Like Growl on Mac OS X, Snarl displays on-screen notifications in Windows, and with the help of the command-line utility Snarl_CMD.exe, Snarl can be integrated to work with your FileMaker solutions as a custom function.

Below is an outline of what I would do if I was using Windows. I apologize for not including a sample file this time, but I do not have access to a Windows machine, and I do not want to post a file that does not work.

The Custom Function

Since Snarl_CMD.exe accepts parameters as follows:

Snarl_CMD.exe snShowMessage TIME TITLE BODY [iconPATH]

/*

TIME is the time the message should be displayed in seconds
(0 means forever/sticky),

TITLE and BODY are the texts which should be displayed, and

iconPath is the windows path for an icon to be displayed in
the notifcation: 

"C:\my\path\img.png" or  "\\server\path\on\server\img.png"

*/

the Snarl custom function will look something like this:

Snarl ( Time; Title; Body; Path )

"Snarl_CMD.exe snShowMessage" & Quote ( Time ) & Quote ( Title ) & Quote ( Body ) & Quote ( Path )

The External Function

The Snarl custom function gets passed into the built-in FileMaker function Set Variable, but since Snarl_CMD.exe is a shell script, it requires a plugin to be executed. ScriptMaster from 360Works is a free one, and it can do a whole lot more than execute shell scripts.

To configure ScriptMaster, set a variable in your startup script with the following value:

RegisterGroovy( "RunShellScript( shellScript )" ; "Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec( shellScript );¶
String processResult = process.getInputStream().getText();¶
process.waitFor();¶
exitValue = process.exitValue();¶
return processResult;" )

You have now created an external function for this solution:

RunShellScript ( shellScript )

The Script

Now it is time to put everything together in a Set Variable script step:

Set Variable [ RunShellScript( Snarl ( "Time" ; "Title" ; "Body" ; "Icon Path" ) ) ]

Hopefully it works. Leave a comment and let me know!

Quicksilver’s Large Type functionality is accessed via an AppleScript that has been embedded in a custom function. Filemaker Pro Advanced is required to view the custom function.

iPod Download (11.5 MB)

Quicksilver website

Quicksilver tutorials

Download LargeType.zip

iPod Download (18.5 MB)

Growl website

Download Growl.zip

Function Scripting requires three custom functions to do the heavy lifting; one by Alexander Zueiv, and two by Mikhail Edoshin.

A copy of FileMaker Pro Advance will be needed to view the custom functions. If you do not have a copy of FileMaker Pro Advanced, you will still be able to use the sample file.

Name your scripts [ like; this ]

To use this method you need to format the names of your scripts with the parameters the script will use:

Example Script [ expected; (this|or|that) {; optional } ]

Notice how it looks like a function? This is why it is called Function Scripting! How about some real-world examples:

Dialog [ title ; message ]
// A script that takes two parameters: title and message

Create [ name ; user|admin ]
// A script that uses an "or"

Record [ ID ; add|delete ; action ]
// A script that uses an "or" and optional third parameter

Spaces are not important, but the brackets, semicolons, and pipes are. Your scripts will not work if you omit them.

Supply parameters

When passing parameters into a script, format them using the custom function  param.set[ ]:

param.set( "expected" ; "value1" ) &
param.set( "this|or|that" ; "value2" ) &
param.set( "optional" ; "value3" )

I have formatted the parameters for the dialog script. Try to do the other two scripts yourself, or consult the sample file:

param.set( "title" ; "Alert") &
param.set( "message" ; "This is an alert!" )

Now the magic

The custom function param.assign[ ] does the rest of the work. Use it at the beginning of the script, and it will do two things:

1. It will first check to see if you supplied and properly formatted all of the script’s parameters, and if you did,
2. it will then assign each parameter to a $local variable to use throughout the script.

If [param.assign]
  //Do something here
Else
  //Parameters not assigned
End If

Our script:

Dialog [ title ; message ]

Receives parameters:

param.set ( "title" ; "Alert") &
param.set ( "message" ; "This is an alert!" )

And performs the following steps:

If [ param.assign ]
  // We now have variables to use throughout the script:
  // $title = "Alert"
  // $message = "This is an alert."
  Show Custom Dialog [ $title; $message ]
Else
  // Missing or improperly formatted parameters
  Show Custom Dialog [ "Missing Parameters"; "Parameters not assigned."]
End If

Download the sample file

I have included examples in the the sample file that you how to use the (this|or|that) parameter, and how to pass retrieve multiple parameters using the param.get( ) custom function.

LearnFunctionScripting.zip