FileMaker Pro 7 Opens New Windows on Database Design Easier, More Intuitive Relational Layout Eric Grevstad
Mon 3/15/04 -- Microsoft Access is for database programmers, but FileMaker Pro is for database users. The new FileMaker Pro 7 -- and new Developer, Server, and Mobile versions -- promise a breakthrough in ease of use, customizability, and productivity for business-class relational database management.
FileMaker Pro 7 ($299 or $149 upgrade) features a streamlined relational architecture, which lets users consolidate or store multiple tables within a single file -- and open multiple windows in the same database, similar to opening multiple windows in a Web browser, for faster, simultaneous access to different views of information. The program can also import, store, or export any file or document -- including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files and digital images, video, or music clips -- in new, flexible Container fields.
A new Relationships Graph presents a visual map of the database, creating or modifying relationships with a simple click-and-drag tool. Database capacity has been multiplied 4,000-fold (to 8 terabytes per file), while calculation-based formatting and new portal options produce easier-to-read, more informative reports and a new security system secures databases with account names, passwords, and custom privileges for each user or group of users.
Users can also confirm record and layout changes before they are saved; learn database techniques from 30 ready-to-use, customizable Starter Solutions; and offer richer solutions for remote-user Web-browser access. FileMaker Developer 7 ($499) adds integrated developer tools and utilities and an enhanced Database Design Report, while FileMaker Server 7 ($999) and Server 7 Advanced ($2,499) can host millions of data tables and leverage multi-CPU servers. This summer, FileMaker Mobile 7 ($69) will let Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld users take their information on the road, with support for runtime applications and synchronizing multiple devices to the desktop database.
