I have a list of 2500 Last names and I want to compare that list with the text on 70 websites to see if any of the last names come up. Is there a way to do this in FMPro? I have FMPro 8 and I know how to write the script that would loop through the names, but I don't know how to open the URL and then initiate a search on the website. Is this even possible using FMPro? If not, is there any kind of plugin that would allow me to do this?

Thanks for any ideas you can offer.
Julie

Well you can run a search on the web sites by using FileMaker's Open URL() script step or button action. Both of these will let you assemble a URL from a calculation so that you can include the contact's name in your search request. Providing that you can take apart the search url's used by each site you should be able to use FileMaker calcs to replicate those search urls with your contacts' criteria.

This, however, would just open a web page for you to look at. If you want FileMaker to "look at" the web page and see if the last name is listed, you'll need a plugin like Troi's URLPlugin. This will let you bring the contents of the web site into FileMaker where you can use PatternCount() and other functions to look for your contact's listing, recognize failed searches, etc.

Troi URL will work. Thanks so much!
Julie