FileMaker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
 FileMaker Pro 9 screenshot showing a company database page |
|
| Developed by | FileMaker Inc. |
|---|---|
| Latest release | Version 10.0 / 2009-01-06 |
| 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. (a subsidiary of Apple Inc.). It integrates the database engine with the GUI-based interface, which allows users to modify the database by dragging new elements into the layouts/screens/forms that provide the user interface.
FileMaker evolved from a DOS application, but was then developed primarily for the Apple Macintosh. Since 1992 it is available for Microsoft Windows as well as Mac OS, and can be used in a heterogeneus environment. It is available in desktop, server, and web-delivery configurations.
Contents |
[edit] History
FileMaker began as a DOS-based product known as “Nutshell,” 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 PC-compatible computers and software.
With the introduction of the Macintosh, Nashoba combined the basic data engine with a new forms-based GUI, creating a program that was dramatically easier to use. Leading Edge was not interested in the product, preferring to remain a DOS-only vendor, and kept the Nutshell name. Nashoba found another distributor, Forethought Inc., and introduced it to the Mac market as “FileMaker.” When the Macintosh Plus was introduced, the next version of FileMaker was named “FileMaker Plus” to reflect the computer’s name.
Forethought Inc. 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its own database application, Microsoft File, shortly before FileMaker but it was outsold by FileMaker and was withdrawn from the market. Microsoft negotiated with Nashoba for the right to publish FileMaker, but Nashoba decided to self-publish “FileMaker 4”.[2]
Shortly thereafter, Apple Computer formed Claris, a wholly owned subsidiary, to market software. Within months they had purchased Nashoba to round out their software suite. By that time, 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 name to “FileMaker II” in order to be compatible with the naming of their other products, such as MacWrite II, but the product was changed little from the last Nashoba version. Several seemingly randomly numbered minor versions followed, and things finally settled down with the release of “FileMaker Pro” 1.0 in 1990. At this point, FileMaker was still a Mac OS–only application.
A significant milestone in FileMaker’s history came with the release in September 1992 of a multiplatform version. Except for few platform-specific functionalities, a “solution” (as FileMaker Pro databases are called) looks and feels the same in Windows as on a Mac. The following version 3.0, released around 1995, was a significant upgrade with 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 renamed Claris to “FileMaker, Inc.” to further develop and market FileMaker.
Version 4.0, introduced in 1997, added a plug-in architecture much like Photoshop, which provided for third-party developers to add various non-native functionalities to FileMaker. A bundled plug-in was the Web Companion, which allowed the database to act as a web server; other “plugs” add new features to the interface or allow FileMaker to act as an FTP client, perform external file operations, and send messages to remote FileMaker files over internet or intranet.
Since its emergence from the Apple fold, FileMaker Inc. has invested substantially in software development. Version 7 of FileMaker Pro, released in March 2004, supported file sizes of up to 8 terabytes (up 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 which displayed (and allowed manipulation of) related tables in a form which in some respects resembled the familiar “entity-relationship diagram” format. With this change, FileMaker Inc. also introduced a worldwide developer certification program in recognition of the growing numbers of professional developers working with FileMaker.
On August 29, 2005, FileMaker, Inc. announced the FileMaker 8 product family which offered the developer an expanded feature set. One feature is the tabbed interface, which allows the user to easily create a multi-tabbed layout. Script variables, tooltips, enhanced debugging features, custom menus, and the ability to copy and paste entire tables and field definitions, scripts, and script steps within and between files all increase FileMaker's reputation as a rapid development environment.
Version 8.5, released July 10, 2006, added an integrated web viewer (the ability to directly view such things as shipment tracking information from FedEx and Wikipedia entries) and Named Layout Objects.
FileMaker 9 was released on July 10, 2007. This update for Windows and Macintosh brought a quick start screen, conditional formatting, hyperlinked pointers into databases, and external SQL links.
FileMaker 10 was released on January 5, 2009 before the opening of Macworld Conference & Expo. The most substantial update since the release of FileMaker Pro 7, the new version offers scripts to be triggered by user actions and features a largely re-designed user-interface that is similar to many applications on Mac OS X Leopard.
[edit] 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 RDBMS 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.
