If you used an earlier version of CWP Snippets, you may remember getting your FileMaker code into WordPress and getting on with the project. We’ve spent a lot of time since then on what happens as that project grows: finding code again, changing it, and keeping track of the version that worked.
CWP Snippets 2.x supports both the FileMaker Data API and OData. There are revisions, tags, filters, and content search, along with more templates and samples. The full product is also free now, including the features that used to be in Pro.
The code needs somewhere to live
A WordPress project might start with one small FileMaker request. Later, you’ve got a form, a few pages that read records, and code that someone needs to find and update six months from now.
CWP Snippets gives that code a home inside WordPress. A snippet is simply a piece of custom code you save and manage there. In this case, it might make a FileMaker request or use the result to build part of a page.
You’ll still write the code that makes your application work. What we’re providing is the environment around it, including the FileMaker connection tools and a way to manage the snippets as you go.
The changes you’ll notice while working
Revisions save earlier versions of a snippet so you can return to them. When you’re making a change to code that’s already working, having the previous version available takes some of the worry out of editing it.
Tags, filtering, and content search help with the other problem: remembering where you put something. A snippet’s title doesn’t always tell you which field it uses or which part of an integration it belongs to. Being able to search the code itself helps.
We’ve also expanded the templates and samples. They’re there to give you something concrete to read and adapt when you’re starting a piece of work.
Data API or OData
Both APIs let your web code work with FileMaker data, but they organize that access differently. CWP Snippets supports either one. I’d choose based on the database and the work the application needs to do, especially if there’s already a working integration to consider.
If WordPress isn’t part of your project, the standalone clients are the better place to look. We covered ODataCWP in part one, and restCWP provides the corresponding Data API path.
The whole product is free
We decided to remove the Pro tier and make the complete environment available. That applies whether you’re trying an idea on a development site or using it in a client project.
FileMaker and web development are a big part of our work at RGC Data. These tools reflect that experience, but they should be useful even if you never hire us.
You can find the product and documentation at cwpsnippets.com. If you haven’t looked at it recently, I’d be interested to hear how the current version fits your work.
