John Kamm

We have a client working on Win 2012 virtual servers, one is running FMS 15 the other is running FM Pro 15 in Terminal Services. Both instances are running on the same physical machine. In a script, the user will select a PDF file, approx 300K, and insert it into a container field configured for external storage. The process takes 30-60 seconds when hosted with (Not Responding) message showing at the top of the window. In single user mode, the process is instantaneous. Thoughts? Also, what does the setting to Optimize for interactive content do? I have this set for the PDFs. Does drag and drop work for container fields? Thanks, John

When pasting a Perform Script step which contains a call to a script in a file not open or linked to the current file, FileMaker locks up. Discovered on Win 7, machine. In FMA 14, the expected paste result is shown in the attached file.

Thanks, Lee. Replies can be directed to me at jkamm@tourtools.com.

We are an established vertical market application developer in need of additional programming assistance for the web portion of our solution. We customize each of our FileMaker and companion web site solutions to meet the needs of our clients. The web site architecture is based on a YII MVC design. Programmer should have knowledge of FileMaker PHP API, PHP, HTML, YII (or other MVC), Tortoise SVN and basic Windows server configuration. Ongoing work would be available, all work is remote to our development servers.

We have created a FM interface file that contains a master script to open the solution files and run a series of scripts in several of the solution files. The function of the scripts is to send emails with PDFs, some of which are existing, some of which need to be created and attached to the email. We want this to run on Windows Server 2012, Standard; we are using admin accounts in FileMaker as well as the server. We have scheduled a task in the Windows Task Scheduler to open the FileMaker file, which it does. The interface file is programmed to run the master script using the OnFirstWindowOpen script trigger. The master script is set to run with full privileges. Any PDFs created are stored in a directory on the C: drive. Permissions have been checked and double checked. The file opens but closes after about 30 seconds recording an error with the FileMaker viewsystem.dll file. Because the some of the scripts need to create PDFs, we can't run it server side. Any thoughts on why this is not working? Any suggestions for workarounds? We could possibly move the control file with master script to an idle workstation, the process runs around midnight but the client would prefer it run on the server. Thanks, John

We are storing .mp4 files in records which have a container field optimized for video. The FM file is hosted on FM12 server. The files insert correctly and the field transforms into a player but clicking play does nothing. The files are 4-8 MB. Deleteing the file, re-inserting it as a file (as opposed to a video) and then exporting the file with the the additional instruction to oepn upon export will successfully export, open the Quicktime player and play the file when the play button is clicked on the QT player. The workstation is XP sp3, FM Pro 12.v2. Am I missing any settings or plug-ins that are required for playback on Windows? What video format is recommend for storage and playback of videos on a Win system? Thanks, John

Working in FileMaker 12, Win. We have set up custom menus with limited choices and made it the default for all files. There are 9 files in the solution, hundreds of layouts and there are two accounts that I want to use the full menu set. I have created a script that checks the account name and runs a script with the install menu step as needed. Each file has a copy of this script. I have set the script to trigger on OnFirstWindowOpen and OnWindowOpen in the File Options menu. The change seems to stick for awhile. Entering find mode and performing a search seems to be one event that will cause it to switch back to the file default limited custom menu. I don't know all of the events that cause the menu set to revert. Is there any way to establish the menu set at login and make it persist throughout the session? Thanks, John Kamm

I have further determined that the loss of data in portal rows when sliding is on and the document is in preview mode is related to the fact that the TO for the portal is based on an external FileMaker Data Source. To test, I created a portion of the external file's fields in a new table in the same file as the parent record table and imported some data. Switching the portal to display the child records from the new TO from the same file as the parent record showed no loss of data. I found another issue related to creation of records in a layout based on a TO from an external file but I will report it separately. If your tables are in a single file, no worries. If you are utilizing any degree of data separation, there is reason for concern.

We converted one of our solutions to FM 12 from FM 11. There is a report layout with body records that contain a portal that can display 3 or 4 child records. The portal row contains 3 text fields. The layout objects are set to slide up and reduce the size of the enclosing part. The report has worked correctly FM 3-11. The problem is that the child records in the portal rows sometimes fail to display in preview mode. Some records display the child records in the portal, others display only the first record. The portals display correctly in browse mode as list view or form view, Remove sliding, they display correctly in preview. I have rebuild the portals on a new layout, enlarged them, exported the affected child data to Excel and reimported, nothing seems to help. I have exaggerated the space between the object borders to avoid overlap issue. some portal rows will not display in preview mode with sliding on. Suggestions?

We frequently need to rename a set of files by adding a prefix to the regular filenames. We do this to work on multiple copies of a system at a time. Adding a prefix to the original filenames using the rename utility works without a problem. Using Win FM 11.0v3 Adv. However, when we try to rename the set of files by removing the prefix to restore the original filenames, the process fails on most of the files. I end up going into the file and changing the external file references manually, removing the prefix from the file name and file path. Am I missing something in setting up the renaming process? Is there a trick? I have tried the process writing the renamed files to a new empty folder, to a folder with the original files, with overwrite selected and unselected (even though the new file names are always different). Suggestions?

Greetings. I don't believe this is a Windows version issue. If you look at the PDF file properties, Security tab you will see the Groups and User names who have permissions for the file. For some reason FM 11, using the Save As PDF button in the Status panel or the script step, creates files without a lower level users/groups. PDFs I created with Schubec plug-in have the lower level user group included. Obviously the permissions groups will vary from one system to another but you will find that if you add a lower level users group permission to your file, your readers will be able to open/delete it as you intend. FM 10 does add the lower level of permissions so PDFs created are accessible to others. Question is, what do we do about it? FM10 uses Adobe Library 8.0 v 1.6. FM11 uses the same library, v 1.8, if that helps anyone. Schubec uses Ghostscript.

