Web viewers

  • FileMaker WebDirect uses iframes to display Web viewer pages. Therefore, all the restrictions and limitations for iframes apply to web viewer pages. The limitations can sometimes cause certain websites to be displayed blank inside a web viewer that is accessed in FileMaker WebDirect. To troubleshoot the two most common causes of this issue:

    • Verify that the target URL uses the same protocol (such as http or https) as the parent page. For example, if your FileMaker WebDirect page is accessed using https, the URL for your web viewer page should also start with https, and vice versa.

    • Make sure your web viewer is pointing to a website that allows its content to be embedded into other websites. For example, if the X-Frame-Options header for a website includes X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN, the content from the site can only be used in an iframe from another website hosted on the same domain.

  • Web users might be able to interact with web viewer content in a limited way, even if you clear the Allow interaction with web viewer checkbox in the Web Viewer Setup dialog box. Limited interaction can also occur even if a web viewer is defined as a button.

  • If the URL calculated by a web viewer does not include a colon (:), then FileMaker WebDirect adds the scheme http:// to the beginning of the URL. To avoid errors, include the appropriate scheme in the web address when you set up a web viewer.

  • The Back and Forward options of the Set Web Viewer script step are not supported in FileMaker WebDirect. To navigate backward and forward within a web viewer in FileMaker WebDirect, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) within the web viewer and choose Back or Forward. If the layout has more than one web viewer, the shortcut menu works only with the web viewer that has most recently changed from one page to another, not necessarily the one the pointer is over.

  • FileMaker WebDirect does not support web viewers whose content is published by FileMaker WebDirect. No webpage displays in a web viewer if the web viewer URL contains /fmi/webd.

  • Content in a web viewer may have unintended effects on FileMaker WebDirect. For example, a URL (either a URL calculated from field data or a URL that the user sets by clicking a link in a web viewer) can specify a page that has the target=top attribute. This attribute causes the page to replace FileMaker WebDirect in the web browser window.

  • As operating system vendors continue to fix security problems, they may disable certain features, often along with modifying security settings within the user's web browser. Such changes might disable or change the behavior of web viewers in FileMaker WebDirect. Tell users how to change security settings in their browsers to allow web viewers to function properly, or ensure that the URLs used by your web viewers are for trusted webpages only.