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Sharing databases on a network

If your computer is connected to a network, you and other Windows and Mac OS FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Go users can use the same database file simultaneously.

FileMaker Pro Network Sharing supports the sharing of files with up to 9 concurrent users (not including the host and Instant Web Publishing connections). FileMaker Go clients are included in the limit of 9 users. To support more users and web publishing technologies such as XML, use FileMaker Server.

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The information in this topic pertains to sharing files on a local area network. To host databases over a network, see Opening files as the host. For information about publishing files on the web or an intranet, see Publishing databases on the web. For information about sharing files via ODBC or JDBC, see Using ODBC and JDBC with FileMaker Pro.

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Mac OS: If you are unable to share files on a local network, verify on the host computer that either the Mac OS Sharing firewall has been turned off, or that you have added an open network port configuration for port 5003 to the system sharing preferences. For more information about the Mac OS Sharing firewall and adding a network port configuration, see Mac OS Help.

Important  Sharing (or hosting) a FileMaker Pro database is independent of any operating system file sharing. Access control you set up in Windows or the Mac OS is not associated with access privileges you set up in FileMaker Pro, and vice versa.

If you are the first person to open a shared file, you are the host. Users who open a shared file after you are clients.

Notes

Once a shared file is open, the host and clients have access to the same information, and all changes to the file appear in each user's window.

•	Modifications to the data made by any user are saved in the shared file. Any changes to layouts and scripts are also saved in the shared file.

•	Specified sort orders, find requests, import and export field orders, and print setups are specific to each user.

Although it's possible for multiple users to make changes in the same shared file at the same time, there are limits to the types of simultaneous changes that are permitted. The following table describes the types of changes you can and cannot make to shared files.

 

Database change	Limitation
Changing data in fields and records	Two people can’t edit the same record at the same time.
Changing layouts and layout elements	Two people can’t modify the same layout at the same time.
Changing value lists	Two people can’t modify or define value lists at the same time. Note One person can edit a value list while another person is using it in Browse or Find mode.
Changing scripts	Two people can’t modify a specific script at the same time. Note One person can edit a script while another person is using it.
Changing tables, fields, relationships (database schema)	Two people can’t modify any of these elements at one time.
Changing data source references	Two people can’t modify or define data sources at the same time. Note One person can edit a data source while another person is using it.
Changing accounts and privileges	Two people can’t modify or define accounts and privileges at the same time. Note One person can create or modify an account or privilege while another person is using it.

Note  Access privileges may also restrict the ability of users to change certain elements in a file. For more information, see Protecting databases