[WEB4LIB] HTTP get and put commands?

[Bobb Menk]

Bob Duncan wrote:

> The (incredibly sparse) documentation that ships with FileMaker Pro 5
> claims I can "use HTTP Put and Get commands to upload and download files to
> and from" the machine hosting my databases.  The implication is that I can
> do this using a Web browser.  (The FMP "manual" tells me to check my Web
> browser documentation for help.)
>

They're talking about this function in the context of managing a Filemaker-run
web database remotely, using their remote administration package. In a general
sort of way Filemaker admits that the security of the remote admin package is
not exactly bullet-proof, so you may want to consider that before using it on a
publicly accessible database.

You may not need to use remote administration at all - I never have despite
offering a variety of Filemaker databases up on various public and private
webs. Normal ftp has always worked just fine in these setting for transferring
the data back and forth. You can use a browser to do that (put
ftp://your.ftp.address.here on the URL line of your browser and see for
yourself), but if you already have an ftp client set up and configured the way
you want, you gain nothing by doing it through the browser.

The tricky part about updating remote Filemaker databases is how to stop them
from being served while you upload your new copy. Their documentation mentions
that you can do this "using the features available in the Filemaker Developer
edition" which lets you pause Filemaker while uploading and then restart it. If
you're not using the (rather expensive) Developer or Server editions, you can
achieve this by creating scripts to close and open Filemaker and running them
at set times. Feel free to contact me directly for info on how to do this as I
think it gets a bit too Filemaker-specific for the list at large.

Bobb Menk
Electronic Resources Librarian
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
bmenk at ll.mit.edu