About the Web folder
The Web folder is where the FileMaker Pro Web Companion plug-in hosts web pages using the built-in HTTP server functionality. These pages can be static HTML files or pages designed to interact with FileMaker Pro databases.
If you would like to create a different home page other than the one that is provided by the Web Companion's Instant Web Publishing, you can create a home page with a web authoring tool and then move it into the Web folder. You can then configure the Web Companion to display the custom page.
To use custom web pages from a previous version of FileMaker Pro, move your existing CDML files into the Web folder and change any references from .fp3 files to .fp5 in the HTML pages.
Use the Web Companion to enable any databases you want to publish on the Web. Any files placed in the Web folder may be accessible from a web browser, so don't place sensitive content here. See chapter 14 of the FileMaker Pro User's Guide for more information on publishing databases on the Web.
FileMaker Pro Web Companion features
FileMaker Pro Instant Web Publishing now includes web styles that determine the appearance of your database in a web browser. For example, the Lavender style displays titles and buttons in a purple color scheme. You can also choose styles that are specifically designed for searching or creating records. For example, you can create a guest book using the Entry Only style. You can choose a different style for each published database.
Most FileMaker Pro web styles render layouts -- they display your layouts in a web browser almost as they appear in a FileMaker Pro window. Most FileMaker Pro web styles use cascading style sheets to render layouts. The browser accessing FileMaker Pro via the FileMaker Pro Web Companion must support cascading style sheets for this feature to function properly.
A new security option is available to limit access to your databases. You can specify the IP addresses that can request data from the FileMaker Pro Web Companion. For example, you can specify that only IP addresses that start with "1.2.3.*" can access your databases. Additionally, there are new options for tracking FileMaker Pro Web Companion activity in log files.
The FileMaker Pro Web Companion has support for the following technologies: CDML, XML, and JDBC. The FileMaker Developer software provides tools, examples, APIs, and documentation for using these technologies with FileMaker Pro databases.
Here is a brief summary of the support for XML, CDML, and JDBC in FileMaker Pro 5:
With the newly enhanced FileMaker Pro Web Companion, FileMaker Pro can deliver data from your database in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format. In the same way that HTML has become the standard display language for communicating on the World Wide Web, XML promises to become the standard language for structured data interchange. Using FileMaker Pro XML, data can be populated in your web page programmatically instead of downloading statically from the server. This gives you more flexibility and allows your visitors to interact with the data after it has been downloaded. For example, when web users add a record from a browser, the record is updated in both the data set on the web page and in the FileMaker Pro database. There's no need to refresh or wait to see the newly added record. Using FileMaker Pro XML capabilities, you are no longer limited to proprietary CDML tags to publish your FileMaker Pro database on the Web.
Based on customer feedback, FileMaker has enhanced several CDML tags and added new tags.FileMaker Developer includes the CDML Tool (which helps you add CDML tags to HTML documents), CDML examples, and a reference database.
If you're a Java programmer, you'll find the new FileMaker JDBC driver a welcome addition to FileMaker Developer. You can use this driver with a variety of Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools to visually create a FileMaker Pro database-aware Java application or applet.
Unlike the Java class support in the previous version of FileMaker Pro Developer Edition, which relied upon proprietary FileMaker Java classes, the new Java classes are supported by any RAD tool. Now you can use the FileMaker JDBC driver to directly access FileMaker Pro data using a RAD tool as you're building your code. The Java application or applet that uses the FileMaker JDBC driver can access FileMaker Pro data via the FileMaker Pro Web Companion.
FileMaker Developer includes several examples that take advantage of these new features. Visit our web site at www.filemaker.com for more information on the FileMaker Developer software.
Choose the FileMaker product that suits your needs
FileMaker Pro
- Use FileMaker Pro to easily create, share, and manage information and projects in workgroups of up to 10 guests. FileMaker Pro is ideal for use with office productivity software such as mail merging with word processing software or creating charts in spreadsheet programs. FileMaker Pro is the simple way to share information.
FileMaker Developer
- Use FileMaker Developer to customize the way your FileMaker Pro 5 databases look on the Web, or to author FileMaker Pro applications. FileMaker Developer is the right choice for creating professional applications for FileMaker Pro.
FileMaker Pro Unlimited
- If you want to provide secure database access to more than 10 non-FileMaker guests in a rolling 12-hour period over the Internet, host the database using FileMaker Pro Unlimited. Unlike FileMaker Pro, you can use FileMaker Pro Unlimited with middleware, application server, CGI, or other software to host a FileMaker Pro database. FileMaker Pro Unlimited is ideal for deploying FileMaker Pro over your intranet or the Internet.
FileMaker Server
- Use FileMaker Server if you require increased network performance, automated backups, and centralized administration of up to 125 FileMaker Pro files with up to 250 guests. FileMaker Server is an excellent choice for workgroups from 10 and up.
If you use FileMaker Pro 5 with any other FileMaker products, those other products must also be version 5 or later.