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Publishing databases with FileMaker WebDirect

With FileMaker Pro, you can design layouts to share with users in FileMaker WebDirect, allowing them to find, browse, and modify data in a web browser.

•	Use FileMaker WebDirect to quickly and easily publish the layouts you design in FileMaker Pro as web pages. Create layouts for FileMaker Pro users and web users with the same design tools.

•	Automate simple tasks such as finding records, or automate more complex tasks using script steps that are compatible with FileMaker WebDirect. See Creating scripts to automate tasks.

•	Use accounts and privilege sets to control the security of your solution. See Protecting databases.

FileMaker WebDirect is available to databases hosted by FileMaker Server, which includes all the software you need to publish layouts from your database as web pages within a local network or intranet. With an Internet connection (typically provided through an Internet Service Provider) and an IP address, you can publish to Internet users on the World Wide Web.

To publish databases on the web:

1.	Open the database files in FileMaker Pro.

2.	Choose File menu > Sharing > Configure for FileMaker WebDirect to open the FileMaker WebDirect Settings dialog box.

3.	Select the filename to publish on the web from the list of open files.

4.	Choose which users can access the file:

 

Choose	To
All users	Provide access to anyone who has the IP address or domain name of the server hosting the database.
Specify users by privilege set	Allow select users access to the FileMaker WebDirect solution. Users may be asked to enter their account name and password, defined in the Manage Security dialog box, depending on the settings in the File Options dialog box. See Setting file options.
No users	Prevent any user from accessing the FileMaker WebDirect solution.

5.	Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each database you want to publish.

6.	Click OK or choose additional settings.

Tip  Select Don’t display in FileMaker WebDirect homepage in the FileMaker WebDirect Settings dialog box to suppress a filename from appearing in the built-in FileMaker WebDirect Database Homepage. This is useful if your solution includes multiple files and you don’t want all the filenames displayed.

7.	Upload the database files to FileMaker Server. See Uploading files to FileMaker Server.

Notes

•

Web users can open solutions without specifying a password if you set up the Guest account for web access. In FileMaker Pro, enable the Guest account and assign it a privilege set that has the Access via FileMaker WebDirect extended privilege. See About the Admin and Guest accounts for information on enabling the Guest account for FileMaker WebDirect.

•	For detailed information about FileMaker WebDirect (including information on accessing published solutions in a web browser and working with container fields), see FileMaker WebDirect Guide.