FileMaker Pro 2.0 does not include direct support for dialing a telephone. This decision is based, in part, on Apple Computer's stated goal of introducing modular telephony extensions for system software. This would give phone dialing abilities to all applications, rendering any custom efforts we could build into FileMaker obsolete (and possibly prone to error) when the telephony extensions are introduced.
Thus, FileMaker Pro supports a modular method of dialing the phone, via Apple events.
Today, there are several ways you can dial the phone from within FileMaker Pro:
* Apple events to HyperCard. A version of HyperCard ships with every Macintosh. The dialing stack is included with every copy and is familiar to most people. However, HyperCard requires more than 1 Mb of RAM to run.
* Desktop Dialer. a combination ADB device and Apple event-aware desk accessory. Modest RAM and hardware requirements. Eliminates the need for a modem or a connection to the Macintosh sound port for dialing a phone. Costs $75. Sophisticated Circuits Inc., 19017 120th Ave. N.E., Suite 106, Bothell, WA 98011, (800) 827-4669, (206) 485-7979, fax (206) 485-7172.
* QuicKeys 2 & most Dialer utilites. It is also possible to use a macro utility such as QuicKeys2 in conjunction with a non-Apple Event-aware dialing utility. For instance, Snap is a control panel phone dialer which comes with In Touch by Advanced Software. It dials a number in the clipboard from within any application by pressing a user-defined hot key. Dialer is a shareware DA which uses a similar approach. A FileMaker Pro 2.0 button could perform a script which copies a phone field and sends an Apple Event to QuicKeys to launch the dialing utility and dial the number.
Please consult your dealer or a software directory for other phone dialing software and hardware.
QuicKeys (by CE Software) allows you to use System 7.0 Apple events to communicate with, and control, other software. When used in conjunction with FileMaker Pro 2.0, QuicKeys can perform many tasks that ScriptMaker cannot (e.g. choosing a printer, mounting a shared volume, etc.). In FileMaker Pro 2.0, Apple events are accessed through ScriptMaker.
The 4 basic steps are as follows:
1. Select ScriptMaker step: "Send Apple Event [...]"
2. Select the "Other..." event with:
Event "QKy2" (case sensitive)
Event Id "QPNm" (case sensitive)
* If you are using FileMaker Pro 2.0v4 or greater:
3a. Click "Specify Application..." and choose CEIAC in the Extensions folder.
*If you are using a version previous to 2.0v4:
3b. Click the Document radio button. Click the "Specify File..." button. Select CEIAC in the Extensions folder.
4. Click the "Script text" radio button and enter the name of the QuicKey. The specified QuicKey should be inhe Universal, Finder or any currently active application's keyset.
For each QuicKey scripted, steps 1 through 3 will always be the same; the only change is to indicate the specific name of the QuicKey to be executed.
As of this writing, the script may not work if the "Bring target application to foreground" option is checked. CEIAC will come to the foreground, but at that point the script will hang. This was tested with FileMaker Pro 2.0v2 and QuicKeys 2.1 & 2.1.2.
After clicking OK, the FileMaker Pro script step should look like:
Send Apple Event ["QKy2","QPNm","CEIAC"]
Example
The following is how FileMaker Pro 2.0 can play a QuicKeys shortcut called "Play Sound":
1. Choose ScriptMaker from the Scripts Menu.
2. Type the name of your script in the Script Name entry area and click Create.
3. Click on Clear All to clear the default script steps.
4. Scroll down to and click "Send Apple Event [..]" in the Available Steps scroll area.
5. Click on the Move button to move this command to the script steps window.
6. Click on Specify, under options to open the Specify Apple Event dialog.
7. Choose "Other" from the menu that appears in the middle of the sentence "Send the xxxxxx event with:" to bring up the Specify Event dialog box.
8. Type the four characters "QKy2" for the Event Class and "QPNm" for the Event Id.
Then click the OK button.
9. Click the Document radio button.
10. Click the Specify File... button.
11. Select the CEIAC extension in the Extensions folder.
12. cate and open the "CEIAC" file in the Extensions folder within the System folder.
13. Click on the Script Text radio button. A cursor will now be flashing in the text area.
14. Type "Play Sound".
15. Click the OK button. Your script is now defined.
As with so many QuicKeys shortcuts, timing can be critical. If the QuicKeys shortcut doesn't work, try adding a Pause command at the beginning of the QuicKeys shortcut - even a tenth of a second can give the target application time to prepare for the event.
"Linking FileMaker Records to a HyperCard Stack Using Apple Events":
Apple events provide a wealth of possibilities when working with FileMaker and HyperCard. The Do Script event, for example, allows the user to sent entire scripts to HyperCard and have them executed. Often, however, it would be nice if we didn't have to hard code scripts for mundane tasks such as linking cards, etc... Here is one example of how to provide card linking (of sorts) between FileMaker records and HyperCard cards.
Place the following handler in the stack script of your HyperCard stack. This handler allows HyperCard to respond to a custom Apple event sent from FileMaker Pro 2.0.
on Apple event class, id
request Apple event data
put it into theEvent
if class = "XXXX" and id = "GoCd" then
go to card theEvent
else
pass Apple event
end if
end Apple event
In FileMaker 2.0, create a new script containing the "Send Apple Event" step as Follows:
1. Type the name of your script and click the Create button.
2. Click on the Clear All button to clear out the default script steps.
3. Double click on the "Send Apple Event" step towards the bottom of the step list.
4. Click on the Specify button.
5. Click the Specify Application button and select the HyperCard application from the Dialog Box (use standard Macintosh navigation techniques to locate HyperCard on your drive).
6. Select Other from the pop up menu.
7. Enter 'XXXX' for the Event Class, 'GoCd' for the Event ID and click the OK button.
8. Click the Field Value option and specify the field in your database that will contain the name of the HyperCard card you wish to go to.
10. If you want HyperCard to come to the front when executing this script, make sure you click the option "Bring target application to foreground."
10. Click the OK button and click Done.
This script will go to the card specified in a field in your FileMaker database (see step 8). If HyperCard is not running when you select the script, FileMaker will launch the application and go to the Home Card. To ensure that HyperCard opens to the correct stack, you may want to place an Open Document Apple Event specifying the name of your sound stack prior to the event listed above.
More information on using Apple events with HyperCard can be found on pages 3-11 through 3-21 of the HyperCard 2.1 New Features Guide.
