File Maintenence command in Developer

[Vaughan]

I just noticed a "File Maintenance" command in FMDev 7 (File menu). It appears to do the equivalent of compressed copy without having to muck around with renaming files etc.

I just tried it and in about 2 seconds it reduced a 5.7 MB file to 4.6 MB.

Now to work out how to share a file, the Sharing command has gone...

Version: Developer v7

Platform: Mac OS X Jaguar

[Vaughan]

Hang on, the Sharing command has moved to the FileMaker Pro menu.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Remember to enable the Extended Privilege fmapp in order to have a multiuser file.

Steven

[CobaltSky]

Vaughan said:

appears to do the equivalent of compressed copy without having to muck around with renaming files etc.

I recall from the documentation that it does more than the 'save as compressed copy' command. If you choose the 'Compact File' option, I gather it is pretty much the same as saving compressed, but if you choose the 'Optimize File' option as well or instead, it also rebuilds the file's structure to group the data into logically related sectors with a view to minimizing i/o access times. The database equivalent of defragmenting a HD.

But get this. You can (apparently) run the maintenance routine (including with the optimize option) on a file while it is being hosted. I haven't tried it yet (doesn't seem much point until Server is releaased...) but it sure got my attention when I read that.

[Vaughan]

I have got FM Dev 7 hosting a multi-table file on one machine, and have opened the file in FMP 7 running on another machine as a guest. The hosted file can indeed be compacted and optimised while it is being used without dropping guests.

All in MacOS X 10.2.8, 7.0v1.

[CobaltSky]

Hi Vaughan,

Tested it myself this morning. Very cool!