# Chapter 1

## Introduction, Installation, and Configuration
This chapter will introduce you to the UPLOADit plug-in, show you how to install the plug-in, and show you some of the Configuration Dialog settings.

### Introduction

Welcome to UPLOADit! This plug-in will allow your users to upload any file they want from their computer to your FileMaker computer using only their web browser. There are several reasons why you may want to do this. Here are some examples:

- You may want to allow people to upload images to your web server and immediately be able to display those images on your web site.
- You may want to allow people to upload resumes to your web server as part of an employment web site.
- You may want to allow people to upload files they wish to attach to emails using your custom web based email client (using SMTPit and POP3it).
- You may want to allow students to upload their homework, essays, term papers, or research papers to your class web site.

There are probably several other examples you can think of for allowing people to upload files to your web site.

So, you may be wondering how this plug-in works. The concept is actually fairly simple. UPLOADit is basically a mini web server that allows a web browser to submit an HTML form to it. One of the form elements can be a "file" element that allows the user to browse their hard drive for a file to upload. When they submit the form, the web browser connects to UPLOADit and sends all of the form data, including the file the user chose, to the plug-in. The plug-in saves the file out to the hard drive and then calls a FileMaker script in your FileMaker database to inform you that someone just uploaded a file. Your FileMaker script then can read in the form values and ask UPLOADit for the path and file name of the file the user just uploaded. At this point, you can manipulate the uploaded file, if you want, by copying it, moving it, renaming it, deleting it, etc. Your FileMaker script then instructs UPLOADit to redirect the user's web browser to a final response page. To see a visual representation of this, please see our flowchart in Appendix E.

### Installation

Installing UPLOADit is very easy. If FileMaker Pro is open, close it. Next, locate the folder on your hard drive that contains your FileMaker Pro application. For Macintosh, this is usually in the "Applications" folder; while on Windows, it is usually in the "Program Files" folder. Next to the FileMaker Pro application, you should see a folder named FileMaker Extensions (on Macintosh; See Figure 1.1) or System (on Windows; See Figure 1.2). Copy the plug-in file into this folder to install it into FileMaker Pro.

Figure 1.1 Installing on Macintosh
Figure 1.2 Installing on Windows

After installing the plug-in as described above, you can open FileMaker Pro again and set the default preferences if you wish. To do this on Windows, go to the "Edit" menu, select "Preferences" and then select "Application". This should bring up the "Application Preferences" dialog. Next, click on the "Plug-ins" tab, and then double-click the UPLOADit plug-in. On Mac OS X, go to the "FileMaker Pro" menu, select "Preferences" and then select "Application". This should bring up the "Application Preferences" dialog. Next, click on the "Plug-ins" tab, and then double-click the UPLOADit plug-in.

### Configuration

#### Basics

Once the Configuration Dialog is open, click the Basics tab where you can set the following values. Port is where you specify the TCP/IP port number you want your UPLOADit server to listen for connections on. The valid TCP/IP port numbers are in the range from 0 to 65535, though you will probably not be able to use a port number less than 1024 on Mac OS X.

Max Connections is the maximum number of simultaneous connections your UPLOADit server will accept at any given time. The Automatically Start Server check box allows you to start your UPLOADit server automatically when FileMaker Pro is opened.

Figure 1.3 Basics Tab

#### Realms

The Realms Tab allows you to create and edit your realms. See Appendix B for more information about the realm settings you can define here.

Figure 1.4 Realms Tab

#### Advanced

The Advanced Tab holds settings that you will most likely never need to change. You should not change any of the settings on this tab unless you know exactly what you are doing, or if our tech support team instructs you to change the settings.

#### About

The About Tab reports which version of UPLOADit you are using, who the plug-in is registered to, and how many seats the plug-in is registered for. You can also use the "Upld-Version" function to bring up the Configuration Dialog by passing the function the string "CONFIGURE" or the string "ABOUT". To make sure that you have the most recent version of UPLOADit, please visit our website (http://uploadit.cnsplug-ins.com/)

Figure 1.5 About Tab

#### Registration

When you decide to purchase UPLOADit, you can obtain a license from our secure online purchase form at https://secure.comm-unity.net/products.htm?product=UPLOADit. Once you have purchased a license to use UPLOADit, we will send you a registration code to register your copy of the plug-in. To do that, open any of the example databases and press the "Register UPLOADit" button and enter your registration information. You can also register by opening the configuration dialog, and clicking on the "Registration" button.