Administrator’s Guide (Windows)

Technical specifications and optimization A-5
Tip When FileMaker Pro Server behaves unexpectedly, check the log
file to diagnose the problem. See “Examining the FileMaker Pro Server
log file” on page 3-14 and “FileMaker Pro Server log file” on page A-3
for more information.
The following table lists some problems you may encounter when using
FileMaker Pro Server.
Symptom Suggested solution or explanation
A FileMaker Pro guest using IPX can’t find
FileMaker Pro Server databases on
the network.
Verify that IPX networking software is properly installed. Verify that the host and
guest are using the same frame type. Verify that FileMaker Pro Server control panel is
set to use the IPX/SPX network protocol (or both IPX/SPX and TCP/IP).
A FileMaker Pro guest using TCP/IP can’t
find FileMaker Pro Server databases on
the network.
Verify that TCP/IP networking software is properly installed on the host and guest
computers. In the Hosts dialog box, use the Specify Hosts button to enter the host IP
address. Ping the host address to verify the network is working properly. Verify that
FileMaker Pro Server control panel is set to use the TCP/IP network protocol (or both
IPX/SPX and TCP/IP).
A FileMaker Pro guest using AppleTalk
can’t find FileMaker Pro Server databases
on the network.
AppleTalk is not supported by FileMaker Pro Server for Windows NT.
Dates or calculations involving dates aren’t
updating correctly in database files opened
by FileMaker Pro Server.
If the database file with the incorrect dates uses the Today function to calculate the
dates, use the Status (Current Date) function (instead of the Today function) to update
the dates correctly. See “Using the Today function with FileMaker Pro Server” on page
3-14 for more information.
Guests using the IPX/SPX protocol can’t
see FileMaker Pro Server databases.
This is generally caused by using an incorrect frame type on the server or guest
machine. To change the frame type on Windows NT or Windows 95, you must change
the configuration of the IPX/SPX-compatible protocol in the Network control panel.
See your Windows documentation for more details. To change the frame type used by
a FileMaker Pro for Windows 3.x guest, refer to the Novell NetWare documentation.
To change the frame type on a Mac OS computer, open the MacIPX control panel,
double-click the Ethernet icon and deselect the “Auto-Configure Frame Type” option.
Select the appropriate frame type. For Mac OS users without an Ethernet or an Token
Ring card, who are using the built-in LocalTalk port, load and bind the MacIPX
Gateway software on the NetWare server.
Receive “Communication with the host was
interrupted and could not be re-established”
message on guest computer.
The guest has been disconnected from a database by FileMaker Pro Server because the
guest didn’t comply with a request from FileMaker Pro Server to close a database. (See
“Closing a FileMaker Pro file” on page 3-6). Another reason communication between
the host and guest may have been disrupted is due to a hardware failure (lost network
connection) or a software connection time-out (no response from guest for a given
period of time). The latter could be caused by a screen saver, debugger, or
processor-intensive operation.
Receive “File could not be opened: database
may be damaged; try opening in non-Server
version of FileMaker Pro” message when
trying to open a file in FileMaker Pro Server
(or in log file).
The file may be damaged and needs to be opened in FileMaker Pro 3.0. Start the
FileMaker Pro application, open the file, and follow any instructions on your screen.
(See appendix A of the FileMaker Pro User’s Guide for more information on
recovering files.) Then try opening the file with FileMaker Pro Server again.