Like similar programs, most notably Microsoft Office Access, it lets you create databases with multiple related tables - a table of customer companies and a related table for individual customer contacts, as a simple example.
In addition to the main FileMaker programs, the company also offers free starter kits for developing complete management systems for generic small businesses, creative professionals and K-12 education customers, plus a series of ready-made, FileMaker-based applications priced from $70 to $300.įileMaker Pro 8 Advanced is the flagship product. The mobile product lets FileMaker developers create applications that can be synchronized with mobile devices. The Server product lets small firms share FileMaker databases over a LAN and the Advanced server product makes it possible to integrate FileMaker databases with enterprise SQL and Oracle systems. Which database is right for your needs? FileMaker Pro 8 remains a good product for small and home businesses with simple needs. The last two will be available later in 2005. The others are FileMaker Pro 8 ($300/$180), FileMaker Server 8 ($1,000/$300), FileMaker Server 8 Advanced and FileMaker Mobile 8. The company’s aim is that the product remains “the database management tool for mere mortals as opposed to database programmers.” It appears to be succeeding in this effort, although FileMaker Pro is by no means for computer newbies.įileMaker Pro 8 Advanced, an upgrade to FileMaker Developer 7, is one of five products in the new line. “The design goals for FileMaker 8 were to make it work faster and let people share information more easily,” says FileMaker spokesperson Kevin Mallon. Yet the latest version, FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced ($500 for the application or $300 to upgrade), retains at least some of the program’s historical simplicity, and in fact adds a bunch of new easy-to-use features. (now owned by Apple) has quietly grown over a 20-year span from being a fairly simple tool for developing simple databases to one capable of building very sophisticated systems that can run entire businesses.
0 kommentar(er)
