How works Filmeker in client-server architecture

[Flavio1917]

What I want to understand is how the work load between client and server is partitioned.

I got to use FileMaker Pro 6 for one day, what first struck me was the slowness in displaying some screens.

In fact, by opening a screen on the students' enrollment in a course, I had to wait about a minute the display screen that allows entry of the student,while I was waiting a pop up saying "records are not indexed yet to be ordered." The architecture of the system consisted of a server, which was running the server version of FMP 6 and 10 client connected through a LAN:

1) Every time that you want to display data from a record in a table that has not yet been read by the client, the server transfers all records in the table locally on the client and if that is why the message "record not indexed yet to be ordered before you can view the data.

2) If the server transfers the entire contents of the table on the client machine, the search for a specific record in the table is done client side?

3) How do you retain the consistency of the data? Suppose the user A modifies the table X, and the user B tries to read the data in Table X, in this case, how does the server? Must transfer all again contents of the table in the user's client machine B?

4) The scripts that are used to display and manipulating data are performed on the client machine or server?

Thanks for any replies.

Flavio

[bruceR]

Just my opinion but I don't see much point in direct answers to this line of inquiry. Knowing any of the answers does not enable you to use FileMaker more effectively or change its behavior.

But the question behind the question - what level of performance can be expected from FileMaker, for what operations, and what are the best ways to achieve that - another matter. For example it is possible to get nearly instant performance for find operations in indexed fields in million+ record datasets.

Also in question - what version should be talking about? FileMaker 6 is ancient history. Is that what you really need to work with now? Note also that FileMaker 6 was notoriously susceptible to really really terrible performance if general file sharing was turned on on the server machine. That is no longer the case with recent versions of FileMaker Server.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Guest

[Flavio1917]

Hi BruceR,

Thanks for your response, I don't want know the details of the client-server communication to improve the performance of FileMaker, I want to make a comparison between a php application that communicates with a remote database (for example MySQL) and FileMaker, so I wanted an answer the four questions asked in my previous post.

Someone can help me to find an answer to my questions?

Greetings

Flavio

[Vaughan]

FMP 6 is over 10 years old now. The database engine in FMP 7 and later versions is significantly improved. Your experiences with FMP 6 are not relevant to FMP today.

The question regarding a comparison between FMP and PHP/MySQL is a different matter entirely. It's not about speed of data transfer, it's really about richness of interface functionality and control.

FMP beats PHP hands-down.