FMWebschool

This is an article from our newsletter, that I think will be interesting to many of you that work with FileMaker web publishing. I wont give away the surprise, but in our next issue, we will tell you how to speed up your pages and optimize your database. Enjoy! Join our newsletter

Overview

When web publishing with PHP and the FileMaker database, there are two predominant options on the market at this time: FX.php and the FileMaker PHP API. FX.php is an older third party library, that is compatible with FileMaker Server versions 6 and up, and is open source.

The FileMaker API is a proprietary library developed by FileMaker Inc and is compatible with FileMaker Server 9 and above. Both these libraries offer a fully functional interface to a FileMaker database and can be used very quickly in a PHP application, there are many reasons to use each one, and this document will focus on the performance aspect of each library.

Objective

Within the FileMaker community there is an ongoing debate on which library should be used, which one is faster, and what is going to be the long term winner in this “battle”.

This document attempts to place an unbiased perspective on the performance of each library in benchmark tests, and will aim to provide a reason for the differences that are found. In this first set of tests only the results are going to be presented, and a future document will follow with technical analysis as well as recommendations for performance enhancements.

Current Situation and Common Myths

Currently the accepted opinion within the community is that FX.php is the faster library. The advantages of the FileMaker API are generally cited as better code, and official endorsement by FileMaker Inc, as well as it being a developing technology with a lot of potential and a large budget behind it.

The degree to which FX.php is faster then the FileMaker API has been a hot topic, with approximations as low as a few percent to claims of FX.php being 7x faster – this benchmark attempts to put a more concrete number on this specific point.

Download the Documentation Here

Download our sample files

Join the forum discussing this benchmark test and ways to improve speed and optimization.

In Kindness
Stephen Knight
Ask me about FileMaker Hosting for Mobile Devices
http://www.fmgateway.com
800.353.7950

FileMaker Server 9v3 updater is now available for download at:
http://www.filemaker.com/support/downloads/index.html

If you are running Tiger and upgrade to FileMaker Server 9.0v3 and then upgrade to Leopard, you will need to uninstall and reinstall FileMaker Server 9.0v3. If you are planning on upgrading to Leopard, you should do the OS first and then get FileMaker Server up and running on Leopard — not the other way around.

The updater brings FileMaker Server 9v2 and FileMaker Server 9v2 Advanced to v3, and provides some important fixes for Windows and Mac, including Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard compatibility.

Please visit http://www.filemaker.com/support/downloads/index.html for additional details on this update, as well as installation instructions for Windows, Mac OS X 10.4 and Mac OS X 10.5.

NOTE:
- The FileMaker Server 9v3 updater only works on installs of FIleMaker Server 9v2 and FileMaker Server 9v2 Advanced. It will not update FileMaker Server 9v1 and FileMaker Server 9v1 Advanced. In these cases, you must update FileMaker Server 9v1 and FileMaker Server 9v1 Advanced to FileMaker Server 9v2 and FileMaker Server 9v2 Advanced first before applying the FileMaker Server 9v3 updater.

- If you apply the FileMaker Server 9v3 updater and then upgrade to Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5), you will need to completely un install and re-install FileMaker Server 9v3 for it to function properly.

Direct Links for the Mac

Tiger Page Direct Link: http://www.filemaker.com/support/updaters/fms_9.0v3_mac_updater.html

Leopard Page Direct Link: http://www.filemaker.com/support/updaters/fms_9.0v3_full_ESD.html

Please note that if you are running Tiger and upgrade to 9.0v3 then subsequently upgrade to Leopard you will need to uninstall server and then install the updates for Leopard.

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I’m going to throw my iPod in my Blendtec blender.

None of us can deny the iPod is a beautiful piece of technology. In fact some of us may even have emotional attachments to the iPod. It contains our favorite music, and that music makes us feel a certain way.

So when Tom Dickson founder of Blendtec painfully put his own iPod into his blender and filmed it, the impact was pretty amazing. Not just because of his connection to his iPod, but because Tom Dickson will blend just about anything to prove that his blender is the top of the line of blenders. Tom actually puts on an amazing online show called “will it blend”. So far, Tom has blended golf balls, marbles, cubic zirconia, credit cards, Barbie dolls, a video camera … and well, you get the picture. (more…)