MBS FileMaker Plugin 8.5

We develop FileMaker plug-ins for macOS, iOS, Linux & Windows.

Download   Getting Started   License   Order a license   Function Reference   User guide

New in version   8.5   8.4   8.3   8.2   8.1   8.0   7.5   7.4   7.3   7.2   7.1   7.0  

The MBS Plugin is easily the most powerful plug-in available for FileMaker today. There are over 5,500 functions that allow FileMaker developers to extend their solutions in some amazing ways. Each function does a little task and in their combination you can unleash the full power of our plugin. To learn how to use them together, please check our reference and our more than 500 example databases. A quick overview:

• Enjoy Syntax Coloring in scripts and formulas. Copy scripts with formatted text. (Mac only)
• Compress files, data or text to zip archives and uncompress them later.
• Use the telephone API (TAPI) on Windows.
• List and connect to serial ports.
• Read rich text documents on Mac OS X like Word documents, OpenOffice documents or RTF files.
• Enumerate printers and get/set default printer.
• Recognize text in images using OCR functions.
• Receive and send Midi notes.
• Barcodes
  • Create Barcodes and draw them on PDF pages. Export barcodes to files.
  • Recognize barcodes
• Audio/Video
  • Export videos in new format with AVExport or QTExport.
  • Record on Mac and Windows with AVRecorder.
  • Use AVAsset or QTMovie functions to extract metadata from videos, get preview images or play audio in background.
• XL Functions.
  • Work with Excel files without Microsoft Excel by using libXL library in FileMaker.
  • Read and Write older xls files and newer xlsx files.
• Use Audit to log activities in a database.
• SQL Connectivity
  • Connect to multiple SQL databases: Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, Sybase, SQL Anywhere, Informix, InterBase, SQLBase, MySQL, PostgreSQL, ODBC and SQLite (with encryption).
  • Read values, changes values, add new records, call stored procedures.
  • Use prepared statements for increased security.
  • Use bulk row fetching for maximum speed.
  • Read and write blob values with images.
• CURL Library
  • Download and upload files or data from/to http/https/ftp/ftps/sftp.
  • Compose emails. Send emails over smtp and receive emails over POP3 or IMAP.
  • Perform several transfers simultaneously in background.
  • Send form data directly without Webviewer.
  • Parse and build JavaScript Object Notation encoded data with out JSON functions.
• Network Sockets
  • Control other computers via SSH connection.
  • Use TCP/UDP Sockets, optionally with SSL.
  • Query other FileMaker instance with ServerSocket functions.
  • Query device status via SNMP functions.
• Control the Webviewer
  • Print website, Fill and submit forms.
  • Generate image or PDF of current webpage.
  • Run Javascript in Webviewer and call back FileMaker Scripts from Javascript.
  • Disable Javascript Alerts in the Webviewer.
  • Register WebDownloadDelegate and WebPolicyDelegate scripts to control downloads in Webviewer on Mac.
• Image editing with GraphicsMagick
  • Load pictures from file, container value or create a blank one.
  • Compose pictures together, e.g. add an overlay or watermark.
  • Edit images with crop, rotate, scale and other operations.
  • Draw (round) rectangles, lines, ellipses, circles and arcs into image.
  • Use lots of image effects like blur, sharpen, swirl and others.
  • Save result to container or file.
  • Use Twain or ImageCapture to scan images from scanner.
• Use PDFKit (Mac only) or DynaPDF functions (Mac and Win)
  • Render an image from a page of a PDF with PDFKit or DynaPDF.
  • Extract text from PDF with PDFKit or DynaPDF.
  • Create new PDF with pages from existing PDF with PDFKit or DynaPDF.
  • Add images and text to a page.
  • Use DynaPDF table layouts for creating reports, invoices or catalogs.
  • Print and Fax PDF documents without dialogs.
• Encryption and Hash
  • Calculate MD5 and SHA512 hashes for text.
  • Encrypt/Decrypt text with AES or Blowfish.
  • Encrypt/Decrypt containers with AES or Blowfish .
• Files
  • List directory content, copy, move, rename or move to trash files and folders.
  • Show file/folder selection or save dialogs.
  • Get icon from file or folder and preview images or preview panel with QuickLook (Mac only)
  • Set Icons on Mac with our plugin.
  • Launch files, query file size or file existents, create directories.
  • Query the last used file path in Mac file dialogs.
  • Query special folders.
• Lock your app for Kiosks
  • Query which USB devices are connected and allow only the start of your runtime if special USB stick is connected.
  • Hide system GUI like Dock and menubar with System UI Functions
  • Show a backdrop behind your FileMaker window so user does not see the desktop.
  • Color window content to focus user on a dialog.
• Control windows in FileMaker
  • Show progress dialogs.
  • Add Drag and Drop functions on Mac & Win.
  • Enumerate windows and control any window in FileMaker.
  • Disable close, minimize and maximize widgets.
  • Show and hide any window.
  • Use window transitions on Mac OS X like Apple's applications. (See video)
  • Show popup menus with icons, custom fonts and submenus.
• Mac Integration
  • Add TouchBar with custom buttons to trigger scripts.
  • Customize the toolbar and add your own commands there.
  • Read, change and write events and reminders from the Calendar Database
  • Read image metadata like EXIF, IPTC, JPEG and TIFF fields with CGImageSource functions.
  • Read, change and write contacts from the Addressbook
  • Notify user with User Notifications on Mac OS X 10.8.
  • Query location of a Mac with CoreLocation functions. Map addresses from/to geo coordinates with CLGeoCoder functions.
  • Set your application's dock tile icon and badge text.
  • Put your solution into Apple's Mac App Store and use plugin functions to verify the package receipt.
  • Query printers and their print jobs. Cancel print jobs or send raw printer commands to raw printers, like label printers.
• iOS Integration with FileMaker iOS SDK
  • Send emails with dialog via MailComposer functions including attachments.
  • Send text messages with dialog via MessageComposer functions.
  • Post to social media including Twitter and Facebook via SocialComposer functions.
• Windows Integration
  • Notify user with User Notifications on Windows 8 or newer
  • Query and edit the Registry.
  • Send emails via email client on Windows (MAPI).
• Query system information
  • Need to know computer name, memory size, serial number, OS Version or something else?
• Powerful text functions
  • Get/Set text on the clipboard.
  • Remove accents from texts for easier search.
  • Use SoundEx to have searches for Maier also show results for Meyer, Meier and Mayer
  • Use regular expressions on text and lists.
  • Find similar texts using Text.JaroWinklerDistance or Text.LevenshteinDistance or find best match in a list using List.BestMatch or QuickList.BestMatch
• Utility
  • Run command line tools with our Shell functions.
  • Use remote control functions to move mouse, perform clicks and press keys.
  • Send and receive notifications from other applications or part of your solution.
  • Start a script now or after some time and pass file name, script name and parameter as texts.
  • Set and Get variables which you can see in all files of your solution.
  • List screens and take screenshot from whole screen or from rectangle.
  • Run AppleScript and WindowsScript scripts in FileMaker.
  • Store global preferences for your solution.

