Developer’s Guide

Distributing FileMaker Pro runtime database solutions 4-7
Recovering damaged files
Power failures, hardware problems, or other factors can damage a
FileMaker Pro file. If your database solution becomes damaged,
your users need to recover the damaged file. When the runtime
application discovers a damaged file, a dialog box appears, telling
the user to contact the developer.
Once you know which file is damaged, you can recover it—however,
the Recover command does not appear in the File menu of the
runtime application.
To recover a damaged file:
1 On Windows machines, press Ctrl+Shift while double-clicking the
runtime application icon. Hold the keys down until you see the
Recover File dialog box.
1 On Mac OS machines, press Option+3 while double-clicking the
runtime application icon. Hold the keys down until you see the
Recover File dialog box.
During the recovery process, the FileMaker Pro runtime application:
1 creates a new file
1 renames any damaged file by adding Old to the end of the filenames
(for example, Contact Manager is renamed to Contact Manager Old).
1 gives the repaired file the original name
If users experience unusual behavior in the recovered files, they
should revert to a backup copy that was made before the file became
corrupt, or contact you for technical assistance.
In your printed documentation, you should tell your users what to do
once a file has been recovered. Tell your users to:
1. Recover the damaged solution file.
2. Open the recovered solution file in the runtime application.
3. Save a compressed copy — choose File menu > Save a Copy As. In
the dialog box, choose Compressed Copy (Smaller) from the Save A
(Windows) or Type (Mac OS) pop-up menu, name the file, and click
Save.
Give the compressed file the same name as the original filename.
Distributing updates to your runtime
database solution
If you make feature enhancements or modifications to the primary
file of your runtime database solution, you can distribute the updated
file to your users without needing to rebind it. If you change the name
of the primary file, however, you’ll need to rebind the file and
distribute a new version of the runtime application along with the
updated file. To distribute new or updated auxiliary files for your
runtime database solution, you need to bind them first using the
original binding key.
Recovering a runtime database solution file