For the next version of MBS FileMaker Plugin for the FileMaker iOS SDK, we are adding HealthKit functions. 
Am 29. Mai 2018 treffen sich interessierte FileMaker Entwickler bei der Denkform in Hofheim (Taunus).
New in this prerelease of version 8.2 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
With next MBS FileMaker Plugin you can ask the user to review your application.
For the next MBS Plugin we work on functions for the Mac and iOS App Store.
While this is still work in progress and getting your iOS or Mac App in the app store is quite a challenge, we prepare the necessary functions to do sell items to the user. For example you could have a solution where user buys a subscription or upgrades from trial to full version with an in-app purchase.
Before you would check our plugin functions, please read documentation from Apple on how this works. You will have to setup products in iTunes Connect website and add entitlements for in-app purchase to your app.
First you query products and you get back the product definitions you entered on Apple's website. Our StoreKit.QueryProducts function will do this and you may call it in the start script in your solution. Than later you can use StoreKit.Products to get the JSON with the definitions:
[
{
"localizedDescription" : "Just a little contribution from you. Thanks.",
"formattedPrice" : "$8.99",
"price" : 8.99,
"productIdentifier" : "123",
"downloadable" : false,
"localizedTitle" : "A donation to developer",
"priceLocale" : "en_US@currency=USD"
}
]
At any time you can use StoreKit.Transactions function to query transactions and their status:
[
{
"transactionIdentifier" : "C2CF465A-BC94-4705-BE9E-E5A02A6DD422",
"transactionState" : "Failed",
"payment" : {
"quantity" : 1,
"productIdentifier" : "123"
},
"error" : "Cannot connect to iTunes Store"
}
]
And with StoreKit.AddPayment function you can start a payment process for an item. You setup a trigger to run when transactions update. So you can check if something is purchased. Than you unlock functions and call StoreKit.FinishTransaction function to let the App store know you delivered.
We are looking for interested FBA partners who want to add this to their FileMaker iOS SDK application or Mac runtime. Let us know if you are interested.
As you may know, you can create PDF form fields with our MBS Plugin using the DynaPDF functions. The plugin can do a lot there and not just read/write form field values, but also create new fields. In the following article, we want to show you how we do this. Our goal is to dynamically create a template PDF based on a form file created in a word processor. We add fields with data, send it to a client and when we get the modified file back, we can import the new values.
We start with a sample database. This database has a table for people and the following fields. All just plain text fields and the ID field is set to be come an UUID. That is important as a random UUID makes it difficult to guess a valid ID, which would be easy if you just count up record IDs. We store the ID in the PDF and don't want someone to make up a valid ID. Here is the field list:
Firstname Text
Lastname Text
Address Text
City Text
Country Text
Email Text
ID Text Indexed, Auto-enter Calculation replaces existing value, Can't Modify Auto
(more)
New in this prerelease of version 8.1 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
As you may know FileMaker comes with a plugin SDK, which C++ developers like me use to develop plugins. Now the Plugin SDK offers a way to register functions and script steps and provide additional features to the FileMaker developer. New in this prerelease of version 8.1 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Did you know EU directive 2014/55/EU? Starting 27th November 2020, the invoices to government over 1000 Euro must be sent electronically with structured format. So no longer printed invoices or simple PDFs, but you can send PDF in ZUGFeRD format!
Several FileMaker developers now use MBS FileMaker Plugin to create their invoices in ZUGFeRD standard. That's a data exchange format defined here in Germany, but other countries have similar formats. Basically we have a PDF in PDF/A 3b format and an embedded XML file. The PDF provides the visual and printable view of the invoice while the XML contains the same data readable for computers.