And a log of more stuff like Container utility functions. If you miss something, please email us and we may add another function for you.

Upcoming FileMaker Events:

Newest entries on our blog:

Tutorial videos

FMK 2018 Presentation (English)	FMK 2018 Präsentation (Deutsch)
FileMaker mit Linux und SSH (Deutsch)	FileMaker iOS SDK and MBS Plugin (English)
DevCon 2018 Presentation (English)	DotFMP 2018 Presentation (English)

For more examples see the other videos

Support

You can of course send us questions by email.

Or subscribe to our mailing list: MBS FileMaker Plugin Mailinglist

Pricing

See pricing page and order page.

System requirements

MBS Plugin 8.5 or newer needs MacOS 10.9 or higher. If you need compatibility for MacOS 10.6 to 10.8, please use MBS Plugin 8.4.

For Windows, we recommend Windows 10. The plugin can run on Windows XP or newer.

The Linux plugin works on 64-bit Linux Servers including those used for FileMaker Cloud.

We support FileMaker 11 to 17 and test those regularly.

FileMaker 7.0 and newer should work on Windows and 8.5 and newer on Mac OS X.

Best is to always use latest plugins, even for older FileMaker versions. Minimum recommended version:

Example projects for FileMaker 11 and older are available as separate download on the download page.

Last version with PowerPC support was version 2.4. This version also supported FileMaker 7 to 8.5 in PPC.

The plugin runs locally on a FileMaker installation or on a server installation. If you use Instant Web Publishing or FileMaker to Go, the plugin still needs to be run on the server, but results can be viewer on browser or iOS devices.