IWP could not be started: one cure to share

[MorFologist]

FM Support site only talks about this being a problem on Leopard, but I had it occur on Tiger after a crash.

Problem / Error:

FileMaker cannot share files over the Web because Instant Web Publishing could not be started

(or freezing completely when clicking IWP On)

Cure / Fix / Solution:

Delete web.prefs from within FileMaker; Extensions; Web Support

Hope this saves someone a headache someday by showing up in a web search.

[dschaal]

This didn't help my situation. I was just moved to Leopard.....tech people did it not me.

I have downloaded the FM 8.5v2. And I am still getting the FM cannot share files over the Web because IWP could not be started message.

I removed the web.prefs file. Rebooted. And it didn't help. Any other suggestions?

Donna

[MorFologist]

My post was specific to FM9 (9.0.3). It appears you may be out of luck:

Note that the Instant Web Publishing (IWP) feature does not work in FileMaker Pro 8.5v2 or FileMaker Pro 8.5v2 Advanced running on Mac OS X Leopard. The IWP feature in FileMaker Pro 8.5 was designed and implemented long before Leopard, and it is not feasible to update it for Leopard. http://filemaker.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/filemaker.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=6703

[Michael Woerner]

Hi,

I have worked out a (clumsy) workaround for this problem. The problem "file" lives in the package contents of the "FM Web Publishing" program in "Web Support" in "Extensions" in the FileMaker Program file.

Delete FileMaker, reinstall, make a copy of "FM Web Publishing" BEFORE starting FileMaker for the first time & then start FileMaker.

IWP should work as intended UNTIL you quit the program.

The next time you start FM it will give you the IWP error message UNLESS you replace the "used" copy of "FM Web Publishing" with your duplicate copy (Make sure you chop off the "copy" part of the name).

Like I said, it's clumsy but it works.

The actual problem is with one of the "invisible" files. If you right-click on "FM Web Publishing" & select "Show Package Contents" you will see a folder called "MacOS" & in there lurks the problem. It is called "FM Web Publishing" & is a Unix file.

Why FileMaker have not been able to figure this out & fix is beyond me.

Hope this helps!

Edited October 16, 2008 by Guest

[Michael Woerner]

Have played around with this some more & have created an Automator Workflow that deletes the "corrupted" file, replaces it with a new copy before launching FileMaker. Works like a charm as I can once again allow my staff access to the database via the web.

[Kris Coppieters]

I've devised a fix that allows me to use FileMaker 7 IWP on Leopard. The same recipe will probably also work for FileMaker 8.x.

More info in my blog post:

http://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/?p=36

Hope this is useful!

Cheers,

Kris

[Michael Woerner]

Hi Kris,

Thanks for the alternative & the link to your detailed instructions on your blog.

Have tried this with FMP 8.5 but the package contents are different & I can't actually edit the "WebPublishing" executable with HexEdit.

Anybody else tried this?

Thanks

Michael

[Kris Coppieters]

Hi Michael,

Just tried it with FM 8.5 - it works fine. You might be looking at a permission issue - the FM Web Publishing file becomes 'owned' by root after you've run FileMaker a first time.

If that's the case, you need to first put the owner and permissions back before attempting to edit it.

I've added some more notes to my blog post which covers a faster way to do the patching, and how to reset those permissions if you're at loss how to do that.

Look at the end of

http://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/?p=36

Cheers,

Kris

[Michael Woerner]

Hi Kris,

Have tried & as is usually the case for me it failed to work.

There are a few areas I'm confused by:

1. In your Terminal window the dragged file path ends with MacOS/ but mine ends with MacOS/FM Web Publishing if I drag the FM WebPublishing.app into the Terminal window .

2. Do I make the same file path changes to the above executable?

I'm also having problems with including tab in Terminal, I keep getting the error beep.

I'm really out of my depth here as I have never mucked around with HexEdit or similar but I'm also deeply frustrated & annoyed by FileMaker's inability to fix this - not even in Version 9!!

Thanks for your patience

Michael

[Kris Coppieters]

Hi Michael,

Not sure - I'll take a stab...

First of all, the Terminal window you see in my screen capture in the post is what you get AFTER all the keystrokes (i.e.

backspace / C tab M tab return

) - the 'MacOS' you see has appeared there as a result of the 'M' 'tab' keystrokes.

If you drag you first end up with '...FM Web Publishing.app ' in the terminal window - with an additional trailing space.

The first keystroke is to remove that space - it mucks up things. You MUST get rid of that space or it won't work.

Then the followed by a makes 'Contents/' appear. Then the followed by a makes 'MacOS/' appear. You really need to enter the keystrokes exactly as shown - no leeway here at all.

Don't type any < or > that are shown - I simply use these as 'embellishments' to delineate keystrokes - i.e. means 'Press the tab key' - it does _not_ mean 'press less than then tab then greater than'

I think you possibly might be dragging the wrong icon into the Terminal window. There are two icons that seemingly carry the same name - FM Web Publishing

There is the package, which is actually called 'FM Web Publishing.app' but shown as 'FM Web Publishing', and there is the Mac OS Binary executable embedded inside that is also called 'FM Web Publishing'.

You need to drag the package icon, not the embedded file by the same name. The icon you drag to the Terminal window needs to reside in the folder 'Web Support'. Don't drag the other one.

That's about all I can think of right now...

Cheers,

Kris

Edited November 6, 2008 by Guest

[Michael Woerner]

Hi Kris,

Many, many thanks for your perserverance & patience.

It works now BUT only once. After I quit FMP 8.5 & relaunch I'm back to square one. If I then do the Terminal magic i.e. resetting the permissions it works again. How can I make it stick?

Thanks

Michael

[Kris Coppieters]

Hi Michael,

That sounds like you have not patched the file 'FM Web Publishing' yet - if you reset the permission without (properly) doing, that's what would happen.

After you change the owner and permissions, you MUST patch the file, and then also patch all the libraries in /Library/Frameworks/FMFramewrk

Double-check with your hex editor - there should be no more references to '@executable' in the files - and you SHOULD see references to /Library/Frameworks/FMFramewrk/... in the files.

Cheers,

Kris

[Michael Woerner]

Hi Kris,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I did everything from scratch & had the promised success. Once again thank you for your time & patience.

Do you think this would work with the Windows version as I am getting the same message when I run FMP under VMWare.

Cheers

Michael

[Oyseka]

Hi, I have had the same problem with FMP Advanced 9.03 but when I try to copy or duplicate the folder I get a message that says "Some of the enclosed items have special permissions and can not be copied"

Any ideas what to try now.

[Timothy Moser]

I am on FM Pro 10, I just switched to a Leopard computer, and I get the message even after deleting the file. Your solution worked perfectly on my previous computer, but I cannot figure out what is wrong now.

[smishler]

Thanks! With FMPAv10.0.3 and OSX 10.6.3, I had the same problem; deleting the web.prefs resolved the problem. Odd, all one can find through Google is to reinstall....

[Lev Leviev]

Thanks - worked for me