Guide to Updating Plug-ins

Chapter 1
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Preparing Mac OS plug-ins with resource forks for Auto Update 9
Preparing Mac OS plug-ins with resource forks for Auto Update
FileMaker Server on Mac OS temporarily converts an uncompressed Mac OS plug-in to the .tar format for
downloading to clients. However, this automatic conversion deletes any resource forks, which may make a
plug-in that contained a resource fork unusable by the client.
Mac OS plug-in files that contain a resource fork require special actions to work properly with Auto Update:
1 The plug-in must be manually compressed before being placed on FileMaker Server.
1 Any Mac OS FileMaker Pro client using Auto Update with this plug-in must have StuffIt Expander
installed to automatically decompress the plug-in.
To manually compress a plug-in containing a resource fork:
1. Use a third-party utility like StuffIt Standard to manually compress the entire Mac OS plug-in into a
single file such as a .sitx archive. You can use any utility that compresses files with resource forks, as
long as the output file can be automatically decompressed by StuffIt Expander.
2. Rename the compressed file with the .sitx or other extension to end with .tar. For example, if the plug-in
was named test.fmplugin, and the compressed file is named test.fmplugin.sitx, that
compressed file must be renamed to test.fmplugin.tar.
3. Place the compressed plug-in on the server computer in the appropriate folder. See “Where to store plug-
ins on FileMaker Server” on page 9.
Important StuffIt Expander must be installed on the Mac OS client computer to expand the specially
compressed plug-in. Auto Update automatically calls StuffIt Expander after downloading the plug-in.
Where to store plug-ins on FileMaker Server
You must store plug-ins in the following folders on a server:
The subfolder containing the
plug-in must have the same
name as the plug-in version
number
Plug-in
AutoUpdate folder
Plug-in parent folder
Subfolder containing the plug-in file
The plug-in parent folder
must have the same name
as the plug-in
Overview of the plug-in folder structure