[edit] Version history
| Date | Version | Published by | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Apr 1985 |
FileMaker, v1.0 | Forethought Inc. | |
|
Oct 1986 |
FileMaker Plus, v2.1 | ||
|
Jun 1988 |
FileMaker 4, v4 | Nashoba Systems | |
|
Aug 1988 |
FileMaker II, v 1.0 | ||
|
Jul 1989 |
FileMaker II, version 1.1v2 | ||
|
Oct 1990 |
FileMaker Pro 1.0v1 | Claris Corporation | |
|
Mar 1991 |
FileMaker Pro 1.0v2 | ||
|
Apr 1992 |
FileMaker Pro 1.0v3 | ||
|
Oct 1992 |
FileMaker Pro 2.0v1 | First Multi-platform (Macintosh and Windows) version | |
|
Nov 1992 |
FileMaker Pro 2.0v2 | ||
|
Mar 1993 |
FileMaker Pro 2.0v3 | ||
|
Apr 1993 |
FileMaker Pro 2.0v4 | ||
|
Aug 1993 |
FileMaker Pro 2.1v1 | ||
|
Feb 1994 |
FileMaker Pro 2.1v2 | ||
|
Jul 1994 |
FileMaker Pro 2.1v3/SDK 2.1 | ||
|
Jul 1994 |
FileMaker Pro Server 2.0v | ||
|
Jul 1994 |
FileMaker Pro SDK 2.1v1 | ||
|
Mar 1995 |
FileMaker Pro Server 2.1v1 | ||
|
Dec 1995 |
FileMaker Pro 3.0v1 | Relational architecture, TCP/IP networking introduced | |
|
Jan 1996 |
FileMaker Pro Server 3.0v1 | ||
|
Jan 1996 |
FileMaker Pro 3.0v2 | ||
|
Jun 1996 |
FileMaker Pro 3.0v3 | ||
|
Jun 1996 |
FileMaker Pro 3.0v4 | ||
|
Jun 1996 |
FileMaker Pro SDK 3.0v1 | ||
|
Sep 1997 |
FileMaker Pro 4.0v1 | Plug-in architecture introduced | |
|
May 1998 |
FileMaker Pro 4.0 Developer Edition | Aimed at expert/professional FileMaker user | |
|
Jun 1999 |
FileMaker Pro 4.1v2 | FileMaker, Inc. | |
|
Sep 1999 |
FileMaker Pro 5.0v1 | ||
|
Nov 1999 |
FileMaker Server 5.0v1 | ||
|
Apr 2001 |
FileMaker Pro 5.5v1 | Built-in support for Mac OS X | |
|
Jul 2001 |
FileMaker Server 5.5v1 | ||
|
Sep 2002 |
FileMaker Pro 6.0v1 | ||
|
Mar 2004 |
FileMaker Pro 7.0v1 | Multiple tables/file architecture introduced; multiple windows; entity relationship diagrams; calc variables |
|
|
May 2004 |
FileMaker Server 7.0v1 | ||
|
May 2004 |
FileMaker Pro 7.0v2 | ||
|
Sep 2004 |
FileMaker Server 7.0v2 | ||
|
Oct 2004 |
FileMaker Pro 7.0v3 | ||
|
Aug 2005 |
FileMaker Pro 8.0v1 | Scriptable creation of PDF reports; script variables | |
|
Aug 2005 |
FileMaker Pro Advanced 8.0v1 | ||
|
Sep 2005 |
FileMaker Server 8.0v1 | ||
|
Dec 2005 |
FileMaker Pro 8.0v2 | ||
|
Dec 2005 |
FileMaker Pro Advanced 8.0v2 | ||
|
Jan 2006 |
FileMaker Server Advanced 8.0v1 | ||
|
Jan 2006 |
FileMaker Mobile 8 | ||
|
Apr 2006 |
FileMaker Pro 8.0v3 | ||
|
Apr 2006 |
FileMaker Pro Advanced 8.0v3 | ||
|
Apr 2006 |
FileMaker Server 8.0v3 | ||
|
Apr 2006 |
FileMaker Server Advanced 8.0v3 | ||
|
Jul 2006 |
FileMaker Pro 8.5v1 | Mac OS X Universal Binary Support; Embedded browser (Web Viewer) |
|
|
Jul 2006 |
FileMaker Pro Advanced 8.5v1 | Mac OS X Universal Binary Support | |
|
Jul 2006 |
FileMaker Server 8.0v4 | Mac OS X Universal Binary Support | |
|
Mar 2007 |
FileMaker Pro Advanced 8.5v2 | Windows Vista Support | |
|
Jul 2007 |
FileMaker 9 | Native support for the SQL databases MS SQL, MySQL and Oracle. | |
|
Sep 2007 |
FileMaker Server & Server Advanced 9.0v2 Update | Web Publishing Bug Fixes | |
|
Nov 2007 |
FileMaker & Filemaker Advanced 9.0v2 Update | Bug Fixes | |
|
Dec 2007 |
FileMaker & Filemaker Advanced 9.0v3 Update | Bug Fixes | |
|
Feb 2008 |
FileMaker Server & Server Advanced 9.0v3 Update | Mac OS X Server 10.5 (Leopard) Support | |
|
Mar 2008 |
FileMaker Server 9.0.3.326 and Server 9.0.3.326 Advanced Update | Bug Fixes | |
|
Jan 2009 |
FileMaker Pro 10 | Status Area now Horizontal; Script Triggering |
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.
[edit] Internationalization and localization
[edit] 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)
[edit] 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 Easter 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.dancing-data.com/filemakerhist.html
- ^ Glenn Koenig (2 April 2004). "FileMaker Early History". http://www.dancing-data.com/filemakerhist.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
- ^ Winsoft
- ^ FileMaker available for Middle Eastern Users
- ^ FileMaker available for Central European Users
- ^ FileMaker available for Indian Users
- Dancing-Data, detailed history from 1980 to 1989
[edit] 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
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
