"Simple, efficient document-based client interfaces that utilize components of standard technologies. Saves money, increases efficiency, eliminates errors."
<-- This web form has 28 calculations that have been configured to assist authorized salespeople to securely connect to, accurately interact with, and correctly process orders using data from 3 SQL databases and 5 REST APIs.
Forms that can calculate can also communicate, using native functions to format, validate, merge, and send user-supplied parameters to PHP scripts that interpret the parameters, execute queries based on the parameters, filter the responses, and return the results to specified form fields in real-time.
In 2023, Claris FileMaker, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and Adobe Acrobat can all be used to build dynamic calculation forms for desktop, mobile, or web. These types of forms can be extended with open-source PHP + technologies to enable secure, efficient 2-way interactions with SQL databases and REST APIs.
Each type of form provides different advantages depending on use case.
Any type of form can interact with any number of databases or APIs in any combination or event sequence, dynamically calculating, querying, parsing, merging, recalculating, and updating as users enter data into form fields.
Completed form results can optionally be packaged into virtually any required format and sent to virtually any specified location for additional processing.
+ PHP is a well-established general-purpose programming language, used by Amazon, Shopify, WordPress, Facebook, PayPal, Gmail, Slack, Tumblr, Wikipedia
+ PHP Data Objects and cURL code libraries simplify encrypted, securable, authentication-enabled, injection-resistant interactions with databases and APIs
+ PHP is open-source technology, so zero licensing costs, transaction fees, or subscriptions are required to utilize and own simple but industrial strength code
FileMaker database forms can calculate and execute queries that use PHP, PDO, and cURL to interact with SQL databases and REST APIs. FileMaker provides an extremely advanced form-generation, calculation, scripting , automation toolkit, ideal for building bespoke programmable controls and data processing interfaces that can be shared via FileMaker Server, as FileMaker documents, as WebDirect forms, or through the FileMaker Data API.
Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets spreadsheet documents can also use calculations and native functions to execute PHP scripts that interact with SQL databases and REST APIs. PHP scripts can filter and format scalar or aggregate query responses back to active cells in a variety of formats, including Excel dynamic arrays generated from XML-formatted results and Sheets dynamic arrays generated from HTML-formatted results.
Acrobat PDF forms provide extraordinarily adaptable programmable interfaces that can be used as freely deployable data calculation and interaction runtimes. Acrobat forms can be enhanced with JavaScript to add interactivity, making it possible to dynamically calculate, validate, and format data prior to sending it to PHP scripts that interact with SQL databases and REST APIs and insert filtered results back into form fields.