Part 2: Sending SMS Messages from FileMaker using Apple Shortcuts

I wasn’t totally satisfied with the results of my FileMaker to SMS demo blog post. It didn’t seem right to be able to generate a message, but not send it. I started to think about alternate methods and Apple Shortcuts came to mind.

I found a number of articles discussing how to get FileMaker data with Apple Shortcuts. A few versions of FileMaker Go back, Claris started offering access to Apple Shortcuts by ‘donating’ scripts. These are setups where another app, or even Siri can run a FileMaker script. So effectively you are getting result from FileMaker from outside the database.

• Claris: Using the Shortcuts app with FileMaker Pro
• Beezwax: iOS Shortcuts to the FileMaker Data API
• Sound Essentials: FileMaker Go: Use Siri Shortcuts to Open A Database File Handsfree

I couldn’t find any articles about going outbound from FileMaker to Apple Shortcuts. (later I found this Youtube video called Filemaker Go 19 and Shortcuts Resize Photo that documents the outbound procedure with a Shortcut called from within FileMaker that resizes photos as the example.) It turns out that Apple’s Shortcuts app support a url scheme, called ‘shortcuts://’ and it behaves similarly to the ‘tel://’ or ‘sms://’ url schemes that I employed in my recent FileMaker to SMS demo. The final step in the process is to build a Shortcut at the other end that takes the two fields from FileMaker and sends them to the Messages app.

Here is the script I used:

The screenshot below is the Apple Shortcut that the FileMaker script calls. I am relatively new to Shortcuts, so forgive me if I have done things wrong. It seems to work though, with the exception of a text message with a ‘/’ at the end. If anyone knows how to get rid of this, please let me know and I can update the demo file.

I have embedded this script into the demo database, so you can save some time typing it out if you like. It is always a good idea to review what is in a Shortcut before you import it.

Again, I hope you find this useful. The whole idea of sending things out from FileMaker Go and Pro, now with Shortcuts running on Mac OS, seems like an exciting area for development.

See also:

See also

Part 1: Sending SMS Messages from FileMaker

Part 3: Sending SMS from FileMaker with AppleScript

Dialing for Dollars – Getting FileMaker to Call or Text to an iPhone, Skype, Facetime or Zoom