Developer’s Guide (Mac OS)

5-10 FileMaker Pro SDK Developer’s Guide
Double-clicking the icons for the primary or auxiliary files might result
in errors, depending on whether there are other copies of the runtime
application on the hard disk. If your end-users have more than one
solution on their computers with the same three-character extension and
they double-click the icon for the primary file, the most recently
installed FileMaker Pro Runtime application is opened, which may not
be the correct application for your solution’s primary file.
Whenever an end-user starts FileMaker Pro Runtime, the application
looks for the primary file that has been bound to it. It looks first in the
runtime application folder, and then on the local network. If the primary
file can’t be found, the end-user sees a dialog box asking to locate the
primary file.
Claris recommends Caution your end-users that they should not rename
any solution files. If they do, relationships and external scripts won’t
work properly.
Running solution files on a network
Solution files can be hosted with FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Pro
Runtime, or FileMaker Pro Server. Distribute the runtime application to
all the guests. The solution files should be hosted from one computer,
and your end-users access them as guests over a network.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 physical network.
To make locating the auxiliary files seamless, create a startup script in
the primary file that opens the auxiliary file on the network. When an
end-user first starts FileMaker Pro Runtime, the application asks for the
location of the auxiliary file. After locating the file the first time, the
runtime application will automatically find the host on the network if the
end-user has master access to the primary file.
To share a bundled solution over a network of both Windows and
Macintosh computers:
Host the files from one computer and distribute the Macintosh runtime
application to Macintosh guests and the Windows runtime application to
Windows guests. See “Planning for networks” on page 3-7 for more
information.