FileMaker

FileMaker

FileMaker Pro 9 screenshot showing a company database page
Developer(s)	FileMaker Inc. (formerly Claris)
Stable release	Version 10.0 / 2009-01-06; 10 months ago
Operating system	Mac OS X, Windows XP, Windows Vista
Type	Database management system
License	Proprietary
Website	FileMaker Inc.

FileMaker Pro is a cross-platform relational database application from FileMaker Inc., formerly Claris, (a subsidiary of Apple). It integrates a database engine with a GUI-based interface, allowing users to modify the database by dragging new elements into layouts, screens, or forms.

FileMaker evolved from a DOS application, but was then developed primarily for the Apple Macintosh. Since 1992 it has been available for Microsoft Windows as well as Mac OS, and can be used in a heterogeneous environment. It is available in desktop, server, and web-delivery configurations.

History

FileMaker began as a MS-DOS-based computer program named Nutshell. It was developed by Nashoba Systems of Concord, Massachusetts, around 1982 or 1983.^[1] Nutshell was distributed by Leading Edge, an electronics marketer that had recently started selling IBM PC-compatible computers.

With the introduction of the Macintosh, Nashoba combined the basic data engine with a new forms-based graphical user interface (GUI), creating a program that was dramatically easier to use. Leading Edge was not interested in newer version, preferring to remain a DOS-only vendor, and kept the Nutshell name. Nashoba found another distributor, Forethought Inc., and introduced the program on the Macintosh platform as FileMaker. When the Macintosh Plus was introduced, the next version of FileMaker was named FileMaker Plus to reflect the new model's name.

Forethought was purchased by Microsoft, which was then introducing a series of products that are today the core of Microsoft Office. Microsoft had introduced its own database application, Microsoft File, shortly before FileMaker, but it was outsold by FileMaker and Microsoft discontinued it. Microsoft negotiated with Nashoba for the right to publish FileMaker, but Nashoba decided to self-publish the next version, FileMaker 4.^[2]

Shortly thereafter, Apple Computer formed Claris, a wholly owned subsidiary, to market software. Claris purchased Nashoba to round out its software suite. By then, Leading Edge and Nutshell had faded from the marketplace because of competition from other DOS and later Windows platform database products. FileMaker, however, continued to succeed on the Macintosh platform.

Claris changed the product's name to FileMaker II to conform to its naming scheme for other products, such as MacWrite II, but the product was changed little from the last Nashoba version. Several minor versions followed, and things finally settled down with the release of FileMaker Pro 1.0 in 1990.

In September 1992, Claris released a multiplatform version for both the Mac and Windows. Except for few platform-specific functionalities, the program's features and user interface were the same on both platforms. Version 3.0, released around 1995, introduced new relational and scripting features.

By 1995 FileMaker was the only strong-selling product in Claris's lineup. In 1998, Apple moved development of some of the other Claris products in house, dropped most of the rest, and changed Claris's name to FileMaker, Inc., to concentrate on that product.

Version 4.0, introduced in 1997, added a plug-in architecture much like Adobe Photoshop, which enabled third-party developers to add features to FileMaker. A bundled plug-in was the Web Companion, which allowed the database to act as a web server. Other "plugs" added features to the interface and enabled FileMaker to serve as an FTP client, perform external file operations, and send messages to remote FileMaker files over the Internet or an intranet.

Version 7, released in 2004, supported file sizes up to 8 terabytes (increased from 2 gigabytes in previous versions). Individual fields could hold up to 2 gigabytes (up from 64 kilobytes in previous versions), and FileMaker’s relational model was enriched, offering multiple tables per file and a graphical relationship editor that displayed and allowed manipulation of related tables in a manner that resembled the entity-relationship diagram format. With this change, FileMaker Inc. also introduced a developer certification program.

In 2005, FileMaker, Inc., announced the FileMaker 8 product family, which offered the developer an expanded feature set. These included a tabbed interface, script variables, tooltips, enhanced debugging, custom menus, and the ability to copy and paste entire tables and field definitions, scripts, and script steps within and between files.

Version 8.5, released in 2006, added an integrated web viewer (the ability to view such things as shipment tracking information from FedEx and Wikipedia entries) and named layout objects.

FileMaker 9 was released in 2007. This version introduced a quick start screen, conditional formatting, hyperlinked pointers into databases, and external SQL links.

