Hey All,

I'm not entirely sure if this quesiton belongs in this category of questions, but I get the feeling that it's somewhat related...

I have made a database for my company; this database is comprised of about 9 files, all placed in one folder. Many of the 9 files are related to one-another using relationships'n whatnot... e.g. one of the files generates an invoicing-report which pulls-in information from a couple of the other files.

Soon, my boss wants me to move the entire database onto a common server so that everyone in the company can have access to the database from different places. My question is, when I transfer this folder (full of all these inter-related files) to another location, will all my files/reports get messed up? Once, I changed the name (not the location) of a certain file and, logically, all the files that were related to it got a little messed up because the file that they were linked to was "missing." Will i get a similar problem by moving the location of all these files to another place?

This may be a dumb question; if it is, sorry... but I really want to be totally sure before I go ahead and move all this stuff to the server. It would be a NIGHTMARE if, after having transferred the files, I found that none of the reports were properly reading-in information from the different files anymore and i had to go back and figure out WHICH field was related to WHICH file using WHICH relationship?

Thanks,

Me

You are correct, if you change the name of a file by simply renaming it in your OS, the relationships will get corrupted. If you need to rename files that are related, you will need to use a utility that is part of FileMaker Developer. The utility will rename the files and reestablish your relationships.

However, back to your original question. If you are only transferring the files without changing any file names, you should be fine. For organizational purposes, it is usually best to house your entire solution within one folder. Transfer the entire folder to your server, be sure to turn on sharing on all of the files and everyone on your network can connect remotely. This is one of the great things about Filemaker. Develop your solution on one computer and transfer it to another, it goes seamlessly between FMP client, developer, unlimited, server, Mac and Windows (there are a few caveats to transfer between Mac and Windows but for the most part it is seamless).

Yes, you should have no problems with moving your folder. However, you (and your boss) should be aware that putting FileMaker "shared" files on a regular "server" machine is very dangerous.

According to FileMaker the entire machine should have the operating system file sharing off. Some people just turn sharing off for the folder the FileMaker files are in. This is relatively better, but according to experts (Jimmy Jones of FileMaker), it still has some risk if ANY part of the file path to the files is shared (as it would be unless you put the FileMaker files on another partition or drive).

FileMaker has its own file sharing. That's why you don't have to find the actual file through its path to open a remote file. You just choose Open Remote and the file(s) are there (they have to open on the "server" first).

If FileMaker and the operating system access the file at the same time, a conflict can occur and damage can be done. This, BTW, can also happen with file access operations such as automatic virus scanning and indexing, another reason to use a dedicated machine.

The problem is that the FileMaker files will appear to work fine even if you share their folder. This is kind of like playing Russian roulette with a 10,000-shooter. It seems safe for a while, but eventually something's going to go wrong, and it could be fatal.