GoLaunch
Purchase
| v1.004 $14 |
Information
Updated to use the fmp url scheme for FileMaker 12 rather than fmp7script. Now works with FileMaker Go and FileMaker Pro!
GoLaunch makes it simple to create iPhone and iPad Home Screen buttons to access your FileMaker Go databases with one tap.
Simply upload go.php, filemaker-icon57x57.png, filemaker-icon256x256.png to your php enabled website and create a URL using the example below, replacing the parameters that are in all caps with your information. Or you can use our go.php page on CampSoftware.com. The url is provided in the download. Keep in mind, internet access is required to use your Home Screen button, but that’s not a problem with hosted databases.
Example: http://domain.com/go.php?type=fmp7script&username=USERNAME&password=PASSWORD&address=ADDRESS&database=DATABASENAME&script=SCRIPTNAME¶m=PARAMETER
Keep in mind, the script and param are optional!
To create a Home Screen button, visit the url in Safari on your iPhone or iPad by either emailing or typing in the URL. FileMaker Go will launch and your database will open, but if you switch back to Safari, you can tap the button to save the page to your Home Screen for quick access in the future.
View the overview video on YouTube to view a higher quality version.
This is a good video to share with folks to show them how to save the GoLaunch url to their Home Screen.
Screenshots
History Show More
As changes are made and new updates become available notes will be posted here.
Questions and Answers
-
Rating: +0
What about security ?
The go.php page can be stored on your own web server, so you could make it secure as you'd like. The database connection data are not stored in the go.php page, only passed through to an fmp7script. If you save a GoLaunch button on your iPad or iPhone Home Screen, then anyone that has access to the device, could tap the button to access the database.
-
Rating: +0
I tried using GoLaunch using your site and the secret url, but it seems to reload all the time. What can be wrong? I also copied go.php to my own webserver (used for FM Server and IWP), but there I get a 404 error?
In the calling example on the GoLaunch product page AND in the download, the url stated "type=fp7script" which SHOULD have been "type=fmp7script". Some how we missed adding the "m" in both places. Both are now updated as well as the download file. The url that you sent, not shown here, was missing the "go.php?type=" from the url which may be why you are seeing the 404 error.
-
Rating: +0
Does the database you want to launch have to be served on the net (i.e. via FIleMaker Server), or can it reside locally on the iPad? This solution sounds good but on some of the iPads I want to use may not be on the net (and thus can't access the web server).
The database can be anywhere, but the go.php page is normally located on a web server. Tapping the Home Screen button loads go.php which then launches the database.
-
Rating: +0
Do you need this per user/ipad? or is this a server side app that works with multiple users/ipads?
It's server side, so you only need to purchase it once for your entire solution.
-
Rating: +0
I keep getting an error, can it be because I have a space in the name of the database? It complains database could not be found.
Yes. Any special characters like spaces need to be encoded to hex. A reference chart can be found at http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_urlencode.asp . For instance, a space would need to be %20. This also means that you cannot used some characters in your usernames, passwords, database name, and script names. Characters to avoid would be percent, slash, and question mark as they are used in URLs.
Ask a Question
A: The go.php page can be stored on your own web server, so you could make it secure as you'd like. The database connection data are not stored in the go.php page, only passed through to an fmp7script. If you save a GoLaunch button on your iPad or iPhone Home Screen, then anyone that has access to the device, could tap the button to access the database.
A: In the calling example on the GoLaunch product page AND in the download, the url stated "type=fp7script" which SHOULD have been "type=fmp7script". Some how we missed adding the "m" in both places. Both are now updated as well as the download file. The url that you sent, not shown here, was missing the "go.php?type=" from the url which may be why you are seeing the 404 error.
A: The database can be anywhere, but the go.php page is normally located on a web server. Tapping the Home Screen button loads go.php which then launches the database.
A: It's server side, so you only need to purchase it once for your entire solution.
A: Yes. Any special characters like spaces need to be encoded to hex. A reference chart can be found at http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_urlencode.asp . For instance, a space would need to be %20. This also means that you cannot used some characters in your usernames, passwords, database name, and script names. Characters to avoid would be percent, slash, and question mark as they are used in URLs.
There must be something magical in play since for the last few months Hal and I keep thinking about the same things and getting the same ideas at nearly the same time…
Two recent examples are the Infinite Hierarchy and Per-Database Plug-Ins articles on my blog.
We’ve discussed the iOS home icon solution briefly over Skype last week as we again found out that we were thinking about the same thing. So this is just a start and if you like GoLaunch (which you definitely should) then stay tuned to both CampSoftware and HOnza’s Bits @ 24U as even more is coming…
…maybe GoLunch, maybe something else
Pingback: prMac Distribution Services :: CampSoftware Releases GoLaunch - Create FileMaker Go Launch Buttons :: April :: 2011
Pingback: April 26, 2011, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch new releases | AppleiGaga