Creating a solution > Working with plug-ins > Creating custom plug-ins
 
Creating custom plug-ins
If you are a C or C++ programmer and familiar with calculations and scripts in FileMaker Pro, you can create plug-ins that extend the feature set of the FileMaker application. The plug-ins can take advantage of recursion and looping, or hook into other programming interfaces. To create a custom plug-in, you will need the FileMaker plug-in SDK available on the FileMaker website.
To use plug-ins, FileMaker Pro users need to allow solution files to install and enable plug-ins. For FileMaker Server-hosted files, the server administrator needs to allow the Install Plug-In File script step to update FileMaker Server plug-ins in FileMaker Server Admin Console.
To prepare your custom plug-ins:
1. Using C or C++, create a plug-in file.
Windows: The plug-in extension must be .fmx (32-bit FileMaker Pro) or .fmx64 (64-bit FileMaker Pro).
macOS: The plug-in extension must be .fmplugin.
2. Compile and test the plug-in.
3. Install the compiled plug-in file in a container field in your FileMaker solution. See Installing plug-ins.
4. (optional) Set up the solution file to check the version of installed plug-ins and update them if needed. See Updating plug-ins.
To make plug-ins available in a file, users need to:
1. Enable and configure plug-ins in the Preferences dialog box in FileMaker Pro. See Setting plug-in preferences.
2. (optional) Select Allow Solutions to Install Files in the plug-in preferences to have plug-in updates installed automatically. See Updating plug-ins.
3. Do one of the following:
To use a function provided by the plug-in, sort the list of functions in the Specify Calculation dialog box by type. Under the name of the plug-in, choose a function.
To use a script step provided by the plug-in, sort the list of script steps in the Script Workspace by category. Under the name of the plug-in, choose a script step.
Notes 
For security reasons, system administrators might require users to disable Allow Solutions to Install Files. Contact the system administrator at your customer site for more information.
Related topics 
Get(InstalledFMPlugins)