…Continued, from Part 1 of the review

Quick Find in the native toolbar
One of the major benefits of the native toolbar is that users are getting the benefits of increased innovation as FileMaker Inc. adds more functionality to the database. They have only added two functions to the customizable toolbar: a Save As Snapshot button, and a Quick Find search field.

Without a doubt, this exponentially increases the power of a database for end users who can’t wrap their head around Find Mode, Browse Mode, and navigating between the two. It unquestionably builds upon the experience of search engines in the web space and OS X’s Spotlight function where all the data is reachable in one or two clicks away but without procedural thinking on the part of the end-user. Advanced developers have been replicating this kind of functionality for years, but most especially since v7 allowed field entry in header and footer parts, and even moreso with the advent of script triggers. For simpler databases, this feature may be the death of Find Mode as it allows users to specify which fields are included in the Quick Find index and search across those fields fairly painlessly.  Ultimately, this kind of functionality is what we want from our data – smarter responses without a lot of cognitive processing by the user.

Unfortunately, I could only get this functionality to work in a simplistic fashion.  When I tried it on Separation File databases, the search failed miserably and would never progress beyond a barber pole “Find In Progress” dialog box.  In all-in-one files where I was on a layout for a table included within my database, the Quick Find performed well as soon as I committed and hit Enter on the keyboard.  This doesn’t replicate search-as-you-type functionality a la OS X Spotlight, but it doesn’t have to and it works well in this regard.  Hopefully, I missed something but, for now, the homebrewed solution that I’ve employed in more complex databases doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere.

Some other notes:

• In my simple tests, on a table with 73,000 records, search terms with 2200 results were coming up instantaneously and as fast as the search would generate through Find Mode.
• Chaining together multiple terms from different fields performed equally as well
• Search operators such as > < and … affected search results as well so it seems safe to say that this functionality is available within the Quick Find field
• There is no event fired/triggered after search results so you can chain on any additional scripting
• The toolbar doesn’t really allow customizable buttons beyond the functionality already available in v10

The New Inspector Palette
With wider displays and the collection of various functionality that is distributed throughout older versions of FileMaker software, the inspector is a welcome addition.  It centralizes all the little modal dialogs and modifications available to any field on a layout, in a 3-tab format, that floats nicely in Layout Mode only.

All the functionality is there from throughout the application: Alignment, Text Formatting, Field Behaviors, Paragraph & Tab control, and more.  This is a simple refinement that is long overdue.  It shows its value as you won’t want to go back to databases without it, once you’ve gotten use to the productivity boost from not having to wade through modal dialogs.  See a small video ’bout it here.

Invoice Starter Solution
Ummm, really?  Yawn. Are we really supposed to upgrade for this?  Perhaps for an unseasoned user/developer, this can provide a lot of useful instruction and basic out of the box functionality, but it doesn’t add much in my book.

Layout Folders
If your solution has grown beyond just a couple of layouts, this simple organization can be a godsend. Again, this is the kind of refinement that is just simple and elegant.  Frustratingly, it’s so simple and elegant that it’s annoying for users to have to wait till v11 of a product to get it.  BUT, it does add tremendous benefit to navigating larger solutions, with multiple windows and layouts.

The old layout management forced everything into a single list as shown above, whereas with a simple modification, your layouts can be organized hierarchically, as shown below, in  version 11.

The remaining features
There is more to discuss but a lot of these come across as minor enhancements except for one or two.  In order of priority:

• Built-in portal filtering – This normalizes functionality developers have been re-inventing with every iteration of FileMaker.  Hopefully, this settles it as it allows layouts and portal components to automatically show only related records based on a calculation rather than complex relationships that have to be created through advanced techniques such as constant or cartesian joins. See a demo here. Verdict: Very useful.
• Additional Script Triggers – v11 has added three additional script triggers to the event model in FileMaker.  They are fired when exiting a layout, before an object is validated, and when changing between form, list, and table views. Verdict: Very useful.
• Smoother scripting workflow – Now, when defining buttons and triggered scripts, you can modify scripts through the Button Setup dialog box rather than backing out of the current window and navigating to the Manage Scripts window. Verdict: Helpful.
• Improved file security – Some security concerns are still present in previous versions of FileMaker.  v11 apparently has a new security model which closes the back door on field access through external files. Verdict: Very useful.
• Variables in Find Requests and Merge Fields – Variables in stored find requests should definitely create more opportunities to reduce script complexity and simplify database schema.  It’s hard to imagine any good usage of stored searches without variables, so this feature is long overdue.  In addition, we can now display variables in merge fields which should also reduce database complexity.  Matt Petrowsky has pointed out in his very illustrative video presentation, that the current implementation is flawed and that if the variable is empty or not yet created, then the window displays the merge code e.g. <<$$MyVar>> in Browse Mode.  Hopefully that implementation will be polished in an update. Verdict: Helpful.
• Updated UI to Instant Web Publishing – With the advent of the new toolbar, FileMaker has finally added much needed spit and polish to Instant Web Publishing which now replicates the look and feel of the native FileMaker toolbar.  While they did replicate the look and feel, any custom button names performed through clever menu items is not replicated in IWP.  So if you’ve changed the New Record button to read New Inventory Item in the native FileMaker toolbar, it will not be reflected in IWP and still read as New Record. Verdict: Helpful.
• Text highlighting – Ummmm, you can change the background color on layout items such as merge fields to yellow.  And they made a button for this… Verdict: Useless.
• Object badges – Now you have an easier and more visual way to identify fields that have tooltips, script triggers, are linked to Quick Find, and other different properties. Verdict: Helpful.
• Copy & Paste Custom Functions – This should be more appropriately named as import functions from other files in one or two clicks.  Simple, as advertised, but a definite productivity to Advanced developers.  Verdict: Helpful
• Updated GUI – This version seems to have taken a cue from Bento and uses some graphical niceness to smoothen transitions.  In addition the font in the Calculation dialog and almost all other windows has been changed from the monospace font to a proportional font.  Aesthetically, it’s nicer but it doesn’t add anything productivity-wise and may hurt developers who space out calculation code in particular ways.  The Manage Scripts window and Layout Mode both have been updated to display a ghost of whatever object you are moving and update the screen after releasing the object in its new place.  Previously, the object was updated on the display in real-time. Verdict: Negligible.
• Script refinements – When specifying a Print script step and saving the configured options, the saved printer name and other options are now displayed in the script step. Verdict: Helpful.

There are still quibbles throughout the application that need that refinement that other parts of the program have gotten, for example:

• runtimes still have no close button
• toolbar buttons aren’t fully modifiable
• conditional formatting doesn’t change border color
• dialog alerts still default to a too small size
• still no integration with Addressbook, iCal, Apple Mail, and iPhoto on the Mac side
• and more

but all in all, FileMaker Inc. has put forth a solid release.  Dominique Goupil once presented to the NYFMP user group and mentioned how the various internationalizations of FileMaker Pro, plus the various platforms and operating systems creates a large cost for updating even small features, so it is impressive that some of these larger ones have finally happened.  As always, it’s good to see but developers always want more.  If you’re still on version 7, now is finally the time to upgrade.  If you’re coming from version 10, and if the charting, report creation, and filter options don’t seem useful for you, then hold out for another 20 months or so until v12!

I’ve been fortunate enough to use FileMaker Pro Advanced v11 and have been testing it since the 2nd week of February.  Per an email from FileMaker Inc, version 11 boasts the following top new features:

1. FileMaker Charts – Create eye-catching reports using bar, line, area, and pie charts.
2. Quick Reports – Make reports in a spreadsheet-like format. Group and summarize data on the fly.
3. Enhanced Layout/Report Assistant – New streamlined interface guides you step-by-step in building reports with grouped data.
4. Recurring Import – Automatically import Excel and text files every time you open your database.
5. Snapshot Link – Save a specific set of records at a point in time. Preserve the same layout, view, and sort order.
6. Quick Find – Search for information just as you would in a web browser.
7. Inspector – Manage your layout tools all in one convenient place.
8. Invoice Starter Solution – Create, manage, and print customized invoices for every order.
9. Improved Quick Start Screen – Create a new database, manage favorite files, or find helpful resources – all from one screen.
10. Layout Folders – Organize all your layouts in folders – just drag and drop.
11. Portal Filtering – Specify related records based on calculations.
12. Improved security – A new security scheme has been developed to prevent unauthorized field access in older versions.