We have a strange situation in FM 10 that we have not encountered in previous versions. Windows environment, server host, 25 users. A user logs in using an account that has restricted privileges – can view layouts but not edit; can create, edit and delete in some tables; run scripts; view lists, menu commands set to all. When the user runs a script to produce a multi-page document, the script pauses in preview mode for inspection but the page arrows are dimmed out and are inactive. The same report for a user with full privileges will pause with the page arrows enabled. A user who has the highest levels for data access and design but not the pre-defined full access privilege set has the arrows enabled. This is occurring for all the reports in the database. We have tried to run the script with it set to run with full privileges, arrows are still disabled. The are multiple databases in the solution and we have tried logging in as the restricted account, changing the file containing the report to a developer, full privilege account and still the arrows are disabled. Conversely, logging into the system under the full privilege account and then switching the report file to the restricted account will present the preview with the arrows enabled. My take away on this is that the problem is not entirely with the report file but it is related to privilege settings. Our client has been using the solution for 5 years so they are quite familiar with the way it works. They encountered the disabled arrows the first day that FM 10 was installed. Suggestions?

Try this: Open a file FileMaker 10. Open Task Manager, (Win XP 3) and click on Processes tab, select FileMaker process to watch CPU usage. In FM 10, locate simple layout with text field, click into field and start typing. Hour glass will appear and the key strokes will cease appearing. Cursor bar still shows in field but field does not respond to keyboard entry. Watch the CPUs, mine spike upwards to 98 or so. Click back in field and type. Hour glass will appear again in a few strokes and field looses focus. Clicking back in the field restores focus and enables entry but CPUs are still extremely high. Under File>File Options - spelling is set to show questionable spelling with underline but spell check while typing is off. Turning off "questionable" will allow more characters to be entered but did not seem to eliminate the problem. Tested in FM 9, CPUs stayed in range of 1 to 9, could not reproduce the hour glass, loss of focus problem.

Two clients, (multiple users, similar solutions) have reported this problem beginning a few weeks ago. We have FM 8, 8.5 and 9 users with this solution as well and so far, no report of this problem. A user will be typing in a field and the cursor will suddenly exit the field; subsequent keystrokes are not entered, no other field is selected. The user must click back into a field to resume entry. It is described as the keyboard freezing or the screen freezing but a click in a field or on a button seems to reestablish focus on the FM window. I don't believe it is a slow screen redraw issue because it can happen in a screen that has been open for a few minutes. There are no scripts on timers or script triggers that are being fired in the background. Both offices are running FM 10 v3, one is hosted with FM 10 v3, the other with FM Server 10. All workstations are Win XP SP3 and exhibiting this behavior. I am rolling back one workstation to FM 10 v2 to see if it is version related. Both clients upgraded to v3 some time ago so it seems unlikely that the behavior would appear several weeks after the upgrade. I am wondering if an application like Adobe Reader or Win OS was updated recently affecting FM in some way. Thoughts?

Is anyone using this combination in Windows? The developer's demo appears to work but I am looking for confirmation from someone using in a live environment.

An excellent suggestion. The core of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a group of 12 principles and accompanying requirements, around which the specific elements of the DSS are organized. As a software application developer, we are most concerned with requirements 3 and 4 regarding the storage and handling of cardholder data: Requirement 3: Protect stored cardholder data Requirement 4: Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks Cardholder data and authentication data are considered to be the primary account number (PAN), cardholder name, service code, expiration date, magnetic strip data, CVV (3 or 4 digit id) and PIN. Paraphrasing the requirements: Requirement 3.1 – cardholder data should be kept to a minimum and should be disposed of as soon as its business purpose has been fulfilled. Policy needs to be documented. Requirement 3.2 – do not store authentication data even if encrypted – magnetic strip, CVV. Requirement 3.3 - The PAN can be displayed but it should be masked (show last 4 digits) unless the viewer has a business reason to see the full number. Requirement 3.4 - The PAN can be stored if encrypted. Requirement 3.5 – Protect cryptographic keys. Requirement 3.6 – Document cryptographic policy and procedures, changes keys at least once a year. Requirement 4.1 – Encrypt data when transmitting over public networks (SSL) Requirement 4.2 – Never send unencrypted PANs by email, chat, etc. The complete requirements document is available here https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss.shtml In our solution we do not store the PAN or CVV or mag strip. We are using the VeriSign SDK to transmit the data, encrypted over SSL. It seems to me we are in compliance and I would like to have the solution certified as such but don’t want to pay VeriSign $35k to do it. Anyone have some suggestions?

Not sure where to put this so I will start here. Is anyone willing or able to discuss PCI_DSS issues? VeriSign quoted $35,000 for the certification process. Our application uses the VeriSign SDK and does not store the card number or CVV so the fee seems to be a bit excessive. Canadian gateways are requiring proof of compliance by Jan 1 2010. Has anyone heard that US gateways will follow suit? What are others doing in the spirit of PCI_DSS compliance? I hope we can have a frank discussion on these issues as they affect many of our FileMaker business solutions.

We are working through the issues of PCI compliance and need to add encryption to some of our fields. Question: If a literal string is included as part of a script step, like $key = "ASD87654", when the script is saved is that literal stored as clear text in the FileMaker file or is the script compiled somehow masking or converting the literal string to something that would not be recognizable? Same question for a function, is the function compiled so as to mask its contents? Or, in the context of the FileMaker file being read in a text editor, is this a non issue? The files are secured with a developer's account and users will not have access to the script editor, function editor or the field definitions. Perhaps more directly, for those of you using encryption, where is it safe to locate the key? How about in pre-7 systems, would the keys be in clear text in calculations or script steps when viewing the file in a text editor?