The FileMaker Web Publishing Engine, abbreviated WPE, is the FileMaker Server component that connects FileMaker custom apps with web browsers and Custom Web Publishing clients.
For FileMaker WebDirect, it translates FileMaker layouts, data, and interactions into a web experience built with technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebSockets.
The WPE also supports Custom Web Publishing through the XML interface and the deprecated FileMaker PHP API.
The bridge between FileMaker and the web
A FileMaker layout is not an HTML page. It contains FileMaker objects, fields, portals, calculations, buttons, scripts, and other components interpreted by the FileMaker platform.
The WPE acts as a bridge between this FileMaker environment and the browser.
For a WebDirect session, it helps process:
- Layout presentation
- Record data
- User interactions
- Script execution
- Script triggers
- Button clicks
- Keyboard actions
- Communication with the Database Server
The browser presents the interface, but much of the work is performed by FileMaker Server and the Web Publishing Engine.
WPE and FileMaker WebDirect
FileMaker WebDirect behaves like a FileMaker client running through a browser.
When a user opens a custom app, the WPE creates and maintains a server-side session. It communicates with the Database Server, receives FileMaker layout and data information, and sends a browser-compatible representation to the user.
When the user clicks a button or edits a field, the interaction is sent back through the web architecture and processed by the FileMaker platform.
This explains why WebDirect performance depends on more than the user’s browser. The design of the layouts, the number of objects, scripts, related records, server resources, and network latency all affect the experience.
WPE and Custom Web Publishing
The Web Publishing Engine also supports Custom Web Publishing with XML.
In this architecture, a custom website sends a structured request to FileMaker Server. The WPE processes the request and returns FileMaker data as XML.
The former FileMaker PHP API provided a PHP layer over this XML interface. Claris has deprecated that PHP API, but the underlying XML interface remains supported.
Modern PHP applications can also use alternatives based on the FileMaker Data API, including the API developed by Romain Dunand, technical director of fmcloud.fm.
WPE scripts are not FMSE scripts
A script executed in a WebDirect or Custom Web Publishing session is processed in the context of the WPE environment.
It is not automatically executed by the FileMaker Server Script Engine simply because it runs on the server.
This distinction affects:
- Script-step compatibility
- Session context
- Variables
- Plug-in installation
- Logging
- Server resources
A WPE script can use Perform Script on Server to delegate work to a separate FMSE session.
WPE and the web server
The WPE is not itself the public web server.
Apache, IIS, or Nginx receives HTTP and HTTPS connections. The web server routes the relevant requests to the Web Publishing Engine.
The WPE then communicates with the FileMaker Database Server and prepares the application response.
Each component has a separate responsibility:
- The web server manages HTTP and HTTPS communication.
- The WPE interprets the FileMaker web session.
- The Database Server hosts and processes the application data.
Multiple WPE machines
In a multiple-machine FileMaker Server deployment, additional secondary machines can run their own web server and WPE.
This distributes WebDirect sessions across several machines while the databases remain hosted by the primary FileMaker Server.
The WPE therefore plays a central role in FileMaker’s WebDirect scaling architecture.
Monitoring the WPE
A WPE problem can affect WebDirect and Custom Web Publishing even while FileMaker Pro users remain connected normally.
Symptoms may include:
- WebDirect becoming unavailable
- Web sessions failing to open
- Slow web interactions
- Custom Web Publishing errors
- Excessive memory consumption
- WPE restarts
Current FileMaker Server versions can monitor and restart certain web services automatically, but application design and resource planning remain important.
WPE expertise from fmcloud.fm
At fmcloud.fm, we understand the complete path between a browser and a FileMaker database.
We can investigate the web server, SSL connection, WPE, Database Server, custom app, scripts, and server resources rather than treating every WebDirect problem as a generic hosting issue.
We can also help optimize FileMaker layouts and workflows for WebDirect or determine when a secondary WPE machine is appropriate.
