FileMaker Press Release
New FileMaker Pro 8 – The Easy Way to Manage and Share Information --Available Now
Company also ships FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced with enhancements for advanced users and unveils the new FileMaker 8 product line
The new PDF Maker in FileMaker Pro 8, featuring the Adobe PDF
Library licensed via Datalogics allows users to convert attractive
graphic-rich reports of their data into PDFs, which can be quickly
emailed for sharing with non-FileMaker users. The new Excel
Maker works the same effortless way. FileMaker Pro 8 users can save
data as a Microsoft Excel file, and just as painlessly include it
as an attachment ready to send via email.
FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced (previously FileMaker Developer), also
available today, boasts many powerful new features designed to
allow advanced users and developers to add greater customization to
their databases than ever before.
At the FileMaker Developer Conference, attended by more than 1,000
database and web developers, the company also unveiled the rest of
the FileMaker 8 product line: FileMaker Server 8; FileMaker
Server 8 Advanced and FileMaker Mobile 8, which are planned to ship
this Fall.
Because FileMaker Pro is one of the most popular databases for
small businesses, FileMaker also announced the FileMaker Business
Productivity Kit as part of the FileMaker Pro 8 trial download (see
related announcement), featuring several ready-to-use solutions
designed specifically for small businesses; available now for
download at
http://www.filemakertrial.com/bpkpr
.
“With FileMaker Pro 8, it is now even easier to manage and share
information of all types even with non-FileMaker users,” said
Dominique Goupil, president of FileMaker, Inc. “FileMaker 8 has set
a new standard for the database market by delivering the ultimate
combination of power, ease of use, and sharing. By making it easier
to create, learn and use shared information solutions, FileMaker 8
will bring even more new users into the database category.
Customers can now work faster and share data with more people and
office applications than any other desktop database.”
New Time-saving Features For Easy Managing and Sharing
FileMaker Pro 8, for Windows and Mac OS X, is even easier to learn
and use, and features many new capabilities to make
information-sharing more prevalent.
Other new features include:
Fast Match — Select information from the current field, and
with one mouse click, find all matching records – even refine your
search or broaden it – all without typing!
Fast Send — E-mail the contents of virtually any
field, including images, documents, Excel files, and more - right
from within FileMaker.
Auto-Complete — Get faster and more accurate data entry by adding
the ability to fill-in field content automatically based on
previous entries or Value Lists.
Calendar field format — Enter dates quickly and more
accurately by adding a simple point and click Calendar drop-down to
any field.
Email Merge – For fast, personalized emails to individuals or
groups.
Tab Panel Control — Build a layout with multiple tabs in a
single step rather than having multiple layouts – each with their
own tabs.
Visual Spell Checker — Check spelling of data entry with the
new visual spell checker that underlines misspelled words and
allows you to edit and correct on the fly.
Mouse Wheel support – Scroll through records or fields faster and
easier using a mouse-wheel-including Apple’s new Mighty
Mouse.
Improved Table Import — Add a new table to a database
by simply importing the new data.
Improved Relationship Graph — Easier ways to create and manage
tables and associated relationships
FileMaker Pro 8 comes with 30 ready-to-use Starter Solutions,
including a new Email Campaign Management solution that can quickly
import data from other formats, such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft
Access or other software formats.
Customers Praise FileMaker Pro 8
Early evaluator customers and developers praised the new
capabilities of FileMaker Pro 8:
"Moving to FileMaker Pro 8 was painless. Running on our FileMaker
7 Server, we were able to run FileMaker Pro 7 and 8 clients side by
side with no adverse effects,” Andrew Struthers, IT Manager, True
North Printed Plastics Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
“Our database clients will also be thrilled with the ability to
save to Excel and print to PDF – these two features fill a huge gap
in providing extended reporting capabilities without relying on
third-party solutions. And FileMaker Pro 8's excellent rendition of
the desktop solution to Instant Web Publishing (IWP) makes the end
user experience second to none,” Terry Billingsley, President, AT
Experts, Embrun (Ottawa), Ontario, Canada.
"Before, we’d print a proof sheet and save it as a PDF file and
then we'd email the PDF proof sheet and a PDF of the print job to
the customer. With FileMaker Pro 8, we wrote a script to create the
PDF proof sheet and then send an email to the customer, picking up
the address information and subject line from the job record. PDF
Maker also picks up for the message area the job information from
the job record – all we have to do is attach the PDF proof, and
it's on the way!" says J. E. Sequera, President, Business
Printers of San Diego, San Diego, CA
"Tooltips, the tabbed interface, Fast Match and Sort speed
improvement, and my favorite, Development Tools, have all improved
my results and quickened my development times. For my users,
Tooltips save hours of training time, and the tabbed dialogs take
my layouts to a new level of professionalism,” Brian Hightower,
Lead Developer, Home Solution, Las Vegas, NV.
"We couldn't even consider trying to develop our own database
using Access, SQL, or anything else. While our IT director is
conversant in several of those environments, we felt