Updates

[Epyminia]

I know that in the past there was no way of persuading Xara Web Designer to allow the import of images and texts from a database. I am writing to ask if this is still the case or has it been improved to allow the creation of more dynamic web sites? I would like to pull in data on over 200 small towns and villages, I don't want to have to repeat the same page 200 times! any news?

[Acorn]

Epymnia, Xara does static websites. These do not use a server offering backend capability.
Such linkage can be set up with front end coding through Placeholders, etc.

If you could offer the dataset for one town/village, I could advise.

There are a number of ways of linking dynamic data back into a single page but the structure of the data is key.

Acorn

[Epyminia]

Hi Acorn, many thanks for your offer. The database is flat and being developed on Filemaker, I currently have 114 locations in the Vaucluse, I think that when I have finished I will have around 200. I am hoping to make an app where people can visit the site, learn more about the location and see a watercolour image based on an old postcard.
Unfortunately I am having lots of difficulty connecting to this TalkGraphics site! I get messages saying that I have been banned with no reason given! I have no idea why! I will keep you in the picture if possible, if I can't get back here, my email address is [email removed]. Hoping that we can resolve these problems.....aa

[Acorn]

If you are Posting you are not Banned. I have no clue about Filemaker, I need an example.

Acorn

[Epyminia]

I have been chatting with a chap called Matt at Xara, it looks like he has pulled the right string! I could send you a Filemaker database but you would probably need Filemaker to view it. I will look into the possibility of exporting the Filemaker file in other formats. Which formats could you possibly integrate with Xara? Hoping that there is one in common....

[Acorn]

I have been chatting with a chap called Matt at Xara, it looks like he has pulled the right string! I could send you a Filemaker database but you would probably need Filemaker to view it. I will look into the possibility of exporting the Filemaker file in other formats. Which formats could you possibly integrate with Xara? Hoping that there is one in common....

Probably JSON.

Acorn

[Epyminia]

I tried all the proposed file formats and none of them support graphics. I then asked Copilot for a solution. It looks a little too complex for my aged grey cells. Can you make sense of it ?
Create a Script:
Open your FileMaker database and go to the Scripts workspace.
Create a new script and name it something like “Export Container Fields”.
Set Up the Script:
Use the Export Field Contents script step to export the contents of the container fields.
You can loop through the records to export each container field. Here’s a basic example of what the script might look like:
Go to Layout [ “Your Layout” (Your Table) ]
Show All Records
Go to Record/Request/Page [ First ]
Loop
Export Field Contents [ YourTable::YourContainerField; “/path/to/export/folder/” & YourTable::FileNameField ]
Go to Record/Request/Page [ Next; Exit after last ]
End Loop

Specify the Export Path:
Ensure the export path is correctly specified. You can use a calculation to dynamically generate file paths based on record data.
Run the Script:
Run the script to export the container fields. Each file will be saved to the specified location.
Check the Exported Files:
Navigate to the export folder to verify that all files have been exported correctly.

[Acorn]

FileMaker has a WebViewer format. Can you not export that to your server and link Xara to it?

Acorn

[Epyminia]

I'll try that one...
I just asked about converting Filemaker to JSON, seems to be possible but a bit of a headache ! Sorry for spoiling your day...

Yes, you can convert a FileMaker database with container fields into a JSON file. However, since JSON cannot handle binary data directly, you’ll need to encode the contents of the container fields, typically using Base64 encoding, before serialization.

Here’s a general approach to achieve this:

Extract Data: Use FileMaker’s ExecuteSQL function to extract the data from your database.
Encode Container Fields: Convert the contents of the container fields to Base64.
Create JSON: Use FileMaker’s JSON functions to create a JSON object with your data.
Here’s a simplified example of how you might do this:

Let (
[
// Extract data from the fields
data = ExecuteSQL ( "SELECT field1, field2, containerField FROM tableName" ; "" ; "" ) ;

// Encode the container field
encodedContainer = Base64Encode ( containerField ) ;

// Create JSON object
json = JSONSetElement ( "{}" ; ["field1" ; field1 ; JSONString] ; ["field2" ; field2 ; JSONString] ; ["containerField" ; encodedContainer ; JSONString] )
];
json
)

This script will create a JSON object with your data, including the Base64-encoded container field

[Epyminia]

It looks like the Web viewer option in Filemaker is for displaying web content in a Filemake display but not the other way round. Not my lucky day....