Filemaker via PHP (FX)

[tweenerz]

This would apply to any web application that connects to Filemaker (not the Unlimited Version) via a separate web server.

I am using a PHP enabled web server to connect to Filemaker for my web application. I know Filemaker has a 10 web user max for its standard version. My question is - would this still apply if the end-user is not connecting directly to Filemaker, but through the separate web server? Wouldn't Filemaker just view the web servers IP address and consider it 1 user for all requests?

It seems like Filemaker would have a workaround, but I can't think of it.

Thanks

 

[Shanksta]

Lasso connects to FM and works well with DreamWeaver:

http://www.blueworld.com/blueworld/products/

You could also export FM to XML and play around with it there.

I am currently in the process of giving up FM because I hate the fact that only 10 people can connect so I am going with MySQL and PHP.

 

[tweenerz]

I guess I wasn't clear as to the intentions of my post. I wasn't looking for a solution, but simply an answer (with a possible explanation).

Basically my question is the following with regards to the scenerio I illustrated above:

Do I need to install the Unlimited version of Filemaker?

If the answer is yes, do you know how Filemaker detects different IP's given the above situation.

 

[NorthStarDA]

i don't know much about PHP, how do you connect to FM? thru ODBC? If FileMaker is anything like Microsoft, they count each web user as a different user regardless of if the web server is 'technically' the only machine making requests against the db. So i can't tell you if it would work or not, but you asked earlier about a work-around- FM's answer would probably be to use Unlimited.

 

[tweenerz]

how do you connect to FM? thru ODBC?

If you use the open source FX class to connect, which is the best way to do it via PHP, you connect through http the same way CDML does. The FX class parses the XML response that comes back from Filemaker and puts everything nicely into an array for you.

From a technical standpoint, I didn't see how the web server would transfer over the users IP address to Filemaker without explicity programming it into the request. It seems to me that Filemaker would detect the IP and log it. But the IP is from the web server, not the user. I know Unlimited is obviously the "legal" way of doing it, but I am simply curious.

Anyway, I guess the best way to determine it is to test from more than ten separate IP's.

 

[NorthStarDA]

i see how it's done now- yeah i guess that is the best way, if you're on an internal network- should be easy enough.