Developer’s Guide (Mac OS)

3-8 FileMaker Pro SDK Developer’s Guide
1 The number of guests using the FileMaker Pro Runtime application
as a host is limited to 25. With FileMaker Pro Server, a computer can
host a solution that can be accessed by up to 100 guests using
FileMaker Pro Runtime or the FileMaker Pro application. FileMaker
Pro Runtime is optimized so, when used with FileMaker Pro Server,
background tasks associated with managing a database file are
handled by FileMaker Pro Server.
1 You need to distribute the runtime application to all the guests. You
might also need to distribute the primary file to all guests when the
primary file can’t be easily found on the local network. A hosted
primary file will not be found by the runtime application if it is located
in a different AppleTalk zone or if the host and guest machine are on a
TCP/IP network and not considered to be on the same local network.
1 If the primary file resides on each end-user’s machine, data in the
primary file won’t be shared. The primary function of the primary file
should be locating the auxiliary files on the network. The first time the
solution is opened, the end-user will be asked to locate the hosted
auxiliary files. If the end-user has master access to the primary file, the
location of the auxiliary files will be updated and found automatically.
1 You should only launch or host one FileMaker Pro Runtime
application at a time.
Important To network a file in kiosk mode, end-users must be able to
run the Open Preferences script and choose a network in Preferences.
After changing the network, the end-user might need to restart the
machine and the runtime application.
You may want to document the following for your end-users:
1 The first end-user to open the solution on the network becomes the
designated host. It is best to host the solution files on a machine that
is dedicated to hosting your solution.
Tip Network performance is optimized by hosting the solution files
on the fastest machine and dedicating that machine as the host.
1 After a solution is opened by a guest, the host and the guest share the
same information.
1 Only one end-user can edit a record at any given time. Others can read
that record, but no one can modify it until the current end-user
finishes working and moves to another record.
1 All changes made to the solution will be saved on the host machine.