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:
> 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

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@hotmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1124301990.802237.62500@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> 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
>

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:
>
> 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.
> 
[...]

SamMc wrote:
> 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.
> 

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:

>SamMc wrote:
>>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.
>>
>
>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.

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:
> 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
> 
Hello Sam:

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

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Opie:

That did the trick!

Thank you ver much.

Sam