Filemaker: How to change the path to external data source with a script?

If you look under File > Manage > External Data Sources in each file, you should see a list of the references. You should be able to change the IP address in those references to match the new one and have the internal references update when you close out. Just make sure that the databases are actually available at the new location and test with a back up copy.

Hi Will

Thanks for your suggestion. This indeed works and that's how we did it. About 500 times. However this is not quite what i am looking for. Maybe i didn't put i clear enough in my question. What i would like is a script or programm that goes through all my databases and changes the IP address in all 500 paths.
I dont necessarily need a finished script. Some hints whether it's possible at all and if so what tools to use would already be a good starting point.

Thanks Will, you are absolutely correct. The system has grown (i avoid to write evolved) over the last ten to twenty years and this is already the third generation of hardware that the fm server runs on. I took over only last friday after the original administrator (who was more of a linguist than an  IT guy) got seriously ill. Unfortunately it's not a good moment to change anything due to some deadlines coming up, but we certainly will remember your advice when the time comes.
I will have a look into QuickKeys, i might need such a tool later either for fm or for some other jobs. Thanks again.

Roger

Ps: after the external data sources we have to deal with fm accounts - 15 users per database at least that we have to consolidate....

Another advantage of consolidating tables and files is of course consolidating users, put all your tables into one file and you only have to enter users once. If you have multiple files, and there are plenty of valid reasons for doing that, you can script the creation of accounts so that they are created in the other files automatically. I generally keep a Users table which is then used to create and edit users, their privilege level, preferred Zoom level, and email for notifications. I encrypt the user's password in FileMaker using one of several techniques involving either a custom function or a plugin like the Blowfish plugin or the free BaseElements plugin. That gives you greater control over user management without compromising security. It's not as secure as using FM's builtin password hashing but it's good enough in most instances.