i've got an image database for multi-users..cross platform...(fmpro 5.5, windows xp, mac os x)

I thought i would create a step for users to easily locate and open and manipulate the actual image they want to work on by having a button that opens the url of the image on my shared windows drive...and then save the image to their computer...

it works fine on windows...but the open url does not work on mac...

Does anyone know how to access from windows shared drive on the mac via web browser... I have mounted the drive on the mac desktop...i have tried typing in the ip address in the web browser address window rather than the shared drive name...as well as other things...

any help would be appreciated...

Tell me, stupid question, but can you access the image outside of FMP? I mean, is the network between the Win and Mac machines actually working correctly? Are the machines in the same network, or when you say URL, do you really mean over the Internet? Remember that FMP uses it

I have a feeling that the problem you are having stems from the fact that the file path (and similarly, the file URL syntax) is not the same for Windows and MacOS.

A URL that works on a Windows machine, viz:

H:MyDocumentsFunStuffDaydreamsShoppingList.jpg

has to look more like:

file:///SharedDriveName/MyDocuments/FunStuff/Daydreams/ShoppingList.jpg

to locate an equivalent file path from the browser on a Macintosh.

Since you've said that you have been able to mount the shared windows drive on the mac desktop, the files must be accessible, and all you should need to do is ensure that when your solution is on the Mac platform, it uses an appropriate URL path syntax.

Since your Open URL procedure will involve a script step, I suggest that you either:

1. Add an If step to your script, with the formula: Abs(Status(CurrentPlatform)) = 1 to check whether you are on windows, then include an Elseprocedure which uses an alternative URL for the Mac, or

2. Create an unstored calculating field which uses a formula along the lines of: Case(Abs(Status(CurrentPlatform)) = 1, URLforWindows, URLforMacOS) where you use an appropriate combination text and substitution functions to convert the path into the appropriate format (in place of the "URLforPlatform" placeholders I've included) depending on what method you are using or would like to use to specify the path.

Why not use the IP address of the machine as the first part of your URL, or possibly locate the files in your web server (assuming you have one) and use DNS to resolve ?

It says in David Pogue's review (and he oughta know) that the new "Jaguar", aka MacOS 10.2, has vastly improved cross-platform networking transparency. Perhaps this might solve the problem?