Why does Filemaker seem to confuse the user by using a path naming
convention using forward slashes? Windows uses back-slashes.

Thus, when writing a script for the Troi File plugin, the FM Save as Copy
script step ended up needing forward slashes, but the steps related to the
plugin needed the traditional Windows back-slashes.

Took me a while to sort out why it wasn't working (I was wrongly using
back-slashes for the Windows version of my script).

Perhaps it was to make it Mac compatible?

In article <C2DAB687.212E4%trashadd5 [at] bigfoot.com> "David Robins,
MD"<trashadd5 [at] bigfoot.com> wrote:
> Why does Filemaker seem to confuse the user by using a path
> namingconvention using forward slashes? Windows uses back-slashes.

> Thus, when writing a script for the Troi File plugin, the FM Save as
> Copy script step ended up needing forward slashes, but the steps
> related to theplugin needed the traditional Windows back-slashes.

> Took me a while to sort out why it wasn't working (I was wrongly
> usingback-slashes for the Windows version of my script).

> Perhaps it was to make it Mac compatible?

Not exactly.

Even if FileMaker respected the Windows backslash syntax, you would
still have Troi to deal with. FileMaker's use of the slash, though in
keeping with Mac format, doesn't benefit me as a Troi File user.

On a Mac, one has to convert the OSX slash-delimited paths returned by
FileMaker to the pre-OSX colon-delmited syntax in order for Troi File
to work with it.

I took issue with Troi on this, and received the following (quoting
Peter Baanen):

"It seems simple enough but there are cases when this does not work in
the functions themselves. There are for example long filenames and
classic names (31 chars), and unicode and UTF8 encoding and network
issues. It is on my list, but it will require a careful
implementation in all of the 50 functions."

As for why FM does what it does to its Windows users, no clue.

Until it gets fixed by either or both, my calculated paths benefit
from the Substitute function's ability to convert slashes to colons so
that Troi FIle can do its thing. I just have to remember to use it,
rather than sit there wondering why the blinking thing doesn't work.

Matt

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