Linked images don't display with FM Server

[Piotr]

I have a large database with about 13,000 images. Each image is linked to, and not embedded into a record. These images do not display if the database is served via FM Server. They show up fine if the database is opened using regular FM, or on the web if served with FM Unlimited. Does anybody know why and if there is a solution to this problem?

[bbaliner]

put the images in the same folder as the databases are on the server.

[Piotr]

The images are in the same folder as the database. The problem is that the database served with FM Server behaves as if the images were linked using absolute rather than relative paths (relative paths were used.)

[Kurt Knippel]

What you need to do is to treat the graphics like web graphics and stick them in some common location, which all users have the same access to. THEN import the images into Filemaker, which now will look for them in that common location.

[dkemme]

Or you can use a plug in to move the pictures to a folder, then paste a reference to them into the database, and place a copy of the folder with the pictures on each machine within the FMP folder. I use this technique to keep the overall size of my database that many users put pictures into down.

[Piotr]

Maybe I am not explaining my problem clearly, let me rephrase it. I have a database that resides in the same folder as FM Server application. One of the files (tables) has records, each of which has a link to an image file, i.e., each image has been imported as a link and not embedded into the record. The folder with all the images resides within the same folder as the database, i.e. the FM Server folder. If the database is opened directly in FM (i.e., not as remote database from a host) the images appear normally. If the same database is opened as a remote database from the FM Server host they do not. This happens on both the same computer on which the database resides and other guest computers. The relative path of images to the FM file has not been changed but the images fail to display. The question is, what happens to the file path between the FM table and the linked image if the database is served through FM Server?

[Kurt Knippel]

The PATH in question is NOT from the database file to the picture files, but from the computer OPENING the database to the picture file.

Where the picture resides relative to the actual database has no bearing. It is only the relationship between the computer and the pictures.

[kennedy]

The relative path of images to the FM file has not been changed but the images fail to display. The question is, what happens to the file path between the FM table and the linked image if the database is served through FM Server?

First, note that the FM Server directory should NOT be accessible by any other computer than the host computer. Only the FM Server process should have access to that physical directory. All other processes should access the data via the FM Server's network interface.

When FM Server serves up a set of files, it does not serve up the physical directory... rather, it serves up the files in "network world". Given FM Server isn't going to tell its clients where the files are (they shouldn't be accessible anyway), it makes no sense to have relative links to other files. Hope that clarifies the problem.

You need to:

1) Make your FM Server directory, and all the files in it, not accessible to anything other than the host FMS process and computer.

2) Move your linked image files out of that directory and put them in a directory that is accessible to all computers, and specify the links from root (not relative).

If you choose not to take the advice in #1 above, #2 degenerates to simply making your links non-relative... use a pathname that works on all computers.

HTH.

[Nick G.]

I have the same problem as Piotr: FM Server on Win2000 box, 10 Win Clients, 1 MacOS X client, I need to store some images on a DB on the server but I want just to store the reference to the image file.

I can set up a special SMB share accessible from the Win machines and the Mac machine so every client should be able to find the actual image file following the path stored on the DB, let's call this share "Image_Share".

I understand that in the actual DB is stored only the path relative to client inserting the image so if I insert from the MacOS X machine the path stored on the FM server would be:

/Volumes/Image_Share/img001.jpg

This path makes no sense to the Win machines, cause they're expecting something like:

//Image_Share/img001.jpg

So, here comes the question: how can I translate the two different paths? Is there a way to manipulate the stored Reference to the image file in FileMaker? I could use Applescript and a double container field (1 mac, 1 win) but that would break the crossplatform scheme and I would be forced to insert the images only from the mac machine.

They gave us a better support for images vith version 6 of FM but the real problem remains: there's no way to alter the reference between an external file from within FM scripting, you can import it in a field if you use Folder Import but then again is useless cause you can't change it.

PS

Please don't tell me to use some plugin, there are some really good ones (Troi Files Pl., etc.) but this should really be something built into FM itself.

Nick