Welcome! In these folders you will find several sample scripts and databases which allow AppleScript to access data from FileMaker Pro 2.0.
In order to use these samples, you need to have installed the beta version of AppleScript, and also have a copy of FileMaker Pro 2.0v2. In the FileMaker Pro 2.0 package, in the 'Apple Events Examples' folder, you will find more examples of how FileMaker's Apple events capabilities can be used to link the power of FileMaker Pro with other applications. Additionally you will find the 'FileMaker Events and Objects' database which gives an overview of the events and objects that FileMaker Pro 2.0 supports. You may find it useful to look over the examples and the database before using AppleScript with FileMaker. Please note that the example script fragments in this database are not guaranteed to conform to the current AppleScript syntax.
In order to fully utilize the scripts, please make sure that you have copied the FileMaker Samples folder off the CD-ROM and onto your local hard drive. Some of the scripts write to the database, and this operation will fail on a read-only medium such as CD-ROM.
------------------------------ About the scripts ------------------------------
Most of the scripts are only examples, and are meant to display some of the syntax and capabilities of AppleScript and FileMaker. These scripts are not meant to exhaustively list all acceptable AppleScript statements that FileMaker will accept, and you should feel free to experiment by creating your own AppleScript scripts. Additionally, most of the scripts are simply listings of acceptable AppleScript statements, and are not part of a full fledged 'scenario'. We chose this approach because we felt that it is the end user (such as yourself) who wants to use Apple events and FileMaker as a solution. It seemed that the easiest way for us to show you FileMaker's functionality was to provide a plethora of statements that demonstrate a large range of capabilities. It will be the end user who will create the solutions using these 'building blocks'.
NOTE that the databases provided are EXTREMELY simple. This is due to time considerations in getting these examples to press, and in our endeavor to clearly demonstrate the functionality of Apple events (and not other whizzy features of FileMaker Pro 2.0).
Many of the scripts are ‘state dependent’. That is, errors (such as ‘Object not found’) might be generated if, for example, a search is done on the ‘wrong’ database. Please have patience when using the sample scripts and databases, and realize that they are only examples.
As you use these scripts, you may be confused as to why the same event may have a different number of parameters. For example, we may say 'Get data every record of layout 1 of window 1', whereas another time we may say 'Get data every record'. This is due to FileMaker Pro's "default containment", which is described in the "FileMaker Events and Objects" database.
Although many of the header comments look the same in the different scripts, please look at all of them. Several of the headers contain important information about the events or the objects being operated on.
The scripts in the folder "Apple event Scripts:Property Examples" give examples of the syntax required to obtain information about various objects within FileMaker Pro 2.0 and should be used in conjunction with the FileMaker Pro 2.0 files "Test1" and "Test2" contained in the folder "FileMaker Pro 2.0 Files".
The scripts in the folder "Apple event Scripts:Syntax Examples" give an overview of the syntax required to manipulate data and objects within FileMaker Pro 2.0 and should be used in conjunction with the FileMaker Pro 2.0 files "Test1" and "Test2" contained in the folder "FileMaker Pro 2.0 Files". MAKE SURE THAT THE ONLY FILEMAKER FILES OPEN WHEN WORKING WITH THESE SCRIPTS ARE THE FILES NAMED "Test1" and "Test2". If "Original", "Reduce", or "Old File" are open then they may be altered in such a way that they no longer work with our 'complex' examples.
The scripts "CopyFileAToFileB" and "MatchRecords" rely on the files "Original", "Reduce" and "Old File" , which are contained in the folder "FileMaker Pro 2.0 Files".
So, sit down, get comfortable, and explore the possibilities when using FileMaker Pro 2.0 with AppleScript.
