Custom Web Publishing Guide

Introducing Custom Web Publishing 15
Migrating web publishing solutions from previous versions of FileMaker Pro
Before updating existing databases to FileMaker Pro 7, it is important to review the Converting FileMaker
Databases from Previous Versions
guide, located in the Electronic Documentation folder (inside the English
Extras folder).
When migrating the web publishing solution, start by backing up your files and setting up a separate test
environment to do the conversion. After developing the XML or XSLT solution, test its functionality and
security (accounts and privileges) before placing the site into production.
Here are some other considerations when migrating solutions you want to publish using XML or XSLT:
1 The access privileges model has been improved. Consider re-assigning user names and passwords to take
advantage of accounts and privileges. See FileMaker Pro Help.
1 Plug-ins designed for use with FileMaker Pro are not automatically enabled for FileMaker Server. See the
FileMaker Server Advanced Web Publishing Installation Guide.
1 The Web Security Databases are no longer supported. If you relied on them for web-based security, you
must transfer the accounts, passwords, and associated privileges into your converted database files in
FileMaker Pro. See the
Converting FileMaker Databases from Previous Versions Guide.
1 If you are migrating a CDML solution, see appendix C, “Converting CDML solutions to FileMaker XSLT.”
1 If your database has a container field that stores a file reference instead of an actual object, then the
referenced container object must be stored in the FileMaker Pro Web folder when the record is created or
edited, and then copied or moved to a folder with the same relative location in the root folder of the web
server software. See
“About publishing the contents of container fields on the web” on page 19.
1 The URL syntax has changed for web-published files. If you created any links to access a database on the
web, you must update the links using the new syntax and database location after converting the file and
hosting it on FileMaker Server. See
“About the URL syntax for XML data and container objects” on page
23, and “About the URL syntax for FileMaker XSLT stylesheets” on page 48.
1 Script support for the web has been enhanced.
1 Access privileges for web users can be set to allow execution of specific, individual scripts and prevent
execution of others.
1 ScriptMaker script steps are now clearly indicated as “web compatible”; special scripts can be created
for web users. After converting your files, open each script that web users might run and enable Indicate
web compatibility to see if your scripts contain steps that might produce unexpected results when
executed from a web browser.
1 On the web, scripts are always executed with Error Capture on. If your scripts relied on Error Capture
being disabled (off), they may not function the same way. Test your files thoroughly after conversion.
Go to Field You cannot use Go to Field to make a particular field active in the web browser, but you can
use this script step in conjunction with other script steps to perform tasks. For example, you can
go to a field, copy the contents, go to another field and paste the value. To see the effect in the
browser, be sure to save the record with the Commit Record script step.
Commit
Record/Request
Submits the record to the database.
Script step Behavior in Custom Web Publishing solutions