Error code from online registration

[iMarcW]

I've used FMP Unlimited 6 to process convention registrations online for a few years now, and aside from the usual FMPU crashing (which I wrote an AppleScript to check for and restart--I posted it here in the forums), it works pretty well, registering well over 1,000 groups of people in a year's time, including up to 50-75 people a day at our peak.

But there are always a handful of people--I'd say 1 to 5 percent, although I'm sure I don't hear from all of them--who insist that it doesn't work for them. Most of them seem to use Macs (which is what I use), and the ones I can get to cooperate with me say they've tried more than one browser on their computer and gotten the same result. Finally, someone has notified me that they get this message when they click the submit button on the form:

In safari, the message is:

[image:261004_93702_0.png]

In Internet Explorer, it tries to submit, works for about 30 - 45 seconds and then this message:

[image:261004_93731_1.png]

This is interesting to me, because a) I don't have PNG image files anywhere on my Web site, and : I didn't know FileMaker used them either. Note that the image names are slightly different for each browser. Do you think FileMaker is generating this, or is her network or ISP blocking FileMaker-type traffic somehow?

I would love to be able to execute a test to see if a person can submit information successfully before they go to the trouble of filling out the whole long form.

[iMarcW]

I just realized that the file names are time coded--26-10-04, etc. That's why they're different.

[Steve T.]

Howdy! This is the first I've heard about any .png files before, but I've heard of other folks having trouble if the FM site is not serving on :80, e.g. :591. But I assume you are on port 80 so I wouldn't think an ISP would block regular web traffic. It's possible those users are using proxy servers for web content and that's somehow interfering, but it'd be interesting to see if it is specific to your site or not. If you know of any other FM-driven sites, you can ask them to check to see if they get the same errors there as well.

Hmm.. convention registrations are probably -new actions... I wonder if -find actions would work okay...

If -find gives the same error, you can use an intro/splash page (meta refresh) to use FM strings in the URL to bring them to the correct signup page if they are FM-friendly or to your error page if they are not... or you can use FM-url links to do that, too. Lastly, you can create the record and perform the -new before the user fills out the form; the problem with that is that you end up with a lot of blank/false entries from peepers who just want to see what the form is like before completing it (or change their mind).

Hope this helps w/ideas!

--ST

[iMarcW]

Non-standard port numbers--that's a good lead. I'm actually using 5591 instead of 591 because FM takes you through that permissions bit where they authorize the use of 591 on your Mac (apparently any port below 1024 has to be opened via root or something), and half the time it doesn't work, so I just worked around it that way.

Yeah, one way I thought of to test the user's connection before they fill out the form is to put the actual form page in the FM Web folder and use an FMU URL to get there. Right now it's in the regular Web site folder and their first real contact with FM is when they click Submit. Just like what you said. I'll have to try that.

Thanks!

[iMarcW]

Update--it was the port numbers.

The thing is, I'm running FMU and the WebSTAR web server on the same computer (I know you're not supposed to, but when I moved FMU to another computer, it crashed just as much, so what's the difference?), so I couldn't assign port 80 to FMU. But since I do run WebSTAR, I can use their proxy redirect function to run any FM form submissions through port 80 with a URL substitution that points to the real FMU (0.0.0.0:5581/FMPro) URL. It works like a charm.

I know that doesn't help people who aren't running WebSTAR, but at least we know that it's important to stay on port 80 for maximum compatibility.

[Steve T.]

Howdy, folks! Another port folks can use if :80 is already in use is :8080. :591 may be blocked by some folks (or many other ports blocked, too) but :8080 is officially designated as an ALTERNATE WEB PORT so ISP's and folks may hesitate in blocking it. I don't know so, but if I were trying to lock down as many ports as possible except the bare minimum, I might leave :8080 open.

--ST