Integrating FileMaker Pro 9 and Drupal
Platinum and gold sponsors
SESSION OVERVIEW
Learn how to share data between Drupal and FileMaker Pro databases using FileMaker Server 9’s PHP API and External SQL Source (ESS) functionality.
The FileMaker platform has been around for a long time, and is popular with its users thanks to traits it shares with Drupal: With FileMaker it’s easy to get a database solution up and running in a hurry, and it’s also easy to extend and customize existing databases to meet your specific needs. In any given organization it is not uncommon to find a department using a home-grown, mission-critical FileMaker solution that has slowly evolved out of a single table database created years ago.
What happens when that department wants to publish and/or collect data from the company intranet or web site? In the past getting FileMaker data online was tricky proposition, but the inclusion of a PHP-based API with FileMaker Server 9’s Web Publishing engine has greatly simplified the problem.
On the other side of the equation, what happens when that department wants to tap into data from the company’s Drupal web site? (For example, to view a list of events or newsletter subscriber e-mail addresses) The External SQL Sources (ESS) feature introduced in FileMaker 9 makes it possible for FileMaker users to tap into Drupal’s database without needing to know anything about Drupal or MySQL.
This session is in lecture format with accompanying downloadable example code.
TRACK
Site Building: Extending Drupal (Third Party Applications)
AGENDA
- Introduce FileMaker 9
- Describe possible use cases (E.G. collecting/displaying FileMaker data from an intranet application on the web)
- Walk through FileMaker database setup
- Create an account and privilege set and enable sharing
- Make sure the PHP API files are accessible from PHP’s
include_path
- Walk through demo module and code
- Connection settings
- Menu callback which creates a PHP API object and uses it to connect to FileMaker and return a themed list of FileMaker records
- Simple search implementation
- Walk through an ESS connection to the Drupal database
- Connection settings
- Browse the users table/SimpleNews subscriptions, etc.
GOALS
Demonstrate how FileMaker’s PHP API and ESS capabilities can be integrated with Drupal. Attendees should leave with a general knowledge of how the PHP API and External SQL Sources work, and ideas for ways to use them in their Drupal solutions.
RESOURCES
- Working knowledge of Drupal module development and PHP object syntax
- Working knowledge of FileMaker Pro 9 and FileMaker Server 9 would be helpful
- FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server are commercial software products; attendees will need a license for each to apply knowledge from this session. 30 day trials are available.
LINKS