This is from AppleInsider.com ...


FileMaker 8 to pack new work-flow and sharing features
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By Kasper Jade Published: June 22, 2005 01:00 PM EST

FileMaker, Inc. in the coming weeks is expected to announce a
major upgrade to its top-selling database suite for managing
people, projects, assets and more, AppleInsider has learned.

The wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple Computer, Inc plans to
roll out FileMaker Pro 8 and FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced, both
of which have been under development since the company
released FileMaker Pro 7 in March of last year.

* FileMaker 8 Pro
Rumored to go by the code-name Napa, FileMaker Pro 8 will
reportedly pack over 15 new features aimed at improving
work-flow and information sharing. Topping the list are
new PDF Maker and Excel Maker features that will let
users export their FileMaker data in Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
and Microsoft Excel (XLS) formats, sources said.

Additionally, it's rumored the release will let users
instantly email the contents of any database field using
a new FastSend feature or send personalized messages to
one or more customers via added email merge capabilities.
A similar FastMatch function will search for data matches
without the having to type search criteria, sources said.

FileMaker Pro 8 is also expected to sport faster table
imports and a new Relationship Graph function for quickly
documenting database and field relationships. Meanwhile,
new Alignment and Tab Control tools will help users
create cleaner looking database layouts with multiple
tabs.

Among the many other features scheduled for FileMaker
Pro 8 are mouse-wheel support, automated data entry and
completion, an integrated spell checker, and tools to
ensure more accurate data entry.

* FileMaker 8 Pro Advanced
With the release of FileMaker 8, sources say FileMaker
Developer will be renamed FileMaker Pro Advanced. The
release is expected to include all the features of
FileMaker Pro 8 plus advanced development and
customization capabilities.

Developers utilizing FileMaker 8 Pro Advanced will
reportedly gain access to new tools for adding custom
menus and tooltips. They'll also be able to generate a
report that provides an overview of their database
schema.

Sources also said that the new version will unleash
tools for creating kiosk-based and standalone runtime
applications. [ Gee, that's "new" ;o) ]

Simultaneous table imports, more robust calculations,
and the ability to tests scripts without modifying the
database are some of the other advanced features
rumored to make the cut.


Already, it's believed that FileMaker is preparing
packaging and marketing material to coincide with the
release of the two software packages. According to
sources, retail packaging will remain largely unaltered
from version 7 with the exception of updated version
numbers.

FileMaker plans to hold its annual developers conference
during the last week of August. The event, which will
likely showcase FileMaker 8 Pro, is expected to draw
more than 1,000 corporate and independent database
developers, consultants and trainers from more than 25
countries.





Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

In article <230620051857112654%helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com>,
helpful_harry (AT) nom (DOT) de.plume.com says...
Great we can do something that we can do built in from the OS, and with
free software on windows.

Ok... that's handy, for all those people who haven't figured out that
..csv and .mer are opened with excel just fine.


I'd rather see copy and pasting of script steps. I already have email
plugins.

Cool. My expectation is that it will now discern search criteria by
reading my mind. Lol... seriously... what is this?

Cool. I hope this isn't one of the 'features' though.

They definately need to dramatically improve on this. So this at least
is great news. FM7's relationship graphing is very "version 1.0" in my
opinion.


Cool!

Auto-complete has been missing for a while... i wonder how flexible it
will be.

/BONK

They already HAVE a product named Advanced that is not related to this
at all. Why not "Plus" or "Architect" or "Deluxe"...?? What is the
motivation to make complete nonsense out of their product naming
schemes.


Given that its really Filemaker Developer 8, that is exactly what I'd
expect.

Yeah, but until now they've been on a leash.


We'd really like to copy and paste script steps too! I mean it. We
REALLY want this.

All I've seen in years are those ugly oversize VLA envelopes. But I'm
sure the box is very nice.

42 wrote:
Just a guess here, but they probably feltthey were limiting themselves
to only the "developer" market by calling it FM Developer. By calling
it FM Pro Advanced, they highlight that it has some more advanced
features rhen the regular FM Pro. 'Plus' probably would've worked, too,
but I wasn't in charge of naming.


Sounds like you REALLY, REALLY want this. Me too! FM7 really was the
version 1.0 of its new generation. I think we'll see many more of the
full features we would have expected in FM7 to be included in the next
version.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Howard Schlossberg (818) 883-2846
FM Pro Solutions Los Angeles, California

FileMaker 7 Certified Developer
Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance

42 <nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) com> wrote:

already been lots of protest about this. Think it'll make any
difference? Probably not.
No, *YOU* really want this. *I* really want native script-triggers on
events and object-oriented programming.

Everybody wants something slightly different. And some of us want
different things on different days.

Which is why nobody gets everything they want, and why we have
pre-pre-pre-product-release whining here in the newsgroup every SINGLE
time there's a new product in the works.

Why not spend some time getting really good at FM 7 before we start
complaining about what we're NOT getting in the NEXT product?

Lynn Allen
--
Allen & Allen Semiotics www.semiotics.com
FSA Associate Filemaker Design & Consulting

In article <1gylsse.3zfz901m3sybgN%lynn (AT) NOT-semiotics (DOT) com>, lynn@NOT-
semiotics.com says...
Probably not, but if we don't tell them then definately not.

True. But I want copy and paste on most days.

Copy & paste is one of the most fundamentally basic functionalities one
could ask for - there's just no acceptable reason for it to be missing.
Even on days I don't need it I still think to myself that it really
ought to be there.

Copy & Paste is so basic that it shouldn't even need to be touted as a
feature in the first place.

Script triggers and OOP... those are features. And we can argue about
which features we get first until the end of time. C&P though really
should have been implemented right after mouse support.

I would be, but it takes so danged long tweaking scripts without copy
and paste...

8p

cheers,

In article <slrndbl9d0.2b8.t-use (AT) ID-685 (DOT) user.individual.de>, Martin
Trautmann <t-use (AT) gmx (DOT) net> wrote:

We're STILL waiting for Set Repetition! It was only needed four
versions ago. )



Just like Apple themselves appear to becoming more and more like
Microsoft - like buying out or simply copying other people's ideas for
their own, having large, almost weekly, "Security" updates for the OS
that need to be downloaded, etc. (



I thought that when they started talking about all the twiddly bits and
over-complicated Access-like "features" with FileMaker 7. \

Helpful Harry
Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o)

If FMP 8 (Supersized or Not) still has me scrolling through endless
lists of scripts and layouts I will absolutely be ready to give up on
this entire product.


Helpful Harry wrote:

They really need to give us the ability to manage all the new power
they gave us with version 7 before they go off adding new tools.

The Relationship Graph gets incredibly awkward very quickly as it
stands. Definitely a v1.0 tool.

We need access to metadata about scripts, fields, layouts and
relationships without relying entirely on the names we give these
elements and the codes we are currently forced to build into these
names. If they are not going to help us with this, at least I hope they
fix the final dialog boxes which refuse to display an entire name more
than a few characters long.

Finally, if FMP 8 (Supersized or Not) still has me scrolling through
endless lists of scripts and layouts I will absolutely be ready to give
up on this entire product.

Randall

You don't want to be able to copy and paste script steps, Lynn???

Paul Bruneau <paul (AT) ethicalpaul (DOT) com> wrote:

Sure, that would be great, but I don't want it near as much as I want
other features. It's way down the list for me.

Everyone's priority list is different. Everyone's productivity-killers
are different. I think was my point.

Lynn Allen
--
Allen & Allen Semiotics www.semiotics.com
FSA Associate Filemaker Design & Consulting