The Computer
Guy's Database
Publishing
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Database
Publishing
Introduction
- FileMaker Pro and Pagemaker can
talk to each other with a combination
of AppleScript, and their own scripting
languages to automate the publishing of
a catalog or database.
Updated
9/10/99
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- The
Basics
- FileMaker Pro
Scripting
- . FileMaker Pro
has a scripting language built in.
- . This
scripting capability allows communication and
data transfer between fields, layouts, and
databases.
- . The scripting
version in the later updates of FileMaker can
send AppleEvents (AppleEvents are the statements
in the AppleScripting language.
- PageMaker
Scripting
- . PageMaker has
a scripting language built in. Any action that
can be done with a keyboard or mouse action can
be activated by a script. A new document can be
created at a given size, with any number of
pages and text or graphics can be imported,
placed and sized.
- . Pagemaker is
AppleScript aware and it's inbuilt scripting can
be activated by AppleEvents.
- . The scripting
version in the later updates of FileMaker can
send AppleEvents (AppleEvents are the statements
in the AppleScripting language.
- AppleScript
- . The Macintosh
OS includes a Scripting Language. AppleScript is
the most capable and difficult to master of the
three scripting languages mentioned here.
- . There are
several "scripting" programs; HyperCard,
Microphone, Excel, PageMaker, Quark Express and
others that allow you to control every aspect of
their interface. AppleScript can control
multiple applications. You can get data from a
FileMaker database, AppleScript can process it,
PageMaker to import, format, save it, and print
it.
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- Automated Database
Publishing
- . The
capabilities of these scripting languages allow
the contents of a database to be published
automatically in a Pagemaker document.
- . A document
that would take two weeks to manually import and
format can be done in two days. Updates to
information can be done in two hours, not two
days.
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- Information on the
Web
- Of the scraps of information about automated
Desktop Publishing on the internet, serveral
searches found these:
Desktop Science by Olav Martin Kvern
- "Son of Total Control" Windows
- http://www.adobe.com/publications/adobemag/archive/julaug93.html
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- Desktop Science by Olav Martin Kvern
- "Bride of Total Control" Macintosh
- http://www.adobe.com/publications/adobemag/archive/mayjun94.html
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- Desktop Science by Olav Martin Kvern
- "Total Control: The Next Generation" (PDF:
413 KB / 6 pages)
- There's never been a better time to free
yourself from boring, repetitive tasks using
PageMaker's scripting language.
- http://www.adobe.com/publications/adobemag/archive/sepoct95.html
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- Desktop Science by Olav Martin Kvern
- "Playing Tag" (PDF: 330 KB / 5 pages)
- Lots of people don't know about PageMaker's
support for tagged text-and they're missing
out.
- http://www.adobe.com/publications/adobemag/archive/nov95.html
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- Desktop Science by Olav Martin Kvern
- "Beyond the Phone Book" (PDF: 380 KB / 5
pages)
- Whether you know it or not, "database
publishing" probably describes some of what you
do. Here's how to do it better!
- http://www.adobe.com/publications/adobemag/archive/julaug96.html
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- Desktop Science by Olav Martin Kvern
- "A Friendly Conversation" (PDF: 281 KB / 6
pages)
- PageMaker(R) 6.5's powerful (and
little-known) new scripting capabilities let you
ask PageMaker questions and do things with the
answers.
- http://www.adobe.com/publications/adobemag/archive/janfeb97.html
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- The Automatic Publisher by David
Blatner
- Scripting Quark Xpress MacWorld May99
- http://macworld.zdnet.com/1999/05/create/workflow.html
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- Applescripting with Pagemaker 6.5
- http://www.acmetech.com/diana/learning.html
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- ISO FileMaker Magazine Price: $50.00 US
(annually)..
- Description: Magazine created as a FileMaker
Pro file. Tons of articles and bonus FileMaker
files demonstrating concepts shown in the
articles.
- http://www.isoproductions.com/
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- GalleyMaster XD
- Galley Master XD is an Adobe PageMaker
plug-in that lets you automate the formatting of
databases and graphics into Pagemaker
documents.
- http://www.galleymaster.com/main.html/
Database Pros
- The best FileMaker resource on the internet!
The largest collection of free tips and tricks.
Other highlights of the site include quick tips
and bonus files. Database Pros also offers
onsite and offsite training courses based on the
wildly popular Scriptology book and CD ROM.
- http://www.databasepros.com/
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- FileMaker Resource Review
- Looking for FileMaker Resources? Check out
these reviews before you buy. We cover FileMaker
books, magazines, software files and more.
- http://www.lesaux.com/articles/Reviews/reviews.html/
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- Adobe PageMaker Scripting
- by Hans Hansen, author of the Adobe Press
book, Adobe PageMaker Scripting.
- http://www.hhansen.com/pmscripting.html/
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- Maintained by Vladimir Samarskiy, the Adobe
engineer who developed the PageMaker 6.5
scripting engine.
- http://www.oz.net/~vsamarsk/PageMakerScripting.htm/
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- Dave Saunders, DaveSaunders@csi.com, has
some scripts gathered here.
- http://www.pdsassoc.com/myscripts/myscripts.html/
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- Automated newspaper production with
PageMaker.
- http://www.bitex.com/pstoynov/
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- Gordon Woolf of The Worsley Press in
Australia, hosts this site with PageMaker
information.
- http://www.worsleypress.com/
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- Applescript, Frontier, and other scripting
languages
- http://www.scripting.com/
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- The AppleScript Sourcebook website.
- http://www.AppleScriptSourcebook.com/
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- A commercial site of PageMaker
plug-ins.
- http://www.mapsoft.com/plug_ins.htm/
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- MacScripting Mailing List
- A general Macintosh-related scripting list.
To subscribe, send email to
- LISTSERV@dartmouth.edu with a subject of
"subscribe" and a message of
- "subscribe macscrpt your name".
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- Adobe Magazine, the print edition, is
online.
- http://www.adobe.com/publications/adobemag/main.html/
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- Alan Rolfe has this Introduction/Tutorial on
PM6.52.
- http://elgar.tvu.ac.uk/~alan/pm/index.html/
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- This is a book on Userland Frontier. This
book covers Frontier 4.2.3, the Mac-only
version, but is still an invaluable learning
tool for the current cross-platform 5.0
version.
- http://www.ora.com/catalog/frontier/
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- Developers of Plugins for PageMaker and
Xtension for XPress. Download demos of FRAEMZ PS
for Macintosh and Windows PageMaker.
- http://www.borderguys.com/
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