Syncronising 2 FileMaker Databases

[Dan Hawker]

Hi All,

Am creating a solution for a customer that has 2 locations, unfortunately one of the locations has no (and can't get it) broadband connectivity, so only dial-up is available.

I need to syncronise the two databases. Only the data will change, there won't be any additional tables or rows added at a later stage (o at least they won't be doing it).

Is there a way to do this from within FMP or do I need a 3rd party app??

Or is the best option to use FMP web connectivity and force the use of a web browser from the *far away* location???

Opinions/options gratefully received.

TIA

Dan

[BrentHedden]

This might be a lot of extra work, but it'll work. And, it won't be exactly "synchronized", but it's still better than nothing. It's a method that I "can up with" when web-based was/is not available.

Create a script that will export all of the records of all of the tables. You may have several files outputed. Then user A sends these file(s) to User B by email or simular method. User B deletes all records in all tables (another script to write) and then imports all of these files in. You can set all of this up with scripts, so the process is fairly easy for the user - just a few clicks. I recommend that the file(s) are hard-named so that each end knows and expects only certain files. It's also a good idea to have the "receiving" files places in the same directory each time, so the user doesn't have to direct the program where to look. I've found the root directory to be the best, easiest one.

You can even set it up to export/imort these files at a specified time and/or day to make it a bit more automatic, although this requires a plug-in.

Hopefully this helps. The only drawback to this is if either end doesn't "do their job" when information is added/changed.

[Dan Hawker]

Thanks for the reply Brent. Was thinking along those lines, but hoped for a more transparent option, although admittedly this way can be made more so with additional scripting/scheduling. Hoped for something akin to the way FM Mobile syncs on Palm OS.

Nevermind, will have a think and hope we can get broadband at some stage so that they can just use the same database. Will check out how often the second location will access the database and decide from there.

Thanks

Dan

[BrentHedden]

Without using FM Server, this is the only solution I've come up with. I suppose using a dial-up modem to connect to FM Server could work, but it would be more pain than it's worth, due to slow connection speeds and ALWAYS having a phone line tied up. Shoot, at the prices of additional phone lines now, it would be worth investing the money into some kind of broadband connection.