User manual

Chapter 5
Sharing and exchanging data
This chapter explains the basics of how you can share FileMaker Pro databases:
1 FileMaker Network Sharing: You can share FileMaker Pro databases on your network, which allows
multiple FileMaker
Pro users to access and use the same database file simultaneously.
1 Importing and exporting data: You can exchange information between FileMaker Pro and other
applications by importing and exporting data. For example, you can import data that is in another
database or spreadsheet program, or export address data in order to create personalized form letters with
a word processing program.
1 Recurring import: You can set up a FileMaker Pro file to automatically update data imported from
another application, such as Microsoft Excel.
1 Accessing data from external data sources: You can access information stored in other FileMaker Pro
files and external SQL databases that use ODBC technology to share data. This allows you to work with
information stored in external databases and combine external data with information stored in your file.
When you access data from an ODBC database, you can use supplemental fields in your FileMaker
Pro file
to perform calculations and summary operations on the data without changing the schema of the external file.
1 Instant Web Publishing: You can quickly and easily publish FileMaker Pro layouts as web pages, which
allows anyone with a web browser on your intranet (or the internet) to access your FileMaker
Pro databases.
Note See Help for detailed, comprehensive information and step-by-step procedures about using
FileMaker
Pro. See the FileMaker Instant Web Publishing Guide for information about publishing
databases on the web.
Sharing databases on a network
If your computer is connected to a network, you and other Windows and Mac OS FileMaker Pro 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). If you need to share files with more than 9 concurrent
users on a network, FileMaker recommends the use of FileMaker
Server, which provides greater networking
performance in addition to its increased capacity.
Important Your FileMaker Pro licensing agreement requires that you pay for a license for each separate
computer on which the FileMaker
Pro application is installed or run. The software license may not be shared or
used concurrently on different computers. Please read the software license for complete terms and conditions.
The first person to open a shared file is the host. Any user who opens a shared file after the host is a client.