Design the FileMaker Data API solution

The FileMaker Data API provides a REST API to access databases hosted FileMaker Server or FileMaker Cloud. The FileMaker Data API allows your code to:

• Get information about the host; for example, product information and the names of hosted databases. See Get metadata.

• Get information about a hosted database; for example, script names, layout names, or layout metadata including field names, value list names, and value list contents. See Get metadata.

• Log in or log out of a hosted database. See Connect to or disconnect from a database.

• Create, edit, duplicate, delete, or get a record; or get a range of records. See Work with records.

• Perform find requests. See Perform a find request.

• Set global field values. See Set global field values.

• Run FileMaker scripts. See FileMaker scripts and the FileMaker Data API.

• Uploading data into container fields. See Upload container data.

• Access data in external FileMaker tables. See Log in to an external data source.

• Use a different layout for response data when getting a record or a range of records. See Get a single record, Get a range of records, and Perform a find request.

The following features aren't supported directly by FileMaker Data API calls:

• Script trigger activation

• Calculation functions in table schema (for example, calculation fields) if they depend on information about the host's file system (for example Get(TemporaryPath)) or about script triggers

However, these FileMaker features are supported in scripts run by FileMaker Data API calls. These are server-side scripts and behave the same as those run by the Perform Script on Server script step—which run in separate processes from those of FileMaker Data API calls (See About running scripts on FileMaker Server and FileMaker Cloud in FileMaker Pro Help.)

The FileMaker Data API returns field data as it is stored in the database, not as it is displayed in FileMaker Pro.