File sharing and access

[shoil]

We have two computers. Both of us have full accesss.

The filemaker files reside on my computer.

If I open the files first, my partner is allowed access.

When my partner opens the files first, I am not allowed access.

(I get the message that the files were not closed properly, etc.)

Is there any way around this?

[Ender]

You should definitely NOT be sharing a database with File Sharing. This will corrupt the databases. FileMaker databases should be hosted by one machine to be accessed by others.

[shoil]

I think I described the situation in correctly.

It's been working fine for a few years now.

Perhaps what I meant to say was "multiple users" are allowed.

[Ender]

Are the files being hosted from one computer only? The same computer in both cases?

[DanBrill]

Ender is dead right. Open the files on the central machine and then use the Open Hosts dialog to allow other computers to log on as guests to the database. What you are describing (using the standard windows file sharing) will work for a while, but can corrupt a file, and makes security much more difficult (like exposing yourself to ODBC hacks. Of course this may not be a huge issue in a 2 person office. )

[Steve T.]

Hi, shoil! Ender/Dan are right, but just FYI... whoever opens the file first becomes the "HOST" FileMaker server, regardless of where the file is actually stored. When your partner opens the db first, that computer becomes the HOST even though you are hosting the file from your computer. I think I had used the double-clicking Multi-user method back in FMP 2.1, but the corruption problem lead to the addition of the "HOSTS" button on the OPEN dialog box. FMP6 added OPEN REMOTE to take you there in one step. Since your computer must be on for the other system to access it anyway, you should probably host and leave FileMaker running in the background (you can HIDE it and the db window if you like, too). The ideal would be to have standalone 3rd computer you both connect to.

--ST