Share FileMaker Pro databases
If you are sharing a FileMaker Pro database on the campus network, we strongly suggest that you do not store the database file on a file server and then have two or more copies of FileMaker open it.
Why? One copy of FileMaker could potentially make changes to records within the database file that are not reflected in the other copies of FileMaker. This could lead to corrupted data as each copy fights for control of the document on the server.
Instead, we recommend that one computer have the database file open in its local copy of the FileMaker Pro program. In that copy of FileMaker Pro, you can enable sharing for the database. Depending on the version of FileMaker in use, you may be able to support more or fewer clients connecting, and even share on the Web.
FileMaker clients have their own protocol, or language, for communicating with shared database. This helps them handle transactions to prevent corruption of the database files being shared. (Each version of FileMaker Pro tends to change the protocol, so if you are sharing a FileMaker Pro 6 database, you cannot connect from FileMaker Pro 5.5 clients.)
If you need to share a database, it is better to use FileMaker's database sharing features to prevent data corruption. One computer shares the database files to the others from within the FileMaker application.
Again, if you have sensitive data, you should be very careful to secure the database you are responsible for with some form of access privileges. The computer that is doing the sharing should also be protected from attacks and should be regularly maintained and backed up to prevent data loss.
Note: AppleTalk routing is no longer available on the RIT campus network as of July 24, 2006. This could affect connections to file servers, network printers, and inter-application communication. While RIT’s network does not disable or prevent the use of the AppleTalk protocol itself, the lack of AppleTalk routing does prevent that traffic from:
- going across network segment boundaries (or subnets)
- traversing the RIT backbone.
Because of this ITS will not be able to support or troubleshoot AppleTalk related problems. For more information, see our AppleTalk support statement page.