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| Author | Setting up FileMaker for two locations over the Internet (Read 28148 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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cballero
1024 MB  Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever 
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on: December 07, 2023, 14:27
I want to test a small project where I link a FMP 4.1 db to another FMP elsewhere, either through its web features or directly with another Mac, likely emulated. Is this an easy task, or would it require some real networking skills and possibly a paid VPN to pull off? As usual, I ask my fellow Mac aficionados for guidance; I'd hate to chase this thing down a rabbit hole and get nowhere!  I'm targeting working this from Basilisk II, so that might add more layers of complexity, but can also defer to my G3 desktop if the emmulator's gonna end-up being a no-go. |
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB  Posts: 2023
Reply #1 on: December 07, 2023, 15:13
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That sounds interesting, I wasn't aware of FMP 4.1 having these networking / connectivity features. So basically one could set up a FMP4.1 database with a password protection and have people collaborate on it from wherever they are?
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #2 on: December 07, 2023, 15:43
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Yep!  Claris was brought back to Apple (i.e., ClarisWorks 5 became AppleWorks 5, just a name change there) and FM separated to form it's own company, and their first product was 4.1. FMP 4.1 set the stage for web-based collaboration; I think that t might even output web pages? I had found the CD on eBay to work on just that when Mike amazingly unearthed it on his end from somewhere so the next logical step would be to take this baby out for a spin to see what it can do!  I'm thinking that a good Mac book on the subject would help out for this? I tend to get bogged down by the technical details but hopefully it's not too tricky; I'm also sure that 68040, having experience in both this version and networking in emulation may have some of the answers I seek, too If we can pull this off, who knows? We might even be able have some fun sharing databases online!
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #3 on: December 07, 2023, 15:52
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@Bolkonskij - You really didn't know that??? You can direct feed your web page's HTML content from an FM database. You couldn't be any more up-to-date than that on a vintage system.
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wove
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1024 MB Posts: 1363
Reply #4 on: December 07, 2023, 17:32
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It is amazing we tend to think of serving databases over networks as a more recent thing, but it goes back a long way. FileMaker was sort of slow out of the gate. I worked part time for a hardware store in the late 80s and it was serving up a dBase database to point of sale terminals over an Novel network, with the main system running on an old Compaq 486 running DOS 5 in the backroom. It was an ACE Hardware and the database was connected to the warehouse via a 144 modem.
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #5 on: December 07, 2023, 17:39
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Trust me, I was going mad when I realized that the MG was missing the 4.1 version because all that it offered at such an early time. I mean, just the promise of online connectivity alone was so monumental and revolutionary back then. I'm only wondering whether the same install can work in two separate places or not? @68040: have you tried connecting two Macs locally to a db using this version of FM? I'm sure that on the client-side version 4.0 should be able to read a 4.1 db, but I'm not entirely sure of this. I think I have up to three BII running 8 on older Android versions and one uses a much newer version so I could try it with these as well, but the challenge I think will be navigating the whole slirp networking, I want to say 'limitations'? Other than that, I'm pretty sure FM works perfectly with TCP/IP otherwise, especially being that it's able to dynamically broadcast to the web wow, thinking about it, this was such an outstanding offering back in the day, truly something way ahead of it's time, a la pioneering spirit of Apple! 
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #6 on: December 07, 2023, 18:54
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Here's how it's coming along as far as working with it on my Mac  http://revontulet.org/2023/12/07/1fdf1da42058467fbc0450ed5563f98c.png
Last Edit: December 07, 2023, 19:53 by cballero
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #7 on: December 07, 2023, 19:31
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@cballero - I'm running FMP 4.1 v3, but I lack the space - literally - to place a 2nd anything next to me tablet. So, if you got an online DB to test this out, I'm all game. PS: What OS version are you using this on?
Last Edit: December 07, 2023, 19:36 by 68040
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #8 on: December 07, 2023, 19:53
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I updated the screenshot
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #9 on: December 07, 2023, 20:15
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Sweet, where did you get the icon set from?
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #10 on: December 07, 2023, 20:29
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Lol, I tweaked my icons from a 'borrowed' icon set
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #11 on: December 07, 2023, 22:29
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That's the spirit!
