Web Publishing

A FileMaker database can be deployed to web users in several ways. One method is to simply export data as either HTML or XML so that it can be statically accessed through a web server. For dynamic interaction with your database, the deployment options are Instant Web Publishing (IWP) and Custom Web Publishing (CWP).

Both FileMaker Pro client and FileMaker Server Advanced can provide access to databases via IWP. FileMaker Pro supports up to 5 concurrent IWP connections; FileMaker Server Advanced supports up to 100. In both cases, setup is straightforward. With IWP, your existing FileMaker layouts are dynamically rendered as web pages. Most scripts will function correctly as well, meaning that designing a solution for IWP deployment requires no web programming skills. Because of the browser restrictions for using IWP, we don recommend using IWP for public websites. Its a more proper deployment option for remote users who would otherwise be connecting to your databases via a slow FileMaker Pro client connection.

For more information on Instant Web Publishing, see Chapter 21, "Instant Web Publishing," p. 633.

Custom Web Publishing is an appropriate deployment option when you need to integrate FileMaker data into an existing website, to provide FileMaker data to other applications in the manner of a web service, or when you simply require more flexibility than IWP affords. CWP requires that a database be hosted by FileMaker Server Advanced. You must also set up a Web Publishing Engine and have a suitable web server available (Apache or Internet Information Server). Using CWP, appropriately formatted HTTP requests can be interpreted by the Web Publishing Engine and passed on to FileMaker Server. The server responds to these requests via XML, which can be transformed into HTML with an XSL stylesheet or simply parsed by some other middleware application. Unlike IWP, CWP requires some knowledge and experience with web application development.

For more information on Custom Web Publishing, see Chapter 23, "Custom Web Publishing," p. 699. For more information on Web Services, see Chapter 22, "FileMaker and Web Services," p. 699.