Developer’s Guide

Customizing your database solution 2-11
Renaming your databases
Use the FileMaker Developer Tool to rename all the files in your
database solution and automatically update all internal reference
links (filespecs) to related files and scripts. The Developer Tool
creates a duplicate copy of the database files before it renames them
and updates the links.
Procedure for renaming files
To rename your database files and update reference links, do the
following:
1. Close all of your database files that you are going to customize.
2. Start the FileMaker Developer Tool application and click Next.
3. Select Rename files and update internal links, and click Next.
4. Specify the database files that you want to customize, then select
each file in the list and click Rename.
5. In the Rename dialog box, type a name for the new file, and click
OK.
Note If you want the .fp5 extension to be added automatically to the
new filenames, select the Add or remove FileMaker Pro extension
option in step 3 and choose Add .fp5 from the pop-up menu.
6. When you’ve finished renaming all of the specified files, click
Next.
7. Specify the location for the files, rename the new solution folder
if desired, and click Finish.
The Developer Tool creates a duplicate copy of the database files
with the new filenames and updated internal links, and places them
in a new folder.
Choosing filenames for your database solution
When choosing filenames for your database solutions, consider the
platforms on which your solution will be used so your scripts and
lookups will work properly.
Windows filenames may not start with a space. Also, for cross-
platform compatibility, do not use the following characters in
filenames: period (.), quotation mark ("), slash (/), backslash (\),
brackets([ ]), colon (:), semicolon (;), vertical bar (|), equal sign (=),
or comma (,).
Removing design access to your databases
Use the FileMaker Developer Tool to prevent users from altering the
design and structure of your database files and from changing any
passwords or groups that you’ve set up. By specifying the
Permanently prevent modification of database structure option for your
custom solution, users can’t access the following menu commands in
FileMaker Pro:
1 File menu > Define Fields
1 File menu > Define Relationships
1 View menu > Layout Mode
1 Scripts menu > ScriptMaker
1 File menu > Access Privileges
Platform Filename support
Mac OS 31 characters
Windows 95 255 characters, including path
Windows 98 255 characters, including path
Windows NT 255 characters, including path