Developer’s Guide (Mac OS)

Distributing your bundled solution 5-9
Installing your solution files for a network
If you’re creating a multiuser solution, the runtime application should be
installed for each guest on the network, and solution files should be
hosted by a dedicated machine. You should distribute the primary file to
guests when the primary file can’t be easily found on the local network.
The 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. You’ll want your shared data to reside on the host machine, so
the primary file should be a simple database with a startup script that
looks for the networked files. The first time the solution is opened, the
end-user is asked to locate the files on the network. If the end-user has
master access to the solution files, the primary file will store the
locations of the networked files, and find them automatically after that.
Running your solution
The first time your end-users double-click the runtime application icon,
FileMaker Pro Runtime will move items from Files for System Folder
into the System Folder on the Macintosh. On Windows 3.1 or Windows
for Workgroups 3.11, the contents of the 4WINSYS folder will be
moved into the System folder in the Windows folder. On Windows 95
or Windows NT, the 4WINSYS folder is not necessary and is
automatically deleted.
On the Windows platform, the extension associated with the solution
will not be registered until the runtime application has been opened. If a
solution file is opened before the runtime application has registered the
extension, the runtime application won’t be found.
Your end-users should start your solution by double-clicking the
FileMaker Pro Runtime application, not the primary file. They can
rename the FileMaker Pro Runtime application to a unique name for
your solution after it has been installed.
Primary file icon
Runtime application icon