ins. For more information on the Auto Update feature, see the Electronic Documentation that comes with FileMaker Server.
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How Do I Invoke Plug-Ins?
Plug-ins extend FileMaker's functionality by adding new functions to the list of available functions in the FileMaker's calculation dialogs. These extra functions are called external functions. To see them, choose External functions from the View popup menu in the top right corner of the calculation dialog.
External functions in a calculation dialog
Calculations can be used in field definitions (calculated fields, auto-entered values, validations), and also in some script steps, such as If, Exit Loop If, or Set Field. Some plug-ins simply implement useful calculation functions, while others implement actions which will perform upon request from within your scripts. You can do this by calling their functions in the mentioned script steps.
Invoking plug-in action from within a script using the Set Field step
How Do I Pass Data to a Plug-In?
Each external function provided by a plug-in can be called with a single textual parameter. That means you can only pass text (and anything you can convert to text) to plug-ins. However, most plug-ins let you pass more than one parameter to their functions by separating them with a special character. The most commonly used delimiter is a pipe (|) character. For example, the following calculation invokes an external function, passing three parameters to it:
External("24uE-Example", param1 & "|" & param2 & "|" & param3)
It references three text fields param1, param2, and param3, containing data for the 24uE-Example function. By inserting two pipe characters between the parameters, the calculation constitutes a single textual parameter for the external function.
How Do I Get Data Back from a Plug-In?
Each external function provided by a plug-in returns a single textual value as its result. Some functions simply get the data passed to them as a parameter, process it, and return the result. Functions designed to perform an action, being invoked from within scripts, usually return an error code as a result. By convention, result code "0" indicates success, while anything else means that the requested action has failed. In such cases, the value returned often matches a standard Mac OS or Windows error code you can use to find out the failure's source.
If you need help with a specific plug-in, you should ask the plug-in's vendor for support. If you need help with a plug-in from 24U Software, start by looking in the documentation accompanied with the plug-in. If the documentation does not answer your question, please go to our product support page.