24U SimpleDialog Plug-In 4.0

This ReadMe file contains some important information about 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In, such as system requirements, installation guide, quick start, troubleshooting, license notice, contact information, and copyright statement.

1. Introduction

24U SimpleDialog Plug-In is a FileMaker Pro plug-in. It allows your FileMaker Pro databases to display dialog boxes with text prompts, text fields, password fields, check boxes, radio buttons, pop-up menus and pictures based on real-time data from your database. You can use this plug-in to prompt user for required data input just the same way you are used to work with the built-in Show Custom Dialog script step. Starting with the version 2.0 you can also display progress dialogs to indicate work progress to user.

2. System requirements

Recommended configuration:

Mac OS X: Any Intel Mac, 1024 MB RAM, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, FileMaker Pro 11 Advanced.

Windows: 1.6 GHz processor, 1024 MB RAM, Windows 7, FileMaker Pro 11 Advanced.

Minimum requirements:

Mac OS X: Macintosh, 512 MB RAM, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, FileMaker Pro 8.5.

Windows: 500 MHz processor, 512 MB RAM, Windows XP SP3, FileMaker Pro 8.5.

3. Installation

To install 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In, follow these steps:

  1. If you did not do this yet, download and expand the 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In distribution archive.
  2. On Mac OS X copy the file SimpleDialog.fmplugin into Extensions folder which is located inside your home folder, Library, Application Support, FileMaker. If you have older FileMaker than 9.0 install the plug-in to the Extensions folder inside Applications, FileMaker Pro 8.5.
  3. On Windows XP copy the file SimpleDialog.fmx into Extensions folder which is located inside your home folder, Local Settings, Application Data, FileMaker. If you have troubles locating this folder, install the plug in to Extensions located in the FileMaker Pro folder in the Program Files or in the Program FIles x86 folder.
  4. Restart or start the FileMaker Pro.
  5. The plug-in should be visible in the "Plug-Ins" preference pane inside FileMaker Pro preferences (Mac OS X) / options (Windows).

4. Quick start

If you are new to FileMaker plug-ins, start by checking the UsingFMPlugIns.html file inside the Documentation folder. It briefly explains what plug-ins are, why they are useful, and how they are usually used. You can also find the most up-to-date version of this document at http://www.24uSoftware.com/support/UsingPlugins.

To learn how to use this plug-in it is recommended to open the SimpleDialogTutorial.fp7 tutorial from Documentation folder. It will show you how to create most basic input and progress dialogs and what is the meaning of SDialog_ functions parameters.

5. Troubleshooting

Before you contact our technical support regarding problems or difficulties using 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In, please check if your issue is not listed below:

Italic font style does not work on Mac OS X
Standard Mac OS X dialog font does not support italic style. This style does not work on Mac OS X in SimpleDialog 4.0. When the full font support will be implemented you will be able to set italic style for fonts which support this feature. Italic style works only on Windows.

Indexes of lines in pop-up menu are shifted
24U SimpleDialog Plug-In 3.x used incompatible indexing for field "menu". Menu indexing has been 0-based (0 first line, 1 second line...) in version 3.x. This has been changed in version 4.0 to 1-based indexing (1 first line, 2 second line...). Solutions which used 0-based indexing must be changed to 1-based indexing. The only compatible number is 0 - it means the first line in both cases.
In 3.x the menu also supported line separators (character "-" placed alone in single line) but separators had indexes. In 4.0 menu separators are not counted to indexing. For example SDialog_Get function will return the same index regardless how many separators you add or remove from the menu.

Plug-In is not visible in the FileMaker Pro
Check if the plug-in binary is present in the one of "Extensions" folders of the FileMaker Pro. FileMaker Pro reads plug-ins from the folder named Extensions which can be placed in:

SDialog_InputDialog returns a non-zero number as its result
If some SimpleDialog function fails, it will return a non-zero error code as its result. This can be caused by a system error, but more likely the reason will be an incorrectly specified dialog definition.
There is short list of possible error codes:

My upgrade code doesn't work
Our new products with new about screen have a stronger checks for upgrade codes. Upgrade codes must be entered together with original code from the previous version.
For end user license: When registration dialog pops-up enter original code first, divide by space, and enter your upgrade code.
For developer license: Call Plugin_Register( "original-code upgrade-code" ).

The plug-in functions return an "?" as a result
The 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In is probably not installed or deactivated in your application preferences. Open the Application Preferences from the Edit menu, click on the "Plug-Ins" tab, and make sure that 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In is there and that it is enabled.

I get a "Powered by 24U Software" splash displayed when quitting FileMaker Pro
Developer licenses and some special promotional licenses cause a splash dialog to appear on the screen for 2 seconds at the quit time of your solution. The splash helps you to comply with our License Agreement without having to design your own about screen. If you don't want your solution to show the splash dialog, send us samples of your about screen and license agreement to registration@24uSoftware.com. We will send you instructions for disabling the splash as soon as your solution is proven to comply with the developer license's sublicensing conditions.

If your problem is not listed above or if the recommended solution does not work for you, please contact our technical support at http://www.24uSoftware.com/support.php for assistance.

6. Shareware notice

Please note that 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In is SHAREWARE. That means it is not free and you have to pay a license fee if you want to keep it. You can install 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In and try it out for the period of 14 days. After this period, 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In can stop working and require a registration code. You will get your registration code after you pay for your license.

You can freely distribute 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In as long as you distribute the original compacted archive untouched and you don't charge money for the distribution. If you want to distribute 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In on a physical medium, such as CD-ROM, or if you want to distribute it in other form than the original compacted archive, you must ask for our permission. If you are a solution developer you can also bundle 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In with your products and sublicense it to your customers, provided you have purchased a developer license.

Please find detailed registration instructions in the file named "HowToRegister.html".

You can find detailed license terms in the file named "24U Software License Agreement.pdf". Individual license types are described in the file named "HowToRegister.html".

7. Contact Information

You can contact us at one of the following addresses. We prefer being contacted via e-mail, but you can use any other method if e-mail is not good enough for you.

E-mail:   info@24uSoftware.com   general information about our products and our company
eval@24uSoftware.com free evaluation codes registration
sales@24uSoftware.com paid licenses ordering and registration
support@24uSoftware.com technical support and bug reports
 
WWW: http://www.24uSoftware.com/
 
Phone: +420-224 910 892
Fax: +420-242 487 778
 
Snail mail: 24U Software
Skochovická 88
252 45  Zvole u Prahy
Czech Republic

8. Copyright

The software 24U SimpleDialog Plug-In is copyright ©2001-2010 24U Software. All rights reserved.
Portions of the software are ©1984-2010 FileMaker, Inc. All rights reserved.