Working with the Claris FileMaker connector

The Claris FileMaker connector allows you to work with records and tables in files hosted on both FileMaker Cloud and FileMaker Server, giving you the ability to integrate your hosted apps with the rest of the Claris platform as well as third-party apps. For details on connection requirements, see Connecting to Claris apps.

Note  The Claris FileMaker connector doesn't currently support working with tables in Claris Studio.

When working with the Claris FileMaker connector, there a few key things to understand:

  • How records and tables are presented in response data so that you can select the correct property when working with records and tables in step data.

    For more information on response data and step data, see Viewing flow history and Using step data respectively.

  • How this connector's triggers and actions work.

  • How error messages are formatted.

Content overview:

Record structure

In response data, the Claris FileMaker connector presents records with FileMaker system fields—for example DefID—at the root of the object and record fields nested under the Fields property.

Copy 
{
    "ID": "AF6C3CCC-2E55-C549-B05C-390396F24B09",
    "ExternalID": 421,
    "DefID": "Containers",
    "ModID": 0,
    "Fields": {
        "PrimaryKey": "AF6C3CCC-2E55-C549-B05C-390396F24B09",
        "CreationTimestamp": "2025-01-06T20:16:54Z",
        "CreatedBy": "Admin",
        "ModificationTimestamp": "2025-01-06T20:16:54Z",
        "ModifiedBy": "Admin",
        "ID": "NULL",
        "File Name": "NULL",
        "Record ID": 421,
        "Description": "Test record",
        "Studio ID": "NULL",
        "Title": "NULL",
        "Info": "NULL"
    }
}

Note  ExternalID is the FileMaker record’s Record or Row ID.

Table structure

In response data, the Claris FileMaker connector presents tables with a Key, an ID—the same as the table’s name—and an array of field definitions. Each field definition contains the field name, data type, and field options.

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{
    "Name": "Approvals",
    "ID": "Approvals",
    "Key": "PrimaryKey",
    "Fields": [
        {
            "Name": "PrimaryKey",
            "Type": "Edm.String",
            "ReadOnly": true,
            "Nullable": false
        },
        {
            "Name": "CreationTimestamp",
            "Type": "Edm.DateTimeOffset",
            "ReadOnly": true,
            "Nullable": false,
            "DefaultValue": "CURRENT_TIMESTAMP"
        },
        {
            "Name": "CreatedBy",
            "Type": "Edm.String",
            "ReadOnly": true,
            "Nullable": false,
            "DefaultValue": "USER"
        },
        {
            "Name": "ModificationTimestamp",
            "Type": "Edm.DateTimeOffset",
            "ReadOnly": true,
            "Nullable": false,
            "DefaultValue": "CURRENT_TIMESTAMP"
        },
        {
            "Name": "ModifiedBy",
            "Type": "Edm.String",
            "ReadOnly": true,
            "Nullable": false,
            "DefaultValue": "USER"
        },
        {
            "Name": "Status",
            "Type": "Edm.String",
            "ReadOnly": false,
            "Nullable": true
        }
    ]
}

Triggers

Triggers initiate a Claris Connect flow and provide foundational context that subsequent steps can use to perform actions defined by the flow.

Trigger by script

The Trigger by script trigger will execute a flow when the “Trigger Claris Connect Flow” script step is executed in the corresponding FileMaker Pro app. The trigger will provide initial step data when executing the flow.

See Adding a Claris connector trigger.

Actions

Actions are steps executed in a flow. Each action has access to the data from each action or trigger executed before it. data from previous actions or triggers are exposed to subsequent actions as step data.

Note   

  • Read-only fields are omitted from the non-advanced action configurations.

  • For date, time, and timestamp fields, actions support either ISO-compliant strings or Claris Studio time objects.

    ISO-compliant string

    2011-10-05T14:48:00.000Z

    Claris Studio time object

    Copy 
    { 
      "Type": "ts",
      "Zone": "America/Los Angeles",
      "Time" : "2024-08-20T00:00:00Z"
    }

Error format

When encountering an error in a flow run, the connector will map either FileMaker Data API error messages or common OData status codes into the response data. Wherever provided, the FileMaker code is used. If no FileMaker code exists, the common OData response status code is provided. See Error responses in the FileMaker Data API Guide and Common Response Status Codes in the OData specification. Below are two examples that may help to make the distinction.

FileMaker Data API status code and common OData response

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{
  "body": {
    "code": "201", // FileMaker specific error code
    "error": "Write access to the field is not permitted (201)"
  },
  "statusCode": 400 // Common Response Status Code defined in OData specification
}

Common OData response only

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{
  "body": {
    "code": 400, // No FileMaker code, Common Response Status Code used.
    "error": "Unable to open file"
  },
  "statusCode": 400 // Common Response Status Code defined in OData specification
}