Using FMP Developer

[fbugeja]

I am a schoolteacher who has just created a database for the school I teach at in Australia. I used the standard version of FMP 7 to create the database.

Unfortunately, given that the Principal wants the database to run on all school computers, the use of the database has been put on hold as the cost of obtaining licences for the standard version of FMP7 is prohibitively expensive, amounting to $A4000 ($A1=$US0.75) annually. Quite an expense for one piece of sofware.

QUERY: If I run the database through FMP7 Developer, and create a runtime version of my database and place it on the school's server for all to access, would this solve my problem of making the database available to all? This would mean that FMP7 Standard would not need to be installed on all the school's computers but are there other issues involved? I assume that the database could only be accessed once at a time (ie 2 or more people could not be using the database at the same time) but I suppose that we could live with that.

Interested in your responses

Frank Bugeja

[Reed]

Runtimes created using FM Dev. would be accessible to anyone allowed to download the file, but runtimes cannot be networked to a central database... they are standalone entities. So if the database is to be set up as something that users can only read from and not add or edit data, then you could distribute runtimes, and then direct people to download updated file(s) when you make changes.

Another option is to share your database via the web, using instant web publishing. Then users can access your database with a browser. This has worked well for me with my scheduling database. With plain FMP, you can only share to 5 simultaneous users, but this hasn't been a problem for me with >100 total users of the schedule. FM Server Advanced can increase this to 100 concurrent users ($1250 USD edu price)

[fbugeja]

Thanks Reed for your response.

What I had in mind was to have only one copy of the runtime database on the server that could be accessed by any computer connected to the server (which, at our school, is all computers), with the ability of any teacher to open the database to search the database and/or enter data - even if it means that it could only be accessed once at a time (ie 2 or more people could not be using the database at the same time).

Does this still seem possible?

Frank

[Ender]

You should not attempt to share your database like this, as it invites corruption.

[Reed]

I agree with Ender, you shouldn't access a file using OS file sharing. I still think that IWP would be your best option. You could deploy your solution with minimal changes.... assuming it doesn't rely on a lot of integration via applescript, plugins, etc.

If you opt to distribute runtimes that users will make changes to, you will have to deal with synchronizing the runtimes with some central database file.

[fbugeja]

The file will be running under Windows XP Professional at school - even though much of the development has taken place on my eMac at home.

Ender, is the corruption issue a big problem? Our IT Co-ordinator backs up all files every day.

Frank

[fbugeja]

Reed and Ender - thanks for your replies. One query. In using IWP as a means of making the database available to all, is it better to make the file standalone via FMP7 Developer, or stick to the file created in standard FMP7?

Frank

PS: Happy New Year to all of you!

[Reed]

You don't need Developer to use IWP to share your DB via the web. You just need to open the file with a copy of Filemaker Pro, turn on instant web publishing, and people can connect to your file(s) by typing in your IP address (or name) in a browser.

The runtimes created with developer can't act as IWP hosts... you need filemaker pro. But only one copy.....

[Ender]

Ender, is the corruption issue a big problem? Our IT Co-ordinator backs up all files every day.

I'd say corruption is a big issue. And backing up corrupted files will only get you corrupted backups.

[fbugeja]

Point taken, Ender. Yesterday, I got stuck into IWP and discovered how easy it is (so far). Even though many script steps (such as Show Custom Dialog, etc) don't work with IWP necessitating some rewriting of scripts, the only problem I've had so far is that some buttons don't work in IWP mode - even after checking that their scripts are web-friendly. This is something to work on!

Again to all who have helped, thanks and a happy New Year!

Frank