Knowing Your Limits

Whenever you work with a piece of software, it's a good idea to be aware of the software's limits, both practical and theoretical. Important design considerations can hinge on a correct appraisal of the capabilities of your tools. If you need to build a system that can correctly work with dates prior to those in the AD era, it's a good idea to be aware of the storage capabilities of FileMaker's date field type, for example.

Some of these limits are more theoretical than practical, and you're better off observing the practical limits. We don't recommend you build systems with a million tables, for example, or write calculations containing 30K of text. If you feel you need to push these upper limits, you may want to recheck your assumptions and, if necessary, rethink your approach.

Table 2.1 provides the limits of some of the most important measurable capacities of the FileMaker product line.

Table 2.1. FileMaker Limits

Characteristic

Capacity

Maximum file size

8 terabytes

Maximum tables per file

1,000,0000

Maximum fields per table

256 million over the life of the file

Maximum number of fields in a handheld database (FileMaker Mobile)

50

Maximum records per file

64 quadrillion over the life of the file

Maximum records in a handheld database (FileMaker Mobile)

5,000

Maximum field name length

100 characters

Maximum table name length

100 characters

Maximum field comment length

30,000 characters

Maximum calculation text length

30,000 characters

Maximum custom function text length

30,000 characters

Maximum amount of data in a text field

2 gigabytes (about a billion Unicode characters)

Maximum amount of data in a text field in FileMaker Mobile

2,000 characters

Range of a number field

-10400 to -10-400 and 10-400 to 10400 (and 0 as well)

Precision of a number field

Up to 400 significant digits

Maximum amount of data in a number field in FileMaker Mobile

255 characters

Range of a date field

1/1/0001 12/31/4000

Range of a time field

1 2,147,483,647

Range of a timestamp field

1/1/0001 12:00:00 AM 12/31/4000 11:59:59.999999 PM

Size of data in a container field

4 gigabytes

Maximum size of data used for indexing

Up to 100 characters of data per word

Maximum files open in FileMaker client

Limited only by memory on the client computer

Maximum number of databases on a handheld device (FileMaker Mobile)

50

Maximum database files hosted by Filemaker client, peer-to-peer

10

Maximum connected FileMaker, Instant Web, or ODBC/JDBC clients, peer-to-peer

5

Maximum files hosted by FileMaker Server

125

Maximum connected FileMaker clients using FileMaker Server

250

Maximum Instant Web Publishing clients using FileMaker Server Advanced

100

Maximum ODBC/JDBC clients using FileMaker Server Advanced

50

Maximum RAM addressable by FileMaker Server

4 gigabytes

Maximum cache setting for FileMaker Server

800 megabytes

Maximum number of records in IWP table view

50

Maximum number of records in IWP list view

25

Maximum dimensions of a FileMaker layout

121 inchesx121 inches

Notes

  • Unicode characters take up a variable number of bits, dependent on the character, so it's not possible to define a precise upper limit to the size of a text field.
  • FileMaker Pro clients and ODBC/JDBC clients draw from the same pool of available connections on FileMaker Server/Server Advanced, so the upper limit is a total of 250 connected users of both types together. Of these, no more than 50 may be ODBC/JDBC users.


: FileMaker Specifications

FileMaker 8 Product Line

Specifications and Storage Limits

  • Knowing Your Limits

Field Types and Import/Export Formats

: Calculation Functions

Working with Calculations Primer

Calculation Signatures

Calculation Functions

: Custom Functions

Custom Functions Primer

Useful Custom Functions

: Script Steps

Scripting Primer

Script Step Reference

: Quick Reference

FileMaker Error Codes

FileMaker Keyboard Shortcuts

FileMaker Network Ports

FileMaker Server Command Line Reference

FileMaker XML Reference

: Other Resources

Where to Go for More Information



FileMaker 8 Functions and Scripts Desk Reference
FileMaker 8 Functions and Scripts Desk Reference
ISBN: 0789735113
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 352

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