[FX.php List] New to FX: A few basic questions

[Vision Computer Consulting]

1. I was a lasso programmer who has been doing PHP/MySQL for the last  
4 years, but I remember that we created a layout that had all fields  
on it to make them accessible to lasso. What I have noticed is that,  
unless the related field is on the layout you are accessing, data in  
that field can't be retrieved. I know that in recent versions of  
Filemaker one can grab data from many layers of related layouts.

That is a long way of asking whether the field you are retrieving  
data from has to be on the layout you specify in SetDBData?

2. Is data entry FM session based or transaction based?

3. I am using PHP to do data validation (especially  date and time).  
Any hints on how to format date and time in such a way that FM won't  
throw and error? How do I setup Filemaker to best accept date and  
time information?

4. Is it a good idea to run FM scripts from FX? If so, any  
suggestions on when it might appropriate to use FX to run an FM script?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Stephen Calia