FileMaker Pro Version ???
December 26th 2006
It is now eleven years now—almost exactly to the day—since the venerable Claris introduced FileMaker Pro 3.0v1, and the products and the company entered the first phase of the Modern Era of desktop databases. The product and the company have both evolved markedly since then. Indeed the introduction by FileMaker, Inc, of FileMaker Pro 7 in March of 2004 was revolutionary rather than evolutionary. That introduction ushered in the second phase of the Modern Era of desktop databases.
Surprisingly and disappointingly to me, any number of organizations and individuals still linger in the first phase and have never made the transition to the more powerful, more useful, and yes, more complex second phase versions. While I sincerely wish these folks well, both time and tide (so to speak) have passed. Unless they do move to the second phase of the Modern Era, they won’t be part of FileMaker’s future. And sadly, neither will FileMaker be part of theirs, if they have one.
All of which raises the interesting question of what that FileMaker future may be. What will the products be like and how will they function? What features and capabilities will they have? How will developers learn to use them successfully and correctly? Despite bemoaning wails on many FileMaker oriented sites and lists to the contrary, the company pays very close attention to feature requests. It both solicits them and receives others unsolicited as well. An entire team of high level and very professional people spends a huge amount of time and effort trying to determine the best mix of features for the products. Their work is for the most part unsung and unheralded; indeed most on the outside have no idea of their existence or of their Herculean efforts.
All this focus on future versions raises of course the question of what features not now part of the product would developers like to see introduced? As noted, FileMaker, Inc. collects this information in a variety of ways. But now, those clever folks at the FMPUG have gone a step further. They have introduced a new FileMaker Feature Requests site where developers can request new features, explain why they want them, and explain what they will do. More interestingly, developers can also vote on feature requests offered by their colleagues.
So…go on over to the FMPUG site and enter your feature request and vote on other developers’ requests.
Steven H. Blackwell
Simplicity and Software Architecture
I’m always a bit behind the times so it was only recently that I found out that DevCon would be returning to the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando. I actually miss the Arizona setting. Sure, it’s hot in AZ but it’s a dry heat. Orlando is just as hot with the humidity but it does have better food going for it. While both cities suffer from a severe case of sprawl, there is something about the Sonoran desert that is seductive to me. Walking through the desert brush makes me more aware of life and the scale of it. It’s my personal Total Perspective Vortex.
Encryption = Less Secure?
Recently in a post to the FMPexperts list a question was asked about securing a database away from the system administrators. The current FMP security model doesn’t provide a method for the database owner to secure the system against the database administrator. Someone with physical access to the file has the ability to attack that file at their leisure. While opening an FMP file with a text editor will reveal little, the savvy hacker will soon discover and bypass the encoding scheme used. The less savvy hacker will fork over $45 to provide them with access to the file.
Post-Design Caucus Meditations
Albert and the gang at SmallCo host the FM Design Caucus on the first Thursday of the month where a group of developers get together to look at design issues using FMP. Luckily when it was my turn in November they went easy on me.
Where are the bloggers?
I haven’t been posting much, giving the renovation of my house as much of my spare time as my body and family will allow. When I do have a spare moment, for some reason playing with the kids always wins out over posting to the blog. Go figure.