Features new to v11 Advanced are:

1. Enhanced Custom Menus interface
2. Copy, paste, and import Custom Functions.
3. Improved Script Debugger to debug scripts attached to buttons and Custom Menus and powerful Data Viewer.
4. Modify and maintain databases with ease using the advanced Database Design Report and Multiple Table Import.

So here goes an exploration into the new features.

First and foremost, you are now greeted with an updated color scheme.  If FileMaker were a man, it would certainly be getting down with its metrosexual self.  If it were a woman, it would be out for a night on the town.  The purple, pink, and black scheme is more edgy and helps in determining what files have been associated with the new version at a glance.

New Startup & Quick Start Window
After installation and on startup, a newer version fo the Quick Start window greets users.  There is some minimal productivity benefit from this for developers and users who access the same set of files and servers repeatedly.  In addition, it serves as a decent funnel into basic video tutorials at FileMaker’s Resource Center.  I’ve always disabled this view and will probably do so with this new version as well.

Quick Reports & Enhance Layout/Report Assistant
The new Quick Reports feature puts summary, new field/column, new record/row, and basic formatting functionality within one or two contextual clicks rather than being layered under the Manage Database window and various menu options.

There’s a new plus sign on the last blank row to indicate you can click to create a new record and there is a new plus sign on the right-most column (as shown above) to indicate you can create a new field.  William Porter of MacWorld acutely notes:

“I worry that FileMaker Pro 11 may have made things easier here than they should be. You can’t create a new table or define a relationship working this way. I will bet a plate of barbecued pork ribs that somebody is going to make a mess of a new database using this new user interface, since it really doesn’t require much thought. On the other hand, careful do-it-yourselfers building flat-file databases (i.e. fairly simple lists) will surely be grateful for the running start that the new interface provides.”

For complex databases, I’d be surprised if developers give this kind of new field access to general users so I’m not so sure things are easier than they should be; however, new users with Define Field access can surely go astray and create unnecessary columns.

On top of this, a contextual click on any column header in Table View gives users the ability to add sub-summary rows to sorted/grouped data as a trailing or leading summary part, change summary part color, hide columns easily, and more.  What’s important to note is that you can add summary data without actually creating a summary field.  So for all the times where you need to update the database schema to add summary fields to a report, this is a welcome addition and should save the database administrator from that kind of tedium.

Based on my tests, you don’t have to have schema level access in order to add these summary fields either, so if you have given Table View access to your users, you can let them define any summary parts without worrying about them tinkering with the innards of a solution.

This kind of functionality is duplicated in the enhanced layout and report assistant whereby you can create a new report and add summary data without needing to go to the Manage Database window.  It’s worth noting that in this part of the application, you don’t have to be in Table View in order to create these summary parts.  So any new List View-based layout can use this v11 feature as well.  This is also a welcome addition but it will be nice to see how we can add this to our existing List View layouts without actually creating an entirely new layout.  If you happen to know the answer, feel free to chime in in the comment section. You can also see a demo movie on this feature by FileMaker Inc. here.

FileMaker has put Excel and its ubiquity squarely in the crosshairs since the advent of Table View and version 11 definitely has FileMaker going in for the proverbial kill.  If it wasn’t self evident from the Quick Reports functionality, it certainly is from v11’s charting functionality.  Previously charting was only available through complex calculations, web viewers sending data to Flash-based charts, web-viewers sending data to web services such as Google Charts, plug-ins, or exporting data to use in other programs such as Excel.  With v11, all of that has changed.

Charting
This clearly is v11’s “killer feature” and what may sway most other users and developers to the v11 upgrade.  Performance is pretty good and in preliminary tests, a bar graph on 73,000+ records came in at just under 33 seconds.  This is on an MacBook Pro 2.2ghz and accessing this data locally (rather than from a FileMaker server).  Don’t holler at 33 seconds, as Excel is no speed demon with such large sets of data, but FM v11 certainly manages itself well; however, I did slow my system to a crawl when I accidentally passed a more complex series of data in a 62,000 record set.

Regardless, the feature works well and as advertised giving simple, unadultered bar, pie, area and line charts of different styles, all without leaving FileMaker.  If your data can use this kind of basic visualization, you’ll appreciate this feature.  It also leverages the new component of v11 that it can calculate on summary data without having to add Summary fields to the database schema.