With MBS Plugin and DynaPDF we can create such a ZUGFeRD PDF. We can either create a new file or import pages from existing PDFs. So even if you generate your invoices in FileMaker from layouts, you can convert them later. Here you see an example script for doing exactly this:
#Initialize DynaPDF if needed
If [MBS("DynaPDF.IsInitialized") ≠ 1]
Perform Script [“InitDynaPDF”]
End If
#Make new PDF environments
Set Variable [$pdf; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.New")]
#Set import flags with Prepare For PDF/A enabled
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS( "DynaPDF.SetImportFlags"; $pdf; "ImportAll¶ImportAsPage¶PrepareForPDFA" )]
#Load PDF from container
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.OpenPDFFromContainer"; $pdf; ZUGFeRD Invoice::Invoice Template)]
#Import all pages
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.ImportPDFFile"; $pdf)]
#PDF/A requires a language set
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.SetLanguage"; $pdf; "en-US")]
#PDF/A requires a structure tree
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.CreateStructureTree"; $pdf)]
#add xml with invoice data
Set Variable [$FileHandle; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.AttachFileText"; $pdf; ZUGFeRD Invoice::Invoice XML; "UTF-8"; "ZUGFeRD-invoice.xml"; "Invoice as XML")]
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.AssociateEmbFile"; $pdf; "Catalog"; -1; "Alternative"; $FileHandle)]
#Check if this PDF conforms to PDF/A-3b
Set Variable [$c; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.CheckConformance"; $pdf; "ZUGFeRD Basic")]
If [$c = 1]
# A RGB ICC profile must be added to the document
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.AddOutputIntentEx"; $pdf; ZUGFeRD Invoice::RGB ICC Profile)]
Else If [$c = 2]
# A CMYK ICC profile must be added to the document
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.AddOutputIntentEx"; $pdf; ZUGFeRD Invoice::CMYK ICC Profile)]
Else If [$c = 3]
# A Gray, RGB, or CMYK ICC profile must be added to the document
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.AddOutputIntentEx"; $pdf; ZUGFeRD Invoice::RGB ICC Profile)]
End If
#save to container
Set Variable [$PDFData; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.Save"; $pdf; "invoice.pdf")]
Set Field [ZUGFeRD Invoice::Output PDF; $PDFData]
Commit Records/Requests []
#cleanup memory
Set Variable [$r; Value:MBS("DynaPDF.Release"; $pdf)]
As you see we first initialize DynaPDF if it's not already done. In a new PDF environment, we import from a container the whole PDF. Of course you can import from files or just import pages from different PDFs as needed to build in memory your final PDF. Than we define language and structure tree as required for PDF/A. We attach the XML from a field in this example. The XML is just a block of text which you can generate before, e.g. by filling values into a template.
Next we check conformance with ZUGFeRD standard. If you have DynaPDF Lite license, we only check and report okay or error. If you have a DynaPDF Pro + PDF/A license, we can fix errors and convert any PDF to PDF/A here (DynaPDF Editions). Next we add the required output intent ICC color profiles. Finally we save the PDF to a container.
Please do not hestiate to contact us with your questions. We also have the same examples for Xojo.
New in this prerelease of version 8.1 of the MBS FileMaker Plugin:
Wir bieten in Zusammenarbeit mit der Denkform, Brainworks und dem Verein FM Konferenz einige MBS Workshops an.
| Datum | Ort | Links |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Mai 2018 | Hofheim (Taunus) | denkform.net |
| 14. Juni 2018 | München | brainworks-training.de |
| 19. Juli 2018 | Hamburg | brainworks-training.de |
| 27. Juli 2018 | Zürich | brainworks-training.de |
| 17. Oktober 2018 | Malbun, Liechtenstein | Ankündigung, Anmeldung |
| 6. Dezember 2018 | Hofheim (Taunus) | denkform.net |
| 7. März 2019 | Hofheim (Taunus) | denkform.net |
Nehmen Sie sich einen Tag Zeit sich über das MBS FileMaker Plugin und all die Funktionen zu informieren.
Themen:
Wenn Sie bei der Veranstaltung oder kurz danach eine Pluginlizenz bestellen möchten, erhalten Sie 50 Euro Rabatt.
Due to the CURL conference, we will come to Stockholm in April.