FMCuttingBoard for VS Code

Move FileMaker objects between FileMaker and your editor as readable XML, and edit FileMaker calculations with real language support.

FMCuttingBoard handles scripts, script steps, fields, tables, layout objects, custom functions and value lists. Copy them in FileMaker, get them as editable fmxmlsnippet XML, change them, and push them back to paste into FileMaker. Also available for JetBrains IDEs; both are kept in feature parity (status).

Getting started

In FileMaker, copy some objects (script steps, fields, a layout selection, …).
In VS Code, run FMCuttingBoard: Get FileMaker Clipboard Content (Ctrl+Alt+C X). The snippet is saved as XML in .fmCuttingBoard/ in your workspace folder and opened. Anything that isn't a FileMaker object (for example a calculation) is saved as a .fmcalc file instead.
Edit the XML. Then run Push Clipboard Into FileMaker (Ctrl+Alt+C P, the Send To FileMaker Clipboard link at the top of the file, or the clipboard button in the editor title bar), and paste in FileMaker.

The .fmCuttingBoard folder gets its own .gitignore, so clipboard snippets never end up in your repository.

FileMaker calculations (`.fmcalc`)

Syntax highlighting: functions, Get ( … ) constants, Table::Field references, $/$$ variables, strings, ¶, comments and operators
Completion of functions, Get ( … ) constants and named constants (Ctrl+Space)
Signature help while typing arguments, and hovers on functions and constants
Problems as you type: unmatched brackets, unterminated strings, wrong argument counts, and Let/While variables used outside their scope
Format Document (same output as the JetBrains plugin): Claris spacing (If ( a > b ; "x" ; "y" )), one Let variable / Case pair per line, long calls broken one argument per line
Folding of multi-line Let, Case, If and While calls, [ … ] lists and block comments
let, if and case snippets, comment toggling, bracket matching

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`fmcuttingboard.baseDirName`	`.fmCuttingBoard`	Folder (in the workspace folder) where clipboard content is saved
`fmcuttingboard.fileNamePattern`	`{timestamp}`	File name without extension; `{timestamp}` is the current time in milliseconds
`fmcuttingboard.previewBeforeClipboardWrite`	`false`	Ask for confirmation, with a preview, before replacing the clipboard
`fmcuttingboard.format.maxLineLength`	`120`	`.fmcalc` formatting: a call that fits within this many columns stays on one line
`fmcuttingboard.format.doNotIndentTopLetVariables`	`true`	`.fmcalc` formatting: keep the outermost `Let`'s variables flush with the `Let`
`fmcuttingboard.enableDiagnostics`	`false`	Show the Dump Clipboard Formats and Save Raw Clipboard Capture commands

For detailed logs, set the FMCuttingBoard output channel's level with Developer: Set Log Level….

Requirements and limitations

Windows: full support. FileMaker's own clipboard formats are read and written through a small PowerShell script that ships with the extension (each clipboard operation takes about a quarter of a second). Policies that block PowerShell scripts make the extension fall back to plain text.
macOS: plain text only for now. FileMaker's macOS clipboard types are still being researched.
Remote (WSL, SSH, containers): the extension runs on your local machine, where FileMaker's clipboard is, and saves files into the remote workspace.
VS Code 1.101 or newer.

Privacy

FMCuttingBoard makes no network requests and collects no telemetry. It only reads and writes the clipboard and files in your workspace's .fmCuttingBoard folder.

License

MIT

FMCuttingBoard

bluekachina