Zero to Awesome - Development: Using Plugins
For the longest time, I remember a great divide between the camp who used plugins and the camp that didn't. Actually, there aren't any camps, it was just individual developers who had an opinion about using plugins <grin>. (Note: I'll be using the word plugin instead of the proper spelling of plug-in - simply because I think it's cooler that way.)
One of my early opinions was that I didn't want to use them. One, because they added to the cost, two because they didn't "feel" like they were part and parcel with FileMaker and three, because I was unfamiliar. Yes, that last reason is a bad one, yet it may still be true for you.
Getting to that "ok" point about using plugins should happen REALLY fast these days. That's because you simply can't do everything you need to (or should be able to) do within FileMaker alone. Plugins are what make a solution more powerful and more robust.
This video is about how I use and check for plugins. It's a bit long and I tend to go on an on about the SmartPill PHP plugin, but hey, I want you to know what's out there and what your options are. There are quite a few plugins on the market and many of them duplicate what others do. While the options are diverse, it's all a matter of testing, using and then working with the plugins which provide the functionality you need. Not everyone is going to fall in love with embedded PHP like I have!
Comments
Plug-Ins Un-Plug=ed
Hey Matt,
I must admit I've never been a plug-in fan for many reasons all of which have been mentioned many times before. I've also found, especially over the last few years, that clients don't like them either! I've been delighted to see FileMaker slowly but surely adding, what was plug-in functionality, into FileMaker.
We both know there are some situations where a plug-in is needed but there are many others where developers simply want to take the "easy way out"! Although I fully understand your presentation I for one will maintain my position of Plug-ins Boo-Hiss...
That said... We know at times they are a necessary evil just so we keep in mind that they are evil... :}
Having been on both sides
I have to say that I'm not as down on plugins as I used to be. The fact that FileMaker, Inc. provides an API says "Hey, we can't do it all" which is where much of the innovation comes from by plug-in developers.
I think it's all a matter of temperament. It boils down to being comfortable with using the extensions to the native functionality. FileMaker does provide a nice way to deploy them and your database can certainly check to see that they are there, so the gripes against them are coming from essentially one place - price (which is my guess why some developers don't like them).
Ultimately, there will always be things done with plug-ins that will preceed what might end up in the application. Sometimes, there are things that you can do with plug-ins that FileMaker will never do. Take SmartPill PHP (http://www.scodigo.com/) for example. There is NO WAY that FMI will EVER put the ability to transfer information on sockets into FileMaker - yet this can be done with PHP.
One of the most recent plug-ins I tested was a REALLY cool implentation of what can be done with interaction between a webviewer and FMP (http://www.fusionplugins.com/reactor/).
Granted, showing OS native interface elements using a webviewer (one of the things fusion reactor can do) is FAR from desirable - but possible, and will fit someone's needs.
I wouldn't say they are evil - just not as appealing as having the features integrated into the IDE.
-- Matt Petrowsky - ISO FileMaker Magazine Editor