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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.

While looking through the API code a few weeks ago, our team realized that the FileMaker API for PHP had a time bomb added into the code. We then immediately checked the code that was released with FileMaker Server 9, and found the same code.

This means that anyone that has downloaded the FileMaker API for PHP (Beta) and used it to develop websites - will have a non-functioning site as of Sunday October 7th, at 2 a.m.

FileMaker’s comments so far have been - We said that it was time restricted software, and you can fix the solution by upgrading to FileMaker Server 9.

Many people are arguing that their code works perfectly with FileMaker Server Advanced 8.04 why purposely time bomb the code so it no longer works? Was their some dramatic change to the API for PHP?

No…hardly anything has changed. As a matter of fact Eric Jacobson the Product Manager of Internet Technologies at FileMaker said that your code should work perfectly on Server 9 without any changes. Wait a minute…if it is the same code, then why the time bomb? Here is his quote -

“A website developed for use with the public beta should require very few, if any, modifications to use with the shipping version of the API.”

What has changed in the code is the fact that it runs a version check to make sure that it is using FileMaker Server 9. Yes, the code would absolutely continue working perfectly on FileMaker 8.04…. except for the little problem…the Time Bomb.

Is there an easy coding fix? You bet, 10 little digits would do the trick, but we are bound legally by FileMaker to -well here is what Eric Jacobson also posted -

I have attached a copy of the EULA for the Public Beta. I want to specifically point out section 1b:

YOU MAY NOT REVERSE ENGINEER, DECOMPILE OR
DISASSEMBLE THE SOFTWARE, EXCEPT AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT
EXPRESSLY PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. YOU MAY NOT MODIFY,
ADAPT, TRANSLATE, RENT, LEASE, LOAN OR CREATE DERIVATIVE WORKS
BASED UPON THE SOFTWARE OR ANY PART THEREOF.

It would have been nice if FileMaker had warned everyone saying - this software will NO longer work on October 7th develop at your own risk… but unfortunately, many individuals certainly thought that their PHP would continue working, and with the new release, they would just have to make a few coding adjustments.

I have written a long letter to FileMaker asking for permission to please let everyone know how to fix their code so their sites will continue working. I am hoping that FileMaker does the right thing.

Hi Everyone:

FileMaker Server 9v2 updater is now available for download at:

Download the latest update here

For those of you that may have missed the previous early notice, here are some important fixes that the update addresses:

1.1. In Mac OS X, the Web Publishing Engine stopped responding after running for approximately 5 days. This has been fixed.

1.2. A problem has been fixed in which Instant Web Publishing might display the wrong value from a value list. In version 9.0v1, this problem could occur when one value list item is a substring of another value in the list. For example, if a text field uses a value list containing “room A7” and “room A73″, and the field is set to “room A73″, Instant Web Publishing erroneously displays “room A7″ instead. In version 9.0v1, the erroneously displayed data could then be committed to the database, if the user entered Edit mode and clicked Submit.

1.3. A problem has been fixed that would have caused PHP web publishing to stop working correctly on or after October 7, 2007.

1.4. Sites generated by PHP Site Assistant

1.4.1. User credentials used to log into a site are no longer exposed in the URL and the web server log.

1.4.2. When you click the Delete Record button and then click Cancel in the confirmation dialog box, the record is no longer deleted anyway.

1.5. FileMaker Server performance statistics are no longer prevented from being properly added to the Performance Monitor in Windows Server 2003.

We will continue to monitor any issues related to FileMaker Server 9 and encourage you to continue to submit bug reports at:

File Your Bug Reports

In kindness
Stephen Knight