FileMaker 10 was released on January 5, 2009, before the Macworld Conference & Expo. This version offers scripts to be triggered by user actions and a redesigned user interface that is similar to many applications on Mac OS X Leopard.

Description

A defining characteristic of FileMaker is that the database engine is integrated with the forms (screen, layouts, reports etc) used to access it. Most database systems separate these tasks, concerning themselves primarily with organization and storage of the data.

Until recently, each table of a FileMaker database system was stored as a separate file (with relational links to other files) and each file had its own built-in interface capabilities. Version 7 introduced the capability to build multiple tables into one document. Compared to other relational database management system products, it is fairly easy to develop quickly and to make changes on the fly as the data structure is altered. More complex systems may introduce some separation between interface and data files and FileMaker provides the flexibility to accommodate this.

A substantial body of professional FileMaker developers has grown up around the product and provides the expertise required for complex systems and implementations. A certification program was introduced by FileMaker Inc. in 2004 to provide differentiation of professionals in the field. FileMaker also provides an interface (API) for integration of third-party tools, making it highly extensible. In addition there are a variety of web publishing options suited to both low-end and larger scale project requirements.

Version history

FileMaker files are compatible between Mac and Windows. File type extensions are

• .fm since FileMaker Pro 2.0
• .fp3 since FileMaker Pro 3.0
• .fp5 since FileMaker Pro 5.0
• .fp7 since FileMaker Pro 7.0, up to FileMaker Pro 10.0

Self running applications (runtime, kiosk mode) are platform specific only.

Internationalization and localization

Languages available

FileMaker is available in the following languages:

• World Wide English
• Chinese (simplified)
• Czech (Central European version)
• Dutch
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Polish (Central European version)
• Spanish
• Swedish
• Traditional Chinese
• Turkish (Central European version)

Versions for Central Europe, Middle East and India

There are specific versions of FileMaker for Central European, Middle Eastern and Indian users. These versions are available from WinSoft ^[3], FileMaker’s Internationalization and localization partner^[4][5][6].

The Central European version includes a English, Polish, Czech and Turkish interface; the Middle Eastern version is available in English and French and the "Indian" version in English. The custom versions offer spell checking, data entry, sorting and printing options for languages of the respective region. They also contain localized templates and a localized Instant Web Publishing.

For Central Europe, there are customized templates for Polish, Czech, Turkish. In addition Russian, Greek, Estonian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Serbian, Bulgarian and Hungarian are supported to varying degrees.

The Middle Eastern version supports Arabic and Hebrew, including an option to change the text to right-to-left instead of the western left-to-right. For South East Asia there is version that supports text entry in all Indian languages, as well as sorting and indexing in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Panjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam.

Scripting

FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Pro Advanced allow you to write and edit scripts for automation of common tasks and complex calculations: Over 130 “script steps” are available for navigation, conditional execution of script steps, editing records, controlling windows, finding specific records, checking spelling and managing user accounts. In addition, many of these script steps can use built-in functions for a variety of mathematical calculations, text manipulation and querying your database configuration.

SQL and ODBC Support

FileMaker, since version 9, includes the ability to connect to a number of SQL databases, including MySQL, SQL Server, and Oracle. This requires installation of the SQL database ODBC driver to connect to a SQL database. SQL databases can be used as data sources in FileMaker’s relationship graph, thus allowing the developer to create new layouts based on the SQL database; create, edit, and delete SQL records via FileMaker layouts and functions; and reference SQL fields in FileMaker calculations and script steps.

Versions from FileMaker Pro 5.5 onwards also have an ODBC interface.

References

1. ^ http://www.dancing-data.com/filemakerhist.html
2. ^ Glenn Koenig (2 April 2004). "FileMaker Early History". http://www.dancing-data.com/filemakerhist.html. Retrieved 2007-10-05. 
3. ^ Winsoft
4. ^ FileMaker available for Middle Eastern Users
5. ^ FileMaker available for Central European Users
6. ^ FileMaker available for Indian Users

• Dancing-Data, detailed history from 1980 to 1989

See also

• CDML, CDML, FDML, html like mark up language for rapid deployment of FileMaker to the web.
• FileMaker Inc., the company developing the FileMaker software

External links

• Filemaker Homepage
• FileMaker active free user forums
• Directory of Plugins for FileMaker