Not surprisingly, this feature has a heavy reliance on indexing so if your fields are unindexed, you’ll see the above progress dialog.  FileMaker has a decent movie that displays the basics of the new charts feature here.  All in all, if you’re tracking statistic data (vs large chunks of textual or container data), this feature can definitely be interesting and worth investigating.

Recurring Import
This feature is the functional equivalent of ESS, using Excel/CSV/tab files as a backend database.  For those unfamiliar with that description, it basically means you can setup a FileMaker database to pull data from Excel spreadsheets, each and every time you open the database. It’s an interesting idea and is technique that is useful for both weaning users off of Excel and penetrating Excel-centric data that, for one reason or another, isn’t being migrated to FileMaker.  Again, this clearly shows that FileMaker Inc. has set their sights on the desktop mantle of Excel, but if you don’t deal a lot with Excel, this may not be relevant.  There’s a video introduction by FileMaker Inc, here.

Snapshot Link
This feature is useful for FileMaker-centric organizations where one user wants to relay a particular found set to another user, within FileMaker and without having to generate a PDF.  This simply creates a .FMSL file which saves the IDs of each record displayed and attaches it to an email in your email program.  This can be helpful, for example, in organizations where a FileMaker guru/admin can narrow down a particular record set for less experienced users, without any fancy technical wizardry.  Not a bad idea and surely something more and more users will find themselves using in moderate to heavy duty FileMaker use.

For the more advanced and new features of version 11, read Part 2

A little over 24 hours to go until Apple releases their next device which is going to end world hunger.  Not really, but the press build up seems to indicate that what is coming is worthy of such epic proportions.

Most likely it will be a game changer but while many people are thinking that it will be a business-focused device, I’m downright sure that it will be an entertainment device, along the lines of a game machine with some possible benefits of an e-reader or other media device.  If anything has flourished on the iPhone development platform, it has been gaming.  Apple has opened up a new type of device in a market with no to little other competition and Nintendo has shown that focusing on the arms-race between processor power and graphic display isn’t always the path.

Apple is looking down the same highway, seeing little to no other competitors and looking to combine their unibody engineering experience, the new built-in battery, and the flourishing development of the iPhone & iPod Touch into a product that answers the two most salient questions, one from John Gruber and the other from Steve Jobs:

1. Per John Gruber and his epic Tablet post of 2009: If you already own an iPhone and a MacBook, why would you want to own this device?
2. Per Steve Jobs: What good is a tablet device for other than web browsing in the bathroom?

A standard tablet computer, developed by Apple, doesn’t answer those two basic questions. But if refocused as a platform that is designed for entertainment, you have a device that can tie directly in to the record sales and growth that the gaming industry has enjoyed for years, including 2008 & 2009, when just about every indicator showed businesses hurting throughout the global downturn.  Oh, and you get a device that fills a niche between your Macbooks and iPhone, and is good for email when you’re pooping.  (Yes, I used pooping in a journalistic speculation article – quality!!!!)

Per the Entertainment Software Association data on 2009, computer games sold $701 million worth of games at 29.1 million units, there was a record $2.1 billion in portable software sales, and the most popular genre was “Family Entertainment”.  It makes a clearer case why Apple might want to ignite the fuse on their not so dark-horse gaming platform with a hardware upgrade that is as sexy as they can make it.

Given this is something I feel passionate about and have had numerous experiences in selling hundreds of copies of the InBloom Shop Solution, built in Filemaker, I feel I can throw my hat in the very empty ring, not to steal the limelight, but to begin the dialogue.  There’s much to figure out, namely the cost of your solution, plans on distributing your solution, support, software-networking, and more.  So starting in the next couple of weeks, I’ll be waxing poetic about this very topic and if you’re interested, tune in.

If you have any ideas or things you would like to see addressed, then chime in on the comments section of the blog.

The building also managed to break a number of records:

• Tallest building in the world
• Tallest free-standing structure in the world
• Highest number of stories in the world
• Highest occupied floor in the world
• Highest outdoor observation deck in the world
• Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world
• Tallest service elevator in the world

Video of the Opening Ceremony:

Thanks to Abduzeedo for the link

“The question isn̻t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”