Can a PDF file be placed by reference into a container field? I'd like to use Filemaker to catalog and access images of documents. Since PDF files are consistently smaller than BMP, GIF, JPG, or TIF images, it would be ideal to be able to stash PDFs by reference into a FM database so that users of the database could click on the field and have the PDF document display.

I used my only free tech supp call to solve this for myself. Here's what I found out:

You can insert single page and/or multii page PDF documents into a FM5.5 container field and display them on a Windows PC as follows:

1. Install Quicktime Player on the PC (www.apple.com; free)

2. Start Filemaker, open a database, and select a desired container field.

3. Insert menu: Insert object

4. Create from File

5. Check the LINK box

6. Click Browse button to locate desired PDF file.

7. Acrobat icon appears in conainer field.

8. Double click icon; Acrobat Reader launches so you can view/print the PDF.

One more glitch - after getting all excited about being able to embed PDF files by reference into container fields, I read in a Filemaker aftermarket book that Filemaker Server is incapable of displaying items embedded by reference into container fields.

So, I called FM Support and was told that this was somewhat misleading info; they said (let's see if I have this right embedded items like PDFs are PATHed relative to the client PC, not the FM server box that's running FM Server So, if we located the images on a separate, sharing-enabled PC and shared their directory with all intended users, the PATH references inserted into the FM database (itself located on a dedicated FM server box with sharing OFF) would nonetheless survive the embedding and would still work. However if we put the images on the FM server box itself and then embedded them by reference into container fields, the PATHs would not work from the clients' PCs.

[ October 16, 2001: Message edited by: BobW@ACS-GRM ]

This sounds like a natural for a Filemaker web-browser based solution. You then just store the path to the file and deliver it on a click and you only need one copy of FMP-unlimited for any number of users, based anywhere.

regards, jeff