Using FM Pro over the Internet

[Stormin]

Hi,

I'm new to FM Pro having just purchased it. My business partner has a copy of the Mac version 6 and I have the Windows version 6. We want to share a common database with one another that we can both access and update from our separate locations. We both have broadband and we also have a domain that is hosted.

I've read about sharing files over a network but it appears that only works for a LAN and we don't want to use the Web Publishing option.

Can someone steer me in the right direction and let me know what the best option(s) are for us? Thanks very much.

Cheers,

Carl

[BobWeaver]

You can do it but you have to be careful how you implement it or it will be painfully slow. The machine where the files are hosted should have a static IP address.

You need to minimize the amount of data sent over the internet. You will find a lot of useful advice in the connectivity forum, but here are a few tips:

-Set a default startup layout with no fields on it and a minimum of graphics.

-Have a startup script that limits the number of records in the found set to just a handful (or less) and does not sort them .

-Design the layouts to use a minimum of graphics.

-Design your normal working layouts to show no more information than is absolutely necessary.

The point of all this is to minimize the network traffic.

You can also set up the system so that you have a "front end" file (with all your fancy graphic intensive layouts) on each user's machine that accesses the "data" file (containing all the actual record data) remotely. Doing is this way, the internet traffic is limited to actual data records.

Good luck!

[Anatoli]

RE: I've read about sharing files over a network but it appears that only works for a LAN

Internet *is* like Lan or Wan for FileMaker. No difference. Research more about security. The build in security in FM is almost nonexistent.

Bob summarized everything nicely