Using the FileMaker PHP Application Interface (API)

Objectives

This course enables you to use the FileMaker PHP API to publish your database to the web using PHP. By learning the essentials of PHP programming as they relate to using the FileMaker PHP API, delegates will acquire a greater understanding of the process of building dynamic web pages from FileMaker data sources.


Pre-requisites:

Basic knowledge of HTML.


Course Includes:

A comprehensive set of reference notes covering course topics, follow-up telephone support and, for training on Transmedia premises, lunch and refreshments.


Course Outline


Introduction


· What is the Filemaker PHP API?
· How does fx.php compare to the API?
· What is required to get started?
· How is PHP used in the API?


Introduction to PHP


· What is PHP? What can it do?
· Advantages of PHP
· How it works
· Necessary Setup


Installation


· Installing PHP
· Including the fmphp extended permission
· Using the correct host parameter
· Checking your PHP version
· Including cURL support
· Using UTF-8 character encoding


PHP Syntax


· How to Save Your PHP Pages
· Creating a simple HTML & PHP Page
· The Semicolon
· White Space


PHP Variables


· A Simple Variable Example
· Variable Naming Conventions
· The Echo Function
· Outputting a String
· Echoing Quotes; Echoing Variables


PHP Strings


· String Creation
· Usin Single and Double Quotes
· Concatenation


Conditional Statements


· The If Statement
· If/Else Conditional Statements






Looping in PHP


· While Loop
· For Loop
· For Each Loop


A simple example


· Using the PHP echo function
· Performing a Find Request
· Displaying the found set on a page


Using & modifying the API example files


· Overview of object-oriented PHP
· Classes, Objects, and Methods


PHP Syntax


· Using the require_once function
· Using PHP Variables
· Creating a new Object based on a Class
· Using Objects and Methods


Passing Parameters


· Executing a Find Request
· Displaying the total number of records
· Displaying Field names
· URL Encoding of Strings


Using Arrays to store data


· A Numerically Indexed Array
· Associative Arrays
· Using a foreach loop to iterate through records for output
· Using a concatenation operator


Working with data


· Creating a new record
· Editing a record
· Deleting a record
· Duplicating a record
· Displaying FileMaker Value Lists, Portals and Images