Jazz Utils 1.16 review

In the process of creating commercial multimedia titles (often in the process of manipulating data) it has been quicker to write a FileMaker plugin function to do a specific task (or part of a task), than it would be to perform the task by other methods.

License: Freeware OS: Mac OS X File size: 58K Developer: Jazz Media Price: $0.00 Updated: 10 May 2006

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In the process of creating commercial multimedia titles (often in the process of manipulating data) it has been quicker to write a FileMaker plugin function to do a specific task (or part of a task), than it would be to perform the task by other methods. As a result of these ongoing needs, the Jazz Utils plugin has developed. As we choose to work on a Macintosh, many of the plugin functions are Macintosh only.

The plugin includes clipboard functions, HTML formatting (tagging) functions, functions to obtain the mouse location (x, y), cross-platform character conversion, ascii values, and FileMaker script debugging tools. The mini-icons below indicate which functions have been implemented for each platform. The Windows™-only function allows switching between applications. (On the Mac you can use AppleScript to accomplish the same task).

The functions are by no means comprehensive, but they got me out of a bind, and hopefully will help others too. Download the documentation for more details.

The plugin has been updated for Mac OS X, and to the best of our knowledge is compatible with all versions of FileMaker up to and including version 7.0, with the following exceptions:

• Jazz-Debug STE requires Mac OS System 7.1 or later and AppleEvents. Jazz-Debug STE Slow also requires AppleScript.
• Jazz-Clip2HTML does not work in FileMaker Pro 7 due to the modified clipboard format used in this version. Jazz-Clip2HTML was originally written as a method of extracting style information out of FileMaker. This functionality has been replaced and improved by the Jazz HTML and Jazz Styled Text shareware plugins.

FileMaker Pro 7 note:
FileMaker Pro version 7 on Mac OS X now requires that all Macintosh plugins end with the extension ".fmplugin". Existing users must rename their plugins before using them with FileMaker Pro 7. Alternatively you may download a fresh copy which has been appropriately renamed, and the extension has been hidden.