Can anyone tell me how to perform an unattended backup on an open file using Filemaker 8 Advance? We run a small peer to peer network and would like to perform automatic backups at night without “manually” opening and closing the file. Is this possible and what would be the best approach?

The full FM Server has this built in of course but maybe you can consider using the Task Scheduler to:

Close the files

(wait 10 minutes to automatically logoff any connected users)

Run a batch file to copy the files

(wait 5 minutes)

Re-open the files

The full FM Server has this built in of course but maybe you can consider using the Task Scheduler to:

Close the files

(wait 10 minutes to automatically logoff any connected users)

Run a batch file to copy the files

(wait 5 minutes)

Re-open the files

You'll need a VBscript routine to make this reliable. A batch file will not be enough. Check out the FM help file, search for "ActiveX".

The VBscript will first check to see what files are open, close them, back the files up, then open the files that were open again. You can have the VBscript write to the event log with any info and errors.

A better solution of course would be to use FileMaker Server and take live backups.