From ThinkSecret.com ...

FileMaker 9 details revealed; release planned for mid-late 2007
---------------------------------------------------------------
Details of new features in FileMaker 9 have emerged ahead of
its release, as engineers continue to polish functionality and
keep the database software competitive.

Among the changes planned for FileMaker 9 are object scaling
based on window size, scripting triggers when entering and
leaving fields, and significant ODBC changes. In addition,
support for reading and writing to SQL databases will be
added in FileMaker 9.

Object scaling is rumored to be in development but may not
make it into the final release due to technological hurdles,
sources say. Specifically, ensuring that scaling works at
multiple levels without overlapping of objects, including
white space and anchored items, may prove too cumbersome to
implement.

In addition, developers are said to be working to support
the FileMaker 7 database format, so that FileMaker 9 will
work with 7/8/8.5 databases as well. If accomplished, this
would mark the first time that a new version of FileMaker
offered such extensive backwards compatibility.

Other sources report that accompanying the release of
FileMaker 9 will be a thin client, although details of the
product are scarce at this point. FileMaker's primary
competitors have offered thin clients for years.

FileMaker 9 is expected to be ready around the second-half
of 2007 at the earliest, although its release could be
pushed to later in the year.

Meanwhile, rumors continue to persist that Apple is
interested in unloading FileMaker, Inc., but no credible
evidence of plans to do so exists at this time, despite the
company's awkward fit in Apple's current and long-term
strategy.

Since launching the FileMaker, Inc. subsidiary in 1998,
Apple has taken a hands-off approach to its operations,
simply reaping the financial benefits from FileMaker, which
has had a solid track record of profitable quarters.



"Awkward fit"?!?!? ?|
It would make more sense for Apple to re-integrate FileMaker Inc back
into the parent company and make FileMaker sit alongside Pages and
Keynote (and the rumoured spreadsheet application) - perhaps even also
available as a combined package as an alternative to MS Office.



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

The only desire I have is for native, Aqua/Cocoa controls within FM. I
don't care about any new features until an FM database looks like it
belongs on OS X and not OS 9 or Windows.

- CSW

I am personally very interested in the SQL improvements. I have to
deal with a lot of read only databases and personally, Import Records
isn't as powerful as I'd like and I don't know how to grab (if even
possible) the output of an Execute SQL.

thelizardking (AT) thelizardkings (DOT) com wrote:

Sounds like there's a little bit for all tastes.
I look forward to the first two Harry listed: Object scaling and script
triggering.

It would also be nice if they would allow you to expand a layout part
beyond 10 measly pages. That killed me last week when a client handed me
a 37 page report he needs printed. It's 90% hard-coded text with merge
fields strewn throughout and all 37 pages need to print every time.
It's now a print that spans 4 layouts.

In article <y7qdnbu0Ht0NwSfYnZ2dnUVZ_q7inZ2d (AT) comcast (DOT) com>, CS
<wyattcs (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote:

Using non-OS specific scrollbars could be something to do with making
it easier to have the files moving cross-platform. I haven't tested it,
but having a standardised width for such things would cause less
problems ... although in reality you have to tweak the layouts a little
anyway to cope with differing font rendering, etc.

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

Well, since 80% of FileMaker's user base is on Windows, that's not
likely to happen any time soon.

CS wrote:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Howard Schlossberg
FM Professional Solutions, Inc. Los Angeles

FileMaker 8 Certified Developer
Associate Member, FileMaker Solutions Alliance

Oh, yes! More than 10 pages to eliminate PDF "gluing" a report
together.

So maybe the answer isn't as much allow for a more then 10 page layout.
Maybe the answer is to allow Save as PDF in a way that can append to
another PDF.

CRC123 wrote:

FileMaker should seriously consider offering "native" OS appearance for
layout elements, whether they are Windows XP, Mac OS X, or Vista. Other
software offers this (Runtime Revolution comes first to mind) so it's not as
though it's impossible. Revolution also offers a fairly easy-to-use Geometry
Manager, which is one of the other doo-dads FMI is rumored to be working on.


"Howard Schlossberg" <howard (AT) antispahm (DOT) fmprosolutions.com> wrote

Howard Schlossberg wrote:
Apple needs to pull FM towards iWork, along with a spreadsheet. They are
two or three apps short of a real suite. I admit, most people don't use
a database -- they rig Excel in a lot of small offices. But, on the Mac,
FileMaker is the choice for small databases and Apple should care. After
all, AppleWorks' database was nothing more than a scaled-down FM database.

Anyway, just a Mac user wondering why an Apple-owned company never seems
to deliver an Apple-cool product.

Of course, I use FM Pro for several tasks because I can hand a file to a
Windows user and I can't do that with many other tools, other than
Revolution or REALbasic.

The idea of using FM Pro to work with MySQL or PG is okay, especially
for data used on the road, but VB, RB, or even an AJAX solution might
work better for an SQL database. I'd have to see how FM Pro would exist
as "just" a frontend tool with reporting when compared to programming
languages like VB or RB.

- CSW