Another Shell script problem

[kristel]

Hello everyone,

I have this filemaker script which needs to run in the background once a day. Since I purchased Filemaker server 8, I thought I would be able to schedule it but unfortunately I understood that Filemaker Server only runs "shell scripts". I have absolutely no idea what a shell script is and was wondering if someone could help set it up.

I should probably just say: open file "TTM bookings" in Filemaker pro 8 and perform script "export all icals for all artists"...

I tried to check the net for examples, but I am afraid it is like chinese for me.

thank you in advance.

[Reed]

You should definitely not run a script which does this on your server machine, as opening a local file with FMP while it's being hosted is going to cause corruption. You'll have to use open remote... to open the file (preferably from another computer), then run the script.

[Fenton]

I agree with Reed. Exports happen from a client machine. So what you'd be doing is setting one of your client machines to run this at a certain time. It is not going to run "in the background" however, and might be disconcerting if it started happening while someone was using the machine.

As far as scheduling it, there are several tools. Two fairly easy ones would be iCal, another free app named CronniX. They could then run an AppleScript that called the FileMaker script, with: do script FileMaker script "the script name".

You'd want to test first that the file is open, and say where to put the export file (this is pretty easy in 8), etc..

Of course, if it's your machine, you could just run the FileMaker script yourself instead.

[kristel]

Mmm, disappointing to hear that it will not be happening in the background, as it is a pretty long script. And we won't be able to work in the meanwhile.

But I do not understand what's the scheduling function of FMserver is for then... only backup and sending messages to client ?

Thank you anyhow for advices :)

[Reed]

If you have a volume license for filemaker pro, you can use the fast-user switching feature of OS X or Win XP to be connected twice via the same client machine. You can set up your "background" account to always stay connected and to run your scheduled script while you work in the other account. As long as you have sufficient RAM, CPU, and network bandwidth, you shouldn't really notice any slowdown.

[kristel]

Ok, good tip.

I already read once someone talk about this, but did not take time to try it yet.

Thank you !