360Works Foreign Exchange User Guide

360Works currency conversion plugin for FileMaker based off of 360Works' currency exchange service. Copyright 2006. 360Works

Installation

Requirements

FileMaker version 7 or higher.

Java Virtual Machine (JVM) version 1.4.2 or later. If you are running a JVM earlier than 1.4.2, you should upgrade. Download a JVM from http://www.java.com/en/download/. If you are not sure what version of Java you have installed, you can do 'java -version' on the command line in Windows or OS X.

Windows, or Mac OS X version 10.4 or higher.

Note to intel Mac users: running this plugin under Rosetta is not supported. Upgrade to FileMaker 8.5 to run our plugin in native Intel mode.

Install Steps for FileMaker Pro

Drag the plugin from the MAC or WIN folder into your FileMaker extensions, and restart FileMaker.

This will also enable the plugin for use with Instant Web Publishing from the FileMaker Pro client software.

If the plugin does not load correctly, double-check that you meet the system requirements.

Install steps for FileMaker Web Publishing Engine / Instant Web Publishing

You do not need to do this step unless you plan on using the plugin with Instant Web Publishing or Custom Web Publishing with FileMaker Server Advanced. You will need an Enterprise License to use this feature.

For installing into the Web Publishing Engine with FileMaker 9 Server or FileMaker Server Advanced, drag the plugin from the MAC or WIN folder into the FileMaker Server/Web Publishing/publishing-engine/wpc/Plugins folder. If there is no 'Plugins' folder inside the 'wpc' folder, then create it manually. Restart FileMaker Web Publishing, and now the plugins should be ready to go.

Note that due to a bug which we and other plugin vendors have reported to FileMaker, web plugins do not work in FileMaker Web Publishing Engine 8.0v4 on Mac OS X. You will need to use a later version, like 9, or an earlier version, like 8.0v3. The Windows FileMaker Server 8.0v4 does not have this bug, and will work correctly.

The easiest way to test whether the plugin is working is to have a calculation which calls the version function of the plugin, and display that on an IWP layout. If it shows "?", then the plugin is not working. If it shows a number, then the plugin has been installed successfully.

Install steps for FileMaker Server 9

You do not need to do this step unless you plan on using the plugin with scheduled script triggering, a new feature in FileMaker Server 9. You will need an Enterprise License to use this feature.

  1. Drag the plugin from the MAC or WIN folder into the FileMaker Server/Database Server/Extensions folder (Server 8 and older versions of server use the path FileMaker Server/Extensions/Plugins).
  2. Restart FileMaker Server. In the Server Admin application, go to Configuration -> Database Server->Server Plug-ins.
  3. Check the box that says 'Enable FileMaker Server to use plug-ins', and then check the 'enabled' box for this plugin. You should now be able to write schedules that trigger scripts which use the plugin.

Demo mode and Registering the plugin

Plugins will run in demo mode until they are registered. While running in Demo mode, the product will run for 2 hours every time you launch FileMaker / FileMaker Server / FileMaker Web Publishing Engine. The 2 hour time limit will reset every time you relaunch FileMaker. There is no expiration date when Demo mode stops working. There are no feature differences between the Demo version and the licensed version.

Once you have purchased the plugin, you can register it with the license key. Once a valid license key is entered, the product will run for as long as FileMaker is running. After FileMaker starts up with the plugin installed, open FileMaker preferences, click on the Plug-ins tab, select the plugin from the list, and click the Configure button. Enter your license key and company name in this dialog. You will only need to do this once on a given machine. Alternately, you can use the registration function to register the plugin during a startup script.

Note that if you are running the plugin with FileMaker Server / FileMaker Web Publishing Engine, you must use the registration function to register the plugin, since there is no preferences dialog on FileMaker Server to enter the license key and company name.

Feedback

We love to hear your suggestions for improving our products! If you are experiencing problems with this plugin, or have a feature request, or are happy with it, we'd appreciate hearing about it. Send us a message on our website, or email us!

Function Summary

Function Detail

forexConvert ( from ; to ; amount )

Converts a numerical amount using the exchange forexGetRate between the specified countries. Countries can be specified with either the 3-letter country code or the country name. Amounts must be in the format of integer or decimal numbers. No text is allowed.

Parameters:
from - the base country
to - the target country
amount - the amount to forexConvert
Returns: number - the converted amount or a negative error code upon failure

forexGetCountryCode ( country )

Returns the country code for a country name.

Parameters:
country - the country name
Returns: text - the country code or a negative error code upon failure

forexGetMonetaryUnit ( country )

Returns the monetary unit of the specified country. Countries can be specified by either their country code or country name.

Parameters:
country - the country code or country name
Returns: text - the monetary unit of the specified country or a negative error code upon failure

forexGetRate ( from ; to )

Returns the exchange forexGetRate for converting amounts to and from the specified countries. Countries can be specified with either the 3-letter country code or the country name.

Parameters:
from - the base country
to - the target country
Returns: number - the exchange forexGetRate from the base country to the target country or a negative error code upon failure

forexLastErrorCode

Returns the last error code resulting from a failure in the system. If no error has been recorded, returns 0.

Returns: number - the last error code or 0

forexLastErrorMessage

Returns a user-friendly text message of the last error the system received. If no error has been recorded, nothing is returned.

Returns: text - the last error message

forexLastUpdate

Returns a the last time the currency exchange rates were updated. The format corresponds to FileMaker's timestamp format of: MM/dd/yyyy HH:mm:ss AM/PM"

Returns: text - a timestamp formatted result or a negative error code upon failure

forexRegister ( licenseKey ; registeredTo )

Registers the Plugin.

Parameters:
licenseKey - a valid license key string, or the literal string "DEMO" to run in demo mode.
registeredTo - the company name for the license key used.
Returns: 1 on success, or "ERROR" on failure.

forexVersion

Returns the current forexVersion number of the plugin.

Returns: number - the plugin's current forexVersion