Help

Sharing databases on a network
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 489
Tip As the host, you can send a message to all clients accessing the database. Choose File
menu
> Sharing > Share with FileMaker Clients, select the file to notify, and click Send Message.
Type a message in the Send Message dialog box and click OK. Clients see the message in a dialog
box. They can dismiss the dialog box by clicking Cancel, or the dialog box will close automatically
30 seconds after appearing.
Related topics
Closing shared files
Closing shared files
Before a shared file can be closed by a host, all clients must close the file. FileMaker Pro allows you
to prompt networked clients to close the shared file when you do one of the following: close the file,
change the sharing conditions for the file, exit FileMaker
Pro, or perform a task that requires all
clients to close the file. If a client does not respond to your request to close a shared file within 30
seconds, FileMaker
Pro attempts to close the shared file on the clients’ machine.
To close a shared file:
1. On the computer hosting the file, choose File menu > Close.
2. If any clients have the shared file open, you see a dialog box listing those clients. Click Ask
to send a message to these clients requesting that they close the file.
Clients see a dialog box requesting that they close the file.
Once all clients have closed the file, FileMaker Pro closes the file on your computer.
Tip As the host, you can send a message to all clients accessing the database. Choose File
menu
> Sharing > Share with FileMaker Clients to open the FileMaker Network Settings dialog
box. Select the shared database from the Currently open files list. Click the Send Message
button, type a message in the Send Message dialog box, and click OK.
To quit FileMaker Pro when you're hosting a shared file: Choose File menu > Exit (Windows),
or FileMaker
Pro menu > Quit FileMaker Pro (OS X). If you see a dialog box listing connected
users, click Ask. Once all clients have closed the file, FileMaker
Pro closes the file on your
computer and then quits.
Related topics
Opening files as the host
Working with shared files as a client
As a client, you work with FileMaker Pro files in much the same way that you would as a single user,
with these exceptions:
• When you open a file, you see the layout, found set, and sort order from the last time the
host closed the file. (You can define a script to switch to your preferred layout and settings.
If Then FileMaker Pro
Clients click Cancel Waits for those clients to close the file
Clients click Close Now Closes the shared file on the client's computer. (If other FileMaker Pro
files are open, they are left open.)
Clients do nothing Attempts to close the file after 30 seconds, if it can be closed safely