Administrator’s Guide (Windows)

Configuring FileMaker Pro Server 2-7
1 FileMaker Pro Server administration allows several operations to be
performed simultaneously on all of the files in a single subfolder. To
take advantage of this feature, place related databases into the same
subfolder. When FileMaker Pro Server is started, these files will be
hosted as a group.
1 Up to a maximum of 100 files can be made accessible to
FileMaker Pro 3.0 guests on the network. Each FileMaker Pro guest
can open a maximum of 50 files. Since FileMaker Pro Server can host
up to 100 files, it is possible to have multiple files available for access
by multiple workgroups.
1 Remember that double-clicking a FileMaker Pro file opens that file in
FileMaker Pro, not FileMaker Pro Server. See “Opening a
FileMaker Pro file” on page 3-5 to open files with FileMaker Pro Server.
1 If the hard disk runs out of space while a file is being modified or if
a database file reaches the 2 GB size limit, FileMaker Pro Server will
automatically begin compressing the hosted file to reduce the amount
of disk space it uses. During the compression, all guest activity to that
file is paused. To avoid automatic compression, leave plenty of free
hard disk space on the computer running FileMaker Pro Server and
monitor database file sizes.
Important If the database file you’re hosting uses the Today function to
calculate dates, you must close and reopen it using the FileMaker Pro Server
service each day to update the dates correctly. See “Using the Today
function with FileMaker Pro Server” on page 3-14 for more information.
FileMaker Pro Server displays a message if it can’t open the selected
database file and writes a description of the problem to the FileMaker
Pro Server log file. See “Examining the FileMaker Pro Server log file”
on page 3-14 for more information.
Starting the FileMaker Pro Server service
To start the FileMaker Pro Server service using Windows NT 4.0:
1. Place the FileMaker Pro files that you want FileMaker Pro Server to
open—or shortcuts to those files—in the same folder as FileMaker Pro
Server (and subfolders one level down).
Up to 100 FileMaker Pro 3.0 database files are automatically opened
when FileMaker Pro Server starts up.