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Troi URL Plug-in
2.0.2
Troi URL Plug-in lets you post and retrieve
information from the Internet. Troi URL Plug-in can
help you fill in web forms on the Internet, all
from FileMaker Pro. It also retrieves data or
images from any HTTP or HTTPS URL.
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overview
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Conversion of Troi URL from
FileMaker Pro 6
Troi URL Plug-in 2.0 is FileMaker 7
native
We have two current URL plug-ins: Troi URL Plug-in 1.3
which uses the Classic API and Troi URL Plug-in 2.0.2 which
uses the FileMaker 7 Native API.
Troi URL Plug-in 1.8 was the first version to use the
FileMaker 7 syntax or API (Application Program Interface) to do its work.
Version 2.0 also uses the FileMaker 7 Native API.
NOTE The API is the same for FileMaker Pro 7, FileMaker Pro 8
and FileMaker Pro 8.5.
NOTE 2 Below we will discuss Troi URL Plug-in 1.8,
but this also applies to future versions with a
higher number, like version 2.0.2
TIP Although you can use both Troi URL Plug-in 1.3
and Troi URL Plug-in 1.8 together when running FileMaker 7,
this is not recommended. Please only use Troi URL Plug-in
1.8 for FileMaker Pro 7 and 8.
Troi URL Plug-in 1.3 is compatible
with FileMaker 7 and 8
Troi URL Plug-in 1.3 in general does work with FileMaker
Pro 7, without modification. We have found no issues with
FileMaker 7 and 8.
General Issue for all Classic
plug-ins with higher ASCII's
FileMaker Pro 7 has a new internal architecture, which is
using Unicode for the
text fields. FileMaker Pro 6 only used ASCII encoding. ALL
plug-ins written for the 'classic' FileMaker 6 architecture
do not receive characters that are outside this ASCII range,
these characters are replaced with spaces. In general our
plug-ins should be compatible as long as the text used is
lower ASCII text.
The URL Plug-in 1.3 is using the classic API, so only
characters in the ASCII range will work.
Previous versions of Troi
URL
We have tested version 1.1 with FileMaker 7 and this
works similar as version 3.6. We have not tested earlier
versions, however this latest version has some bug fixes
too, so it is strongly recommend that you use the latest
version.
Troi URL Plug-in 1.8 (Native
FileMaker 7 API)
Troi URL Plug-in 1.8 was created specifically for
FileMaker Pro 7 and 8. Below are some considerations when
converting to Troi URL Plug-in 1.8.
New function syntax
The plug-in functions have a different syntax compared to
the FileMaker 6 plug-in.
For example the TURL_Get function has this syntax in the
classic API:
External("TURL-Get", "switches|theURL"
)
The syntax in the new API looks like this:
TURL_Get(switches ; theURL )
Note that functions look like a real function call, no
longer a call to External( ). Also a hyphen "-" is no longer
allowed in the function name, so the hyphens have changed to
underscores "_" instead. Note too that parameters don't have
to be concatenated with a pipe. Instead use a semicolon ";"
to separate the parameters. Below is an example how this
function would appear in ScriptMaker:
Set Field [result , TURL_Get("-NoDialog"
; theURL ) ]
TIP Function names are no longer case sensitive
and will change to the correct case after you close the
"Specify Calculation" dialog box.
Multiple parameters and new
switches
As seen from the syntax, plug-in functions now can have
multiple parameters. To make this plug-in more consistent,
all functions now have a switches parameter as the first
parameter. This makes enhancing the plug-in in the future
easier. Finally we renamed a few functions and also removed
any spaces in the name. See the specific
functions notes below for the specifics.
TIP Switches are not case sensitive.
Omitting optional parameters
When you omit an optional parameter be sure to add an
extra semicolon after the last one, otherwise FileMaker will
show an alert that there are too few parameters in this
function. For example, below we omitted the 5th and 6th
parameter at the end (button3 and button4). This is the
correct way to do this:
Set Field [ result,
TURL_SetProgressText( "-Unused" ; "Hello World" ;
)]
New parameter limits
The plug-in functions now have a size limit of 1 Gb per
parameter (up from the total of 64000 character limit for
all parameters in FileMaker 6). The Troi URL Plug-in 1.8 in
general can handle bigger parameters.
Converting the function
call
When converting FileMaker does not change the plug-in
call. So after conversion you need to do this manually. Here
are the global steps:
- remove the
External(" at the
beginning
- in the function name: change
TURL- to
TURL_ and
remove spaces, add a
( at the
end.
- change the name of the function (in some cases)
- add as first parameter:
"-Unused" (if no
switch parameter is there)
- split the remaining parameters: separate each with a
;
Let's for example take this Troi URL Plug-in 1.3
call:
External("TURL-Post",
"-noDialog|http://www.filemaker.com/form|login=test" )
)
This needs to be changed to this URL Plug-in 1.8
call:
TURL_Post("-noDialog" ;
"http://www.filemaker.com/form" ; "login=test")
TIP You can just copy script or steps from the
example files of the URL download, they are all in the URL
Plug-in 1.8 format!
Specific
functions notes
All functions of Troi URL Plug-in 1.8 fully support
Unicode, unless noted otherwise.
The table below lists conversion issues with specific
functions:
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Function
name
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Notes
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TURL_IsSecure
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Added switches parameter
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TURL_Reinitialize
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Added switches parameter
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TURL_SetCustomHeader
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Added switches parameter
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TURL_SetPassword
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Added switches parameter
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TURL_SetProgressText
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Added switches parameter
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TURL_SetUserAgent
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Added switches parameter
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TURL_SetUserName
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Added switches parameter
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TURL_ToHTTP
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Added switches parameter ; is not Unicode
ready.
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Please report problems and
bugs
If you find any other problems or bugs, not mentioned
above, please send an
email to us. Please do NOT send attachments unless
specifically requested. Please include the FileMaker
version, your platform and operating system in your
comments.
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