Setting up Athenaeum for Web Access

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Using FileMaker Pro, you can search your Athenaeum catalogue using Internet Explorer. This note looks at the requirements

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Introduction

Athenaeum is a program developed with a 'run-time' version of FileMaker Pro. Using the Web Companion plug-in supplied with full version of FileMaker Pro, it is possible to configure Athenaeum so you may search from any computer on your network using a web browser such as Internet Explorer. The version of FileMaker Pro required for your purposes can be found at the end of this note.

Step 1

Network your copy of Athenaeum in the normal manner. This is described in detail in Athenaeum Note 19.

Step 2

On a dedicated computer, i.e. one that is not used for any other purpose, install FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Unlimited and enable the web companion. Copy your html templates (see below) to the web folder inside the FileMaker Pro folder. Connect this copy of FileMaker to your Athenaeum host.

Step 3

Configure the web companion for hosting. Athenaeum Note 30 describes configuring the FileMaker 4 web companion and is very similar to the FileMaker 5 Web Companion.

Step 4

Go to the catalogue (as an administrator) and then choose Sharing from the File Menu. .

Click the Set Up Views button. The various 'Views' should be configured to use the layout 'cat_internetSearch'. The configuration using the FileMaker Pro 5.5 Web Companion is shown here.

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Click the OK buttons to dismiss the dialogs.

Step 5

Restart Athenaeum with the web serving password WEBONLY

Your copy of Athenaeum is now ready to be accessed via the internet.

What version of FileMaker?

Athenaeum has its own version numbering system (e.g. 4.5.3 or 5.5v3), and so does the FileMaker run-time engine. In Windows, you can find out the version of the run time by finding the Athenaeum.exe file in windows Explorer and then right-clicking the icon once and then choosing properties from the menu. Click the version tab to see the version of executable. On the Macintosh, find the Athenaeum icon, click once on it and then press Command-I (Apple-I) to open the Get Info dialog and read the version from there.

If the version is less than 5.0, then you will need a copy of FileMaker Pro 4.0 or 4.1 on your dedicated web computer.

If the version is 5.0 or greater, then you will either need a full copy of FileMaker Pro 5.0, 5.5 or 6 or FileMaker Unlimited 5.0, 5.5 or 6.0. If you want an unlimited number of web clients, then you will need FileMaker Unlimited. If you are likely to need very few web clients, then you can use standard FileMaker Pro which is limited to 10 different web connections every 12 hours.

Note that FileMaker Server, in its current form, does not perform any web serving, only database serving.

Why a dedicated Computer

The computer that will be doing the web serving is not used as an access terminal (an OPAC) in your library because it will be processing multiple requests from the internet. Anyone in the library trying to use that computer for searching may find their screen suddenly change as it handles requests from the internet - a rather disconcerting effect.

Customising the HTML templates

The html templates that are supplied with Athenaeum are, by their very nature, open to customisation.

You may change the look and feel of the templates as you see fit. It is important to maintain the form elements as they are. If you don't understand what that means, then please don't customise the templates.

Hosting Athenaeum Pro with Other FileMaker files.

When you start Athenaeum Pro, it prevents access to other functions by locking off the menus. This can prevent you opening additional FileMaker documents that you wish to host on your FileMaker web server.

Athenaeum Pro versions 4.5.3 and above have an option on the System Tab in the Admin area called the 'Menu Halt Switch'. In this case, you should set the switch to On and Athenaeum will allow other FileMaker files to be hosted at the same time.