FM Pro 6: lost many records.

I have a site running a filemaker pro 6 database which serves about 6
users on various networked macs running os9 and os x. This has proved
itself to be an extremely reliable application, over the years. Recently
a more active pattern of usage has developed with a lot more data entry.

However, something went wrong and many hours worth of data entry was
lost. I am at a loss to explain what went wrong. Magagment has lost a
lot of confidence in the system. The only thing I can think of was two
users, activity editing records, were both using the same password. Is
there any problem with this?

There is a second possibility, I dont have filemaker server. In theory
a user on the disk server opens FM pro first and others then connect to
the running copy of the DB. But I suspect that in some cases it is being
opened by others via a file shared disk. Is this likely to cause
problems?

Rgds Fergus

Re: FM Pro 6: lost many records.

In article <1i8gr7n.10o3noldnegn6N%fergus@twig.demon.co.uk>,
fergus@twig.demon.co.uk (Fergus McMenemie) wrote:

> I have a site running a filemaker pro 6 database which serves about 6
> users on various networked macs running os9 and os x. This has proved
> itself to be an extremely reliable application, over the years. Recently
> a more active pattern of usage has developed with a lot more data entry.
>
> However, something went wrong and many hours worth of data entry was
> lost. I am at a loss to explain what went wrong. Magagment has lost a
> lot of confidence in the system. The only thing I can think of was two
> users, activity editing records, were both using the same password. Is
> there any problem with this?
>
> There is a second possibility, I dont have filemaker server. In theory
> a user on the disk server opens FM pro first and others then connect to
> the running copy of the DB. But I suspect that in some cases it is being
> opened by others via a file shared disk. Is this likely to cause
> problems?

You should NEVER open a FileMaker file across a network by
double-clicking it or using the Open command. This means NOT storing
them on shared / network drives.

Database files should ALWAYS be stored locally on the computer that
opens it, with everyone else connecting to it after it is already open
/ hosted on another computer.

What you should do is put the database file on one computer's own hard
drive, rather than the "disk server", and leave it open on that
computer whenever anyone else needs it - basically it acts as a
mini-server using FileMaker's own hosting / networking. You don't need
any special server software for a small number of users.

The other option is to buy a dedicated server computer and a copy of
FileMaker Advanced (or Server or whatever they call it today), but it's
probably expensive overkill for only six users ... especially since you
would find it difficult to find FileMaker Server 6 and so would have to
upgrade all the computers to the current version of FileMaker, and also
Mac OS X since FileMaker 6 is the last one that runs on Mac OS 9.



By the way, another possibility for data "going missing" can very often
be novice users thinking they are entering data when in reality they
using Find mode. When in Find mode the New command simply adds new Find
Requests, not records, and when you Quit or perform another Find, the
"entered data" in all those requests is lost. When entering new
records, users must make sure they are in Browse mode.


Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

Re: FM Pro 6: lost many records.

Fergus McMenemie wrote:

> I have a site running a filemaker pro 6 database which serves about 6
> users on various networked macs running os9 and os x. This has proved
> itself to be an extremely reliable application, over the years. Recently
> a more active pattern of usage has developed with a lot more data entry.
>
> However, something went wrong and many hours worth of data entry was
> lost. I am at a loss to explain what went wrong. Magagment has lost a
> lot of confidence in the system. The only thing I can think of was two
> users, activity editing records, were both using the same password. Is
> there any problem with this?

There shouldn't be.

> There is a second possibility, I dont have filemaker server. In theory
> a user on the disk server opens FM pro first and others then connect to
> the running copy of the DB. But I suspect that in some cases it is being
> opened by others via a file shared disk. Is this likely to cause
> problems?

Yes! Two copies of FileMaker Pro directly accessing the same database
file(s) from a shared location can easily cause corruption of the
database.

The only safe way to have shared access to a database (if you don't
trust your users) is to put the database files in a location which is
only accessible to the one user who is supposed to be hosting the
database, and for everyone else to access it via FileMaker's database
sharing.

There is no problem in this case with you using FileMaker Pro to share
the database.

FileMaker Server is required for a greater number of users, and adds
some benefits such as being able to back up the database cleanly.

--
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz

Re: FM Pro 6: lost many records.

In article <021220071348408087%helpful_harry@nom.de.plume.com>,
Helpful Harry wrote:

> In article <1i8gr7n.10o3noldnegn6N%fergus@twig.demon.co.uk>,
> fergus@twig.demon.co.uk (Fergus McMenemie) wrote:
>
> > I have a site running a filemaker pro 6 database which serves about 6
> > users on various networked macs running os9 and os x. This has proved
> > itself to be an extremely reliable application, over the years. Recently
> > a more active pattern of usage has developed with a lot more data entry.
> >
> > However, something went wrong and many hours worth of data entry was
> > lost. I am at a loss to explain what went wrong. Magagment has lost a
> > lot of confidence in the system. The only thing I can think of was two
> > users, activity editing records, were both using the same password. Is
> > there any problem with this?
> >
> > There is a second possibility, I dont have filemaker server. In theory
> > a user on the disk server opens FM pro first and others then connect to
> > the running copy of the DB. But I suspect that in some cases it is being
> > opened by others via a file shared disk. Is this likely to cause
> > problems?
>
> You should NEVER open a FileMaker file across a network by
> double-clicking it or using the Open command. This means NOT storing
> them on shared / network drives.
>
> Database files should ALWAYS be stored locally on the computer that
> opens it, with everyone else connecting to it after it is already open
> / hosted on another computer.
>
> What you should do is put the database file on one computer's own hard
> drive, rather than the "disk server", and leave it open on that
> computer whenever anyone else needs it - basically it acts as a
> mini-server using FileMaker's own hosting / networking. You don't need
> any special server software for a small number of users.
>
> The other option is to buy a dedicated server computer and a copy of
> FileMaker Advanced (or Server or whatever they call it today), but it's
> probably expensive overkill for only six users ... especially since you
> would find it difficult to find FileMaker Server 6 and so would have to
> upgrade all the computers to the current version of FileMaker, and also
> Mac OS X since FileMaker 6 is the last one that runs on Mac OS 9.
>
>
>
> By the way, another possibility for data "going missing" can very often
> be novice users thinking they are entering data when in reality they
> using Find mode. When in Find mode the New command simply adds new Find
> Requests, not records, and when you Quit or perform another Find, the
> "entered data" in all those requests is lost. When entering new
> records, users must make sure they are in Browse mode.
>
>
> Helpful Harry
> Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

I add one other possible cause for the missing records (I know because
it has happened to me): Use of the "Delete all records" command or a
script that contains that step.

Make sure your users are not able to use the "Delete all records"
command from the menu. This is of enormous importance.

All deletions of records should be done by way of a script, and any
scripts that delete records should be carefully constructed to ensure
users cannot delete more than the intended set of records.

Also of course make regular backups of your database, and keep old
backups. Name and organize them so you know when they were made. That
way if somebody messes up the data, you can go retrieve the data from a
backup.

Designing the user interface so that it is easy for the users to do what
is right and hard for them to do what is wrong, is of key importance.
This takes thought, time and care, but eliminates a lot of aggravation
-- or worse -- down the line. For guidance in smart design of the user
interface, there is a useful white paper called "White Paper for FMP
Novices." It used to be on the FileMaker web site, but now I cannot find
it. I have a copy as a PDF. If you want it, send me an email and I will
send it to you.

my email address is bbcollins@earthlink.net

Re: FM Pro 6: lost many records.

Bill,Harry

thanks for the help!