PDF Estimated Time To Read This: 2 – 3 minutes
From the title you might assume I was going to dispense some “winterly” advice like “clear snow from around your vents on your house” or “keep snow cleared from around ground-level windows (so when it melts, water doesn’t seep in).” No, these just happen to be FileMaker tips and it’s January; hence, January Tips.
Tip 1: If you administer FileMaker Server, you know you’ve had to set up an account and password that allows you access to configure the setting, manage backups, etc. If you have ever forgotten that account or password you also know the grief associated with not being able to control your server! Aside from making a note of the account and password and storing it in a good secure location, here’s another tip I can offer to safeguard against losing access to your server. On the General Settings panel of the Configuration section, go to the Admin Console tab (see below; click to enlarge).
Adding a security group is good insurance against losing your access.
Add a name in the section ‘Use external group’ that matches a security group defined in the Active Directory (Windows) or Open Directory (OSX) of your network. Assign yourself or other users to that group. When properly defined, you should be able to gain access to the Admin Console using your network log-in.
Tip 2: This one has been making the rounds on some list servers recently so I can’t take the credit. If you manage a long list of scripts within folders and need a quick way to expand or collapse that list, try entering command-a (OSX) or ctrl-a (Windows) to select all the scripts and folders, then press the – key (Windows) or the left arrow key (OSX) to collapse and the + key (Windows) or the right arrow key (OSX) to expand. Note that on Windows you must use the numeric keypad’s + and – keys. This trick also works for layout folders when managing layouts.
