FileMaker Pro 12 is output. Our survey!

Like clockwork, FileMaker has every two years a new version of its software management database used by 18 million people worldwide: FileMaker Pro 12 is available today.

An overview of its new file format

Since its inception in 1985, FileMaker Pro has changed three times file format. FileMaker Pro 12 brings a fourth evolution: after. Fm, the. Fp3, the. And fp5. Fp7, now's. Fmp12. This is the first time since 2004 that FileMaker Pro exchange format file. All files created with FileMaker Pro 12 will be under this new format, with this new extension.

Fp7 FileMaker Pro 12 will offer to convert to the new format: the file is first duplicated and then converted, to avoid problems. We have no problems at several conversions on small (several hundred fields) and large (tens of thousands of fields) bases, as those who remember the transition to FileMaker Pro 7 can be reassured. This conversion is still time consuming.

Better management of media files

One of the main innovations FileMaker Pro 12 and the format. Fmp12 is better management of media files: a container field can now include a JPG, PDF, QuickTime, Word, Excel or PowerPoint. These containers are interactive: you can read a PDF file directly from a FileMaker Pro database, in a modal window with a simple script, or open it in an external application if necessary. we can either decide to store files in the base or out of the base. The files referenced by management can avoid making the base and avoid the risks of corruption. By default, the management out of the base architecture is done in an easy to navigate file, an advantage if you want to keep for example the possibility to access it via FTP - and incidentally remain independent of FileMaker Pro. If this data is sensitive, we can nevertheless ask the software to encrypt them.

New chart types

Also new, five types of charts: there are great favorites such as bubbles, scatter plots, the bar, stacked bar and stacked columns. Their creation is done from the table view, from the strengthening of this function. A welcome, but creating charts in FileMaker Pro is currently accessory: it lends itself quite well to data sets and single crosses but Excel or specialized programs will be essential for complex intersections. Still, creating and customizing charts in FileMaker Pro is quick and easy.
 
New models

FileMaker Pro is unique in that the form and content, the processing layer and data layer, are almost inseparable. Like Bento, FileMaker Pro 12 now offers solutions starting bases whose structure and theme are ready, at the edge of the package. Sixteen in numbers, they cover the contact management, inventory, research notes, tasks, project management, as well as cataloging, expense reports and billing. Of Bento, FileMaker Pro 12 also gained far less boring than themes while remaining sober. Note that all elements which can constitute a form is now considered by thirty subjects, down to the smallest detail: besides the appearance of the header, footer and body, it is now all aspects of the buttons, lists and other elements that are taken into account. Better again: editing a theme in FileMaker Pro 12 is a treat, thanks to an inspector who is a true graphical editor CSS3 - as the themes are actually style sheets. He manages functions as advanced as gradients and slicing, rounded corners and management of button states (normal, hovered, pressed). All without obviously never enter a line of code: it is so successful that we would like Apple to take some lessons from its subsidiary iWeb and recast according to this principle: If you use a base with a standard theme, nothing prevents you to easily switch to a new theme, as long as you have met the standards of FileMaker Pro. Here a basic model becomes more attractive with a new theme and some minor changes. The arrangement of various elements is greatly facilitated by placing magnetic and rules inherited from the suite applications iLife. Several basic themes are broken down into a version of "touch" more particularly adapted to the ergonomics of the iPhone and the iPad: big buttons, big tabs. However, nothing prevents you to use a theme "standard" on smartphone and tablet, for example if you want to maintain consistency with the form on the Mac or PC. In the screenshot above, we use well the artifices of FileMaker Pro to close their fields and rounded corners and give the impression that they form a list IOS. In the screenshot below, notice the orange guides: they indicate the format of the iPad, another subtlety of FileMaker Pro 12, which greatly facilitates stain. With a little extra work, it is also perfectly possible to manage different directions: FileMaker Pro does this automatically, but you can adjust the positioning of each element as close, with flexible rules.
  
FileMaker Go, the mobile companion

Because one of the crucial elements for FileMaker today is to be present on both Mac and PC on iPhone and iPad. FileMaker Go is repositioned to become a companion to FileMaker Pro: paying far, it is now free.

This new version supports the file format. Fmp12, and is at parity with the desktop version features: graphics, multimedia and new themes containers are managed. FileMaker 12 GB manages multitasking sign, AirPlay streaming video and audio content, export to Excel and CSV formats, and adds support for geolocation in the iPad.

The old version is still available for those who will not go to FileMaker Pro 12 and will continue to use their files. Fp7. Known as FileMaker 11 GB, it is still paid, € 15.99 to € 31.99 on iPhone and iPad.

The new FileMaker Pro Server

We must finally mention FileMaker Pro Server: If FileMaker Pro 12 is an updated transition laying the foundations for future developments of the product; FileMaker Pro 12 Server is an ambitious update that suggests that just might be these future developments. The engine has been completely rewritten: it leverages 64-bit architectures and greatly improves WAN performance for FileMaker Pro Server - this new version is incomparably faster and efficient than previous. The server version of FileMaker Pro magazine has been logically to manage multimedia content, which can be stored on the server. The emphasis is on efficiency: the server must be exhausted as little as possible to serve these files, and serve them as quickly as possible to the user. FileMaker Pro Server can generate thumbnails for container image, and sends the user as the one best suited to its support (a miniature light for the iPad, the entire file on a Mac connected via LAN) . The videos, they are streamed rather than downloaded, with an adaptive rate technology.

FileMaker Pro Server also greatly enhances backup functions: it now has a system of incremental links to material similar to Time Machine. The larger bases are progressively saved: it exists in fact in the form of two files backed alternately, thus minimizing the downtime of the base, and losses in case of trouble.

Rates

Not surprisingly, the rates do not change: FileMaker Pro 12 costs 349 €. Anyone who bought FileMaker Pro between March 5 and April 19 has until May 4 to demand a free upgrade to FileMaker Pro 12. Users of previous versions will in turn move to FileMaker Pro 12 for 209 €.