Automatically Running a BaseElements import

There is an option in BaseElements to call a script in the data file which takes parameters of the files to import and then imports these automatically. This is an option for the import that lets you import a DDR with an automated process without any user interaction.

This is useful if you have a large solution with long import times that you want to run regularly for example. You can setup a FMP "Robot" machine and copy your DDR to that machine. When the copy is done, you could use Applescript or a windows event to automatically import the DDR overnight and have it ready for the next day.

How to use the Auto Import

First, you need to have BaseElements open. So you should open the BaseElements_2.fp7 file and let it run it's opening script. If you're doing this for the first time, it will ask for registration details, so put these in and it will remember them for next time.

Then call a script in the BaseElements_2_Data.fp7 file. The script to call is called "Event: Import New DDR". You need to call it with some parameters of the details of the DDR to import. The script paramater is formatted as a set of "name value" pairs. An example of the parameters would be :

"File=Macintosh HD:Users:nick:Desktop:Summary.xml"  & ¶ &
"Solution=My Solution Name" & ¶ & 
"Version=Version Number" & ¶ & 
"Client=Client"

The file paths are standard Troi File or system paths, not FMP paths. So a windows path would be like "c:/folder/folder/filename.xml".

The easiest way to do this would be to use another FileMaker file, which you either open (with a startup script) or is called from some other process. I've attached an example file to this post that you can download.