Runtime Solutions

For some solutions, the best deployment option is as a bound, runtime solution. A runtime solution can be distributed to users who can run it without having a copy of FileMaker Pro on their machine. Runtime solutions are created with the Developer Utilities, which are available only in FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced.

A typical example of a solution that might be deployed as a runtime solution is a product catalog. Perhaps youve developed a gorgeous FileMaker database of all your products, and you want to send it to all your customers on a CD. You could create a runtime version of the files and do just this. Your customers would be able to browse and search for items, maybe even print or email orders to you, all without having a copy of FileMaker on their machines.

The downside to runtime deployment is often version control. After you distribute standalone copies to myriad users, if you need to make a change to the solution, you might need to distribute new copies to those users. Moving data from the old solution to the new solution can be a bit troublesome, for both you and your users. If version control of distributed solutions is likely to be a problem for you, consider web-enabling your database or providing remote access via Citrix/Terminal Services as an alternative deployment method.

Tip

If you need to distribute a runtime solution to both Mac and PC users, you must bind a separate version for each platform, and you therefore need access to both a Mac and a PC during development.

Runtime solutions are primarily designed to be run as single-user applications. A runtime solution can be shared peer-to-peer. You can, however, host a runtime solution with FileMaker Server; users would need FileMaker Pro to access it, just as they would for any other hosted file. This does take away one of the main points of a runtime solution, which is the capability to distribute it widely to users who don have FileMakerbut it may be useful if you want to create a solution with two distribution models. One model would be to release it as a standalone, non-networkable solution, the other to release it as a networkable solution that does require FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Server.

Another deployment option thats available via the Developer Utilities is to create a kiosk from your FileMaker solution. When run as a kiosk, a solution takes up the entire screen. Users don even have access to the Status Area or any menus, which means you must provide buttons for every conceivable action they might perform.

The runtime options are discussed in more detail in the section "Creating a Runtime Application," later in this chapter.