Global variables in multi-user solutions

Expert

Understand global variable scope, per-session isolation, and when to use global fields instead.

What you'll learn

The difference in scope between $$ global variables and global fields
Why global variables cannot be used to share state between users
When global fields are the right choice over global variables

Global variables ($$name) in FileMaker are scoped to a single user's file session on a single client. Each person logged in to the same hosted file has their own completely independent set of global variables. This is different from global fields, which are also per-session but stored in the database.

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Global variable scope: per-session, per-client

When User A sets $$token = "abc" and User B sets $$token = "xyz", each user's $$token is completely isolated. They cannot see each other's value. Global variables persist for the lifetime of the file session — they reset when the user closes the file.

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