Product ReviewsOffice software
FileMaker upgrades seem to be settling into an annual cycle, with 0.5 being added to the version number each summer. This year, that process brings us from 8.5 to 9, with a few new features, but more emphasis on enhancing what's already there. Some of the biggest changes are to be found in FileMaker Pro Server. As well as a new interface and the ability to run scheduled scripts, there is now PHP Site Assistant, a utility that guides you through a series of decisions and then generates a PHP web site to publish your database. As you'd expect, there's a range of themed layouts and style sheets to choose from so it's easy to get acceptable results. Experienced users, who may prefer a less packaged approach, can use the generated source code as a starting point for further programming. FileMaker has long been able to access SQL databases through ODBC, but you could only import a static snapshot of the data. Now you can get live access to it, with the SQL table appearing in the Relationships graph just like any native FileMaker table. Depending on how privileges have been set up on the SQL side, this could allow a read-only or read/write connection from the FileMaker side. Of course, this will only be relevant to a proportion of FileMaker users, but it's a significant step that should help FileMaker to gain acceptance in the enterprise market. Small business and home users, for whom SQL and even PHP may not be important, get a raft of design improvements to make life easier. These include the ability to specify the default foremost tab in any tabbed layout and easier conditional formatting for fields and buttons. Both were previously achievable, but only by rather clumsy means. Conditional formatting, in particular, will be a real time-saver as it means you'll
Another new design feature is auto-resizing, which allows you to create a single layout and have it adjust automatically to different screen and print resolutions. This is controlled through an expanded Object Info box where you can set anchors to pin any object relative to one or more edges of the screen, or disable them all to make it free-floating. As the window is resized, objects and the space between them will expand, contract and move according to how they've been pinned. FileMaker says that this was one of their most requested features and it's easy to see why, but don't expect this to be a one-size-fits-all panacea. For simple utilitarian layouts it works fine, but we found that design can suffer badly unless the layout is created with re-sizing in mind and, even then, the more complex layouts benefit from size-specific design. Scripting continues to improve, even if it still doesn't reach the level of programmability that many developers would like. You can now open multiple script editing windows, making it easier to copy and paste between them, and scripts can be grouped in virtual folders to make long lists of scripts more manageable. Spell-checking used to operate on the whole file, but can now be turned on or off for any individual field. This will allow non-dictionary data such as Name fields to be excluded from checking. Version 9 also offers multiple undo and redo steps for editing field contents, rather than the single level that we've had until now. Other enhancements include a new Quick Start screen that provides faster access to recent and favourite files and a neat feature that lets you combine several reports into a single PDF document. Another small but handy addition is the new Send Link command. If you have a database that's hosted for sharing, either peer-to-peer or on FileMaker Server, this command will automatically create an email containing a clickable link to your file without you needing to know its IP address. Overall, there is a lot to welcome in FileMaker version 9, including some substantial new features, but it's not an essential upgrade for all users. By Jack Weber |
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