Can you or how would you have a dynamic file name in a Save As script step? Currently my db is backed up daily to the same named file. I've come to realize this is REALLY NOT a good way to do things. If My back up is corrupted it is my only copy. So I would like to save a copy of my files with a changing file name e.g. contacts942007.fp7; contacts952007.fp7, etc.

Any ideas, suggestions.

Thanks.

Firstly you should really be using FileMaker Server. If you are, the Save a Copy As command is disabled because FMS is responsible for backing up the files.

Read more in Wim's excellent document:

www.connectingdata.com/MoreBackups_v2.pdf

Thanks Vaughn:

However, this is a stand alone app or a runtime app. I don't have fmServer. That's my next thing when I have an extra couple of thou to spend. :

Any other ideas?

I just bought a 500 gb USB drive. My LAN Server went last week. Both HD's are being replaced. I also lost my dev server, my WAN Server and my SQL server in the last month. It was time they were all about 6 - 7 years+ old. That's the fun of living in the TampaBay area of Florida. "The lightning capital of the world!" We call it "fireworks by God. :)"

Fortunately I had backUps, but, that's what got me to thinking about my fm files.

What I've just done, today, is set up a global field to hold the DayName. I then created 7 folders for each day of the week. So I made a script with 7 If statements. I was hoping there was a more elegant way to do this.

TIA

You declare your filepath as a variable using Set Variable.

It depends on where you save the backups and your OS, but, for example you can:

Set Variable [$filepath;Left( Get(FilePath); Length( Get (FilePath)) - 4) & Right(0 & Month(Get(CurrentDate));2) & "_" & Right(0 & Day(Get(CurrentDate));2) & "_" & Year(Get(CurrentDate)) & ".fp7"]

Then when you specify an output file for the Save As, you put in $filepath.

Save as a Copy[$filepath;compacted]

Gives you a file named "filename_09_04_2007.fp7" in the same folder as the file.

I'm developing something in FM7 and have been trying to use a similar "Save As filename scheme" to archive my own backups as I develop the database.

I am assigning the path/filename to a global field. But, it won't recognize the field name when I use the field in the Save As script output. ....can I do this with a field or does the Save As only accept $Variables (of course only being available in FM8 and above)?