Hello All:

I reviwed previous discussions on this, but there is no clear answer.

How do I give the pathname in an Export Records command on a W2K
environment so that the exports would appear on any given user's
desktop?

Thanks!

Sam

SamMc wrote:
There is a useful collection of standard windows 2000 environment
variables located here:

http://kennethhunt.com/archives/000933.html

I suspect the answer to your question is something like
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop as it would be in WinXP.
--
Dan
Using
FMP7.03, WinXP SP2

Thanks for the suggestion Dan.

I tried "file:/%userprofile%/Desktop". (Filemaker examples have forward
slashes.)

It did not work.

Sam

"SamMc" <FMP_account (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

Read this info over - it may have some helpful info:

Defining file references
A file reference stores the paths that FileMaker Pro searches to access an
external file, table, script, or value list. Each named file reference can
consist of one or more paths, separated by carriage returns. File paths are
searched in the order in which they appear. FileMaker Pro opens the first
file it is able to locate, which completes the search.

FileMaker Pro supports the following file path formats:

Type of path
Description
Format

Relative
The path to the target file
file:directoryName/fileName

Full (Mac OS)
The absolute path to the target file on the Mac OS,
beginning at the top level of the file system
filemac:/volumeName/directoryName/fileName

Full (Windows)
The absolute path to the target file in Windows, beginning
at the top level of the file system
filewin:/driveletter:/directoryName/fileName

FileMaker Network
The network path to a shared FileMaker Pro file
fmnet:/hostIPaddress/fileName

Network (Windows)
The absolute path to the target file on a Windows volume
shared using Windows file sharing
filewin://computerName/shareName/directoryName/fileName




In many dialog boxes, you have the option of choosing existing file
references or creating new file references as needed. For example, in the
Edit Value List dialog box, you can specify a file reference to an external
file that contains a value list that you want to access.

You can:

Choose the named file reference.

Choose Add File Reference to quickly add a reference to a single file.
This opens the Open File dialog box, where you specify the file. FileMaker
Pro creates the file reference for you.

Choose Define File Reference to create or edit a reference with
multiple file paths. This opens the Define File References dialog box.


To define a file reference:

1.
Choose File menu > Define > File References.

2.
Click New in the Define File References dialog box.

3.
Click Add File in the Edit File Reference dialog box, and select the
file using the Open File dialog box.

4.
Click Open to add the path for this file to the file path list.

5.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each file path you want to add to this file
reference.


You can also enter file paths by typing them directly into the file path
list. Each file path must appear on a separate line.

6.
For File Reference Name, type a name. This is the name that will appear
in all lists that display file references.


The default file reference name is the name of the first file added to the
file path list.

7.
Click OK to save the file reference.


To edit a file reference:

1.
Choose File menu > Define > File References.

2.
Select the file reference to be edited from the list in the Define File
References dialog box.

3.
Click Edit.

4.
Edit the file paths in the file path list.


File paths can be edited as text. Each file path must remain on a separate
line.

5.
Click OK to save your changes.


To delete a file reference:

1.
Choose File menu > Define > File References.

2.
Select the file reference in the Define File References dialog box.

Tip Press the Shift key to select multiple file references.

3.
Click Delete.

4.
Click OK.


Notes

To create a generic, cross-platform file path, begin the file path with
the word file.

To create platform-specific file paths, begin the file path with either
filemac or filewin. FileMaker Pro only searches the platform-specific file
path that corresponds to the operating system on which the FileMaker Pro
application is running.

To access a file located on a shared Windows volume, use the network
path format. This format is only compatible with shared Windows volumes. It
is not compatible with shared Mac OS volumes or FileMaker Network sharing.

You must re-specify the file references for related files and files
with external scripts if you add or remove filename extensions.

FileMaker does not recommend using an asterisk (*) as a wild card
character in network file path definitions as it slows FileMaker network
traffic. When possible, replace an asterisk with the appropriate IP address.
If you have converted a database from a previous version of FileMaker Pro,
review the converted file references and replace any asterisks with known IP
addresses or network file paths.


Examples of single-path file references

Type of path
Example

Relative
file:MyDocuments/MyFile.fp7

Full path (Mac OS)
filemac:/MacintoshHD/Users/JohnSmith/Documents/MyFile.fp7

Full path (Windows)
filewin:/C:/Desktop/My Documents/MyFile.fp7

FileMaker Network
fmnet:/192.168.10.10/MyFile.fp7

Network path (Windows)
filewin://SalesComputer/SharedVolume/FMPFiles/MyFile.fp7




Examples of multiple-path file references

Use multiple file paths when you want FileMaker Pro to search a list of
potential files. File paths are searched in the order in which they appear.
FileMaker Pro opens the first file it is able to successfully locate, which
completes the search.

Example 1: In this example, a FileMaker Pro database must work on two
different operating systems: a Windows system that accesses local Windows
files, and a Mac OS system that accesses local Mac OS files. On both
platforms, the database must access a local file named MyFile.fp7. Use this
file reference:


filewin:/C:/FMPFiles/Hosted/MyFile.fp7

filemac:/MacintoshHD/FMPFiles/Hosted/MyFile.fp7

Example 2: In this example, a FileMaker Pro database should access a file
that is hosted. However, because the host may not be available, you also
reference two alternate files, one hosted by a different server, the other
stored locally on your hard drive. If the first network file is unavailable,
FileMaker Pro will search for the second network file. If the second network
file is also unavailable, FileMaker Pro will search for the local file. Use
this file reference:


fmnet:/192.168.10.10/FMPFiles/MyOtherFile.fp7
fmnet:/192.168.10.12/FMPFiles/MyOtherFile.fp7
file:FMPSolutions/FMPFiles/MyOtherFile.fp7

Thanks for posting this Al. However, I am still not clear as to how
construct a file path which would change with the user's name.

I want

file:/C:/Documents and Settings/XXX/Desktop/FMPExport.csv

where XXX changes from one user to another.

When I enter
file:/C:/Desktop/FMPExport.csv
the file ends up in:
C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Pro 7\ folder

Same with file:/Desktop/FMPExport.csv and file:FMPExport.csv

There is got to be a scheme like "%userprofile%" that sticks in the
actual user's name.

Sam

AL Lawrance wrote:

SamMc wrote:
Go to the Filemaker web site and check out their plugins - there are
some that dynamically name the file to export from a name stored in a
text field.

A Lawrance wrote:

To clarify, FM provides a list of third-party plugins, none of which are
FM product. They don't much attention to maintaining the list.

Troi's File plugin (http://troi.com) is mentioned, but oAzium Filetools
(http://onestopfilemaker.com) is not.

Matt

SamMc wrote:

Within Windows 2000 and Windows XP, there is a desktop with the path

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop

which is visible to ANY User desktop.

Simply specify the file path in your FileMaker Script as:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\yourfile.xxx

where xxx may be .mer or .tab or whatever Choices your version of
FileMaker provides.

Please note that this will not be a personal version of the export.

If the file exists before you perform the export, you will need to turn
on the Perform without Dialog Script step and your script will overwrite
the file.

Opie


http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
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Opie:

That did the trick!

Thank you ver much.

Sam