This demo showcases how the ACF Plugin can be used inside FileMaker to generate a complete Excel workbook from database data — including dynamic charts and cross-tab summaries — all created directly through ACF script functions.

NOTE: The ACF-Plugin version >= 1.7.8.2 must be downloaded separately for the plattform you are using.

The demo is based on a fictive company “Demo Furnitures Inc.”, and produces an Annual Report spreadsheet with four automatically generated sheets:

1. By Category × Period – Sales totals grouped by product category and month
2. By Seller × Period – Sales totals grouped by salesperson and month
3. By Product × Period – Sales totals grouped by product and month
4. By Seller details – Per-seller summary tables with category and product breakdowns, each accompanied by two doughnut charts showing proportional sales distribution

All data is generated from a small sample of 1000 invoices created by the included Python script (generateDemoData.py), stored in the FileMaker table DemoInvoices.

• The simplicity of ACF’s SQL + array INTO syntax for data extraction
• Automated creation of Excel workbooks, styles, and charts using ACF Excel functions
• How developers can combine SQL, JSON, and charting seamlessly in ACF scripts

Welcome to ACF Plugin version 1.8.0.12.

Added FormulaCalculator as ad-hoc data entry calculations. This comes baked into the plugin, so no need to install the FormulaCalulator separatly to use this feature. See the article about this on the site.

We added SQLite local databases and floating palettes to all three host platforms, FileMaker, 4D and Indesign. Some new functions and some debugging. New version of the Function Browser to show some documentation of the functions shown. Read the release notes in the download.

We have also added ability to run Javascript functions directly from the ACF code. The InDesign plugin tap into the Indesign Scripting engine, while FileMaker and 4D plugins use the QuickJS-NG engine to perform JavaScript functions directly.

Read the readme file in the download for the spesific details for this update.

1.8.0.4 release introduced direct PDF document generation from ACF code. It provides an alternate route to FileMaker layout printing for reports that need mixed content, conditional sections, dynamic tables, images, headers, footers, automatic page flow and controlled output filenames. This update contains further work on the PDF writer functionality and also improved JSON array functions.

The release builds on the 1.8.0.2 AMQP messaging work, 1.8.0.3 PDF writer support and keeps existing compiled ACF packages compatible.

What Can ACF Do?

ACF includes facilities for areas such as:

• PDF Creation functions
• String, number, date, array, JSON, and regular-expression processing
• File and directory operations, ZIP archives, FTP, and SFTP
• Excel workbook creation and editing
• Image creation, conversion, metadata, drawing, barcodes, and QR codes
• SQL, SQLite and MySQL access
• Progress bars, dialogs and floating palettes.
• HTTP requests, email, encryption, hashing, and other integration tasks
• Reusable compiled function libraries for FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server, 4D and 4D server, and Indesign.

ACF functions can call other ACF functions, use local variables and structured control flow, and be organized into packages. Functions may also be assigned a FunctionID, which exposes them to FileMaker as named ACFU_... external functions.

Getting Started

1. Install the ACF Plugin supplied for your platform.
2. Start or restart FileMaker Pro.
3. Open FileMaker Pro > Settings/Preferences > Plug-ins and confirm that HORNEKS ACF Plugin is enabled.
4. Open the supplied examples or start with a small .acf source file.
5. Compile the source from FileMaker with ACF_Compile or ACF_CompileFile.
6. Call the compiled function with ACF_Run, or through its generated ACFU_... function when a FunctionID is defined.

A minimal ACF function looks like this:

function Welcome (string name)
    return "Welcome, " + name + "!";
end

After compiling the source, it can be called from FileMaker with a calculation such as:

ACF_Run ( "Welcome" ; "Robert" )

ACF reports compiler and runtime messages through its console output. During development, inspect ACF_GetConsoleOutput when a compile or function call does not produce the expected result.

The Standalone Compiler

The distribution may also include the ACFcompiler command-line tool. It checks .acf source files without requiring FileMaker and is useful with text editors, build scripts, Git workflows, and AI coding tools.

On macOS, the installer places it at /usr/local/bin/ACFcompiler. A compact syntax check can be run with:

ACFcompiler -i "MyFunctions.acf" -f TM

The plug-in contains its own compiler, so the standalone tool is optional. Keep the ACFcompiler and plug-in versions aligned when using newly introduced language features or functions.

Documentation And Resources

• ACF online manual
• AMQP support
• ACF function library and examples
• Image functions
• Excel functions
• JSON data type
• Inter-package function calls
• Release notes
• HORNEKS website

The manual is the complete reference, but the examples are often the quickest way to discover the syntax for a particular task.

A Few Practical Notes

• Keep your .acf source files in version control. Compiled packages are deployment artifacts; the source is the maintainable version of your code.
• Compile dependencies before packages that reference them with the ACF use statement.
• Test filesystem, network, and platform-specific functions on every platform where the solution will run.
• FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server may use different paths, permissions, and available user-interface functions.
• Review Release-notes.md when upgrading, especially when deploying the same solution to several clients or servers.

Support And Licensing

License information and loaded ACF packages can be inspected through the plug-in's Configure button in FileMaker's plug-in settings.

For current documentation, licensing, downloads, and contact information, visit horneks.no.

Welcome to ACF. Start small, keep the source readable, and let the library grow with your FileMaker solution.