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023
Reply #12 on: December 08, 2023, 08:33
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Actually I wasn't really aware of this, as I have next to zero experience with FMP. It always appeared like a local / network database to me and for all database things online I've always relied on MySQL / MariaDB because I could control its behavior through PHP (instead of relying on a 3rd party for functionality) However, this looks interesting because it's something that should be do-able from System 7 even by someone with no programming but solid tech skills. Leaning back to watch how this develops! Go go go
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MTT
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256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer
Reply #13 on: December 08, 2023, 11:54
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FileMaker Pro and Networking: There are two common methods of sharing FileMaker Pro databases over a network. One is simple guest to host database sharing, the other is web based with FileMaker acting as a portal in a Web document. For the guest to host option, think of FileMaker Pro as an online game engine, and an FMPro database, its game. Where whoever on a network starts the game, erm, opens the DB, their FileMaker Pro becomes the host of that DB, and anyone else's FileMaker Pro joining in, becomes the guest. A brief history - before Claris, the Claris Years, and up to the breakup. AppleTalk networking in FileMaker Pro databases had been built into FileMaker, right from before FileMaker was even a Claris product. Guest/host networking was built into FileMaker 4 - No, this is not Claris FileMaker Pro 4.0, but FileMaker 4 by Nashoba Systems. Nashoba's FileMaker 4 was the database product acquired by Claris Corp and it became the FileMaker Pro we have today. Here's a couple of FileMaker 4 screenshots, they're from it's Help database outlying its networking. Note, this method of networking in FMPro remains unchanged, apart from menu renaming, from "Exclusive", up until FileMaker Pro 4.1, with the more logical; "Sharing..." menu. Nashoba Systems had been designing database software for several years, by the time they released FileMaker 4, circa 1988. The then new Apple subsidiary company, Claris, was hunting high and low for software to buy up and sell under the Claris banner. FileMaker 4 was barely 1 month old when Claris bought the rights to FileMaker, re-badging it as Claris FileMaker II. Quote from: Brian Dunning: Nashoba, We Hardly Knew Ye (HTTPS)Very little was changed in the II release, only the re-badging to Claris. Even the "Rolodex icon" for record browsing remained unchanged. After a couple of years, FileMaker Pro 1.0 was released. Here's a couple of FMPro 1.0 screenshots, one of its FMPro 1.0 Tour Stack depicting Macs networked via PhoneNet connectors, and this one from the FMPro 1.0 Help file. Jumping ahead to FileMaker Pro 4.1, choosing the menu "File > Sharing..." opens a dialog with the choice of "Single User" or "Multi-User". Single User is the default, if you wish to share your DB over a network, you would of course choose Multi-User. If you want to connect to a shared DB instead, you choose "File > Open > Hosts". It is pretty much that basic and easy. For FileMaker Pro versions made before v4.0, it was an even more simple task, only needing to choose the "sharing" menu (in its various nom de plume forms) to toggle it on or off, without the additional dialog box you get with v4.x As a test I shared a FileMaker Pro 3.0 database on a (Basilisk II) Mac running Mac OS 7.6.1 and connected to it via a Mac OS 9.2.2 Mac Mini, running FileMaker Pro 4.1 -noting v3 & v4 FMPro DBs are (more or less) compatible with each other. This screenshot is of FMPro 4.1 detecting a database of recipes available for opening as a guest over the network. This screenshot is of the opened v3 DB on the Mac Mini in FMPro 4.1. The web portal (some HTTPS links): With FileMaker Pro 3.0 came plug-in architecture, meaning 3rd party companies could develop software that could interface with the FileMaker product. And there were two competing products that caught Claris's attention, EveryWare Development Corp's Tango and Blue World Technology's Lasso. These were two companies fighting for the same desktop space and they both gave FileMaker Pro the ability to deliver it's database content to the web. Here's a Lasso vs. Tango page. It's from the Blue World site so somewhat biased, but it gives you an idea of their rivalry. Blue World must have made all the right moves, as Claris purchased the right to embed their Lasso technology into the next FileMaker release, version 4.0 - Here's a cosy pic of the Claris & Lasso teams, rubbing shoulders at an April '97 trade show in Austria, around the time of that acquisition. Then for the first time in FMPro's history, v4.0 was released in both Standard and Unlimited versions. The difference was with the new embedded technology from Blue World, Pro 4.0 Standard was limited to 4 web connections at any time whereas Pro 4.0 Unlimited was as the term suggests, unlimited, and would accept any number of simultaneous connections to its data via the web. The previous FileMaker Pro version 3.0, using either the Lasso or Tango technologies, was a singly priced release and not limited. "Lasso Lite" was supplied with v3, requiring (free) online registration with Blue World. Further reading (and/or downloading): FileMaker 4 (Nashoba Systems) Claris FileMaker II Claris FileMaker Pro 1.0 Claris FileMaker Pro 2.x Claris FileMaker Pro 3.0 Claris FileMaker Pro 4.0 FileMaker Pro 4.1 Aside - A (perhaps) little known tidbit: Did you know that most Claris products of the very early 1990's had the HyperCard runtime engine built into their code? It's true, their Help files were all Stack based. i.e.; you can take a Help file of a Claris Product of the day e.g.; MacWrite II, ClarisWorks 1.0, FileMaker Pro 1.0, etc, and drop it onto a HyperCard icon to open it, and HyperCard will run them like any other Stack. -The FMPro 1.0 Help file was running in HyperCard at the time of taking that screenshot linked above.
Last Edit: December 09, 2023, 01:06 by MTT
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #14 on: December 08, 2023, 12:59
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@MTT - Thx for sharing and yeah, I've always wondered why the catalog icon in the FMP GUI looked so much like a HyperCard stack.
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