User manual FILEMAKER FILEMAKER PRO 7-INSTANT WEB PUBLISHING

[. . . ] FileMaker 7 Instant Web Publishing Guide © 2004 FileMaker, Inc. 5201 Patrick Henry Drive Santa Clara, California 95054 FileMaker is a trademark of FileMaker, Inc. , registered in the U. S. and other countries, and ScriptMaker and the file folder logo are trademarks of FileMaker, Inc. You are not authorized to make additional copies or distribute this documentation without written permission from FileMaker. [. . . ] To view the Help file, click the Question Mark (?) in the status area. Important After entering or editing data in a record, web users must click the Submit button in the status area to save the record to the host. Go to Database Homepage, Browse, or Find Mode Add, edit, delete, sort, omit, or show omitted records Change layouts and layout views View previous or next record Status of current found set Modify last find request Toggle shows or hides the status area Add, duplicate or delete find requests or show all records Change layouts and layout views View previous or next find request Status of current find requests Include search operators in your find request Perform find or modify previous find results Log out and close windows to protect data Status area in Browse mode Status area in Find mode Finding records In Find mode, web users now have the same searching capabilities as FileMaker Pro desktop users. They can: 1 1 1 1 1 create find requests duplicate find requests delete find requests show all records extend (broaden) or constrain (narrow) the found set Procedures are outlined in the Instant Web Publishing Help. To view the help file, click the Question Mark (?) in the status area. Note After entering or editing search criteria in a find request, web users must click the Submit button in the status area to send the request to the host. To have complete control over the user interface, you can create a startup script to ensure that the status area is hidden. For more information, see "Hiding the status area to customize the interface" on page 26. Working with FileMaker databases on the web 21 Logging out of a database and closing a web session When web users are finished working with a database, it is important that they click the Log Out button in the status area and quit the web browser application. If they close browser windows or quit the browser application before logging out, their session is still open. This might: 1 prevent others from accessing the data 1 make data vulnerable to hackers until the specified time out occurs If this happens, you can either wait for the session to time out or close the file on the host machine, which immediately disconnects all web users. There is no way to send a message to web users requesting that they log out of their sessions. If you are concerned that web users might not log out of the database properly, you can set the session time out for a short amount of time. This minimizes the inconvenience if web users don't log out of the database properly. See "Disconnecting inactive web accounts" on page 14 for more information. See "Creating a script to log out of a database and close the session" on page 29. Important In addition to logging out, web users should quit the web browser application to remove their user name and password from the cache. If you are concerned about security, consider hosting the files with FileMaker Server Advanced and enable SSL encryption in a web browser. For more information, see the FileMaker Security Guide, located in the Electronic Documentation folder (inside the English Extras folder). Displaying a database with the status area hidden Like the desktop version of FileMaker Pro, you can create a script that hides and locks the status area when the database is opened in a web browser. Keep these points in mind: 1 If you lock the status area, you must manually create scripts and buttons that offer users all the necessary functionality. For example, you must create buttons so users can create new records, enter edit mode to modify data, delete records, change layouts, and so on. It is very important to carefully test your database files to make sure you have provided web users access to all critical features. 1 To properly secure your data, you must create a script that logs web users out of the database and closes the session. For more information, see "Creating a script to log out of a database and close the session" on page 29. 1 You should provide documentation to help users interact with your data from your custom environment, as most of the instructions included in the Instant Web Publishing Help file will not be appropriate. 22 FileMaker Instant Web Publishing Guide Differences between FileMaker Pro and Instant Web Publishing The Instant Web Publishing experience is very similar to using the FileMaker Pro desktop application. Web users can change modes, choose layouts and views, and much more. Data from a FileMaker layout displayed in a web browser with Instant Web Publishing Data displayed in a FileMaker Pro layout Benefits to accessing databases with Instant Web Publishing There are some unique advantages to the Instant Web Publishing feature in FileMaker Pro: 1 You can easily and quickly deploy a solution onto the web with your existing database. You don't need to use web authoring tools, write HTML or CSS code, or use other technologies to share your data with anyone using a compatible web browser. 1 You can access data remotely, whether from a home office or while travelling. 1 By hiding and locking the status area, you can easily deploy a custom, web-based application. Benefits to accessing databases with FileMaker Pro Although accessing a database from the web is very similar to FileMaker Pro, it is not as responsive as accessing a database from a FileMaker Pro network client: 1 There are no customization features available on the web. Although web users can choose layouts and different layout views, they cannot add, delete, or modify fields, layouts, scripts, relationships, and so on. 1 Web users cannot directly interact with the hard drive, so import/exporting data, drag and drop, and automation with OLE, ActiveX, and Apple events will not work. 1 Web users can only enter data in text, number, date, or time fields; they cannot enter or modify container field objects like images, sounds, and QuickTime files. 1 1 1 1 1 Web users cannot enter data with rich text formatting (RTF). [. . . ] For more information, see "Logging out of a database and closing a web session" on page 21. Chapter 5 Testing, monitoring, and securing your site Before notifying users that your published database is available, it is important to verify that it looks and functions as you expect. 1 Test features like finding, adding, deleting, and sorting records with different accounts and privilege sets. 1 Verify that various privilege sets are performing as expected by logging in with different accounts. Make sure unauthorized users can't access or modify your data. 1 Click all scripted buttons to verify that the outcome is expected. See "Scripts and Instant Web Publishing" on page 27 for information on designing web-friendly scripts. 1 Test your published database with different operating systems and browsers. 1 If the web pages aren't displaying properly, see "Web browser requirements" on page 17 and review "Designing a database for Instant Web Publishing" on page 23. Testing your database with a network connection To access a published database, open web browser software, type the IP address or domain name of the host computer and press Return or Enter. [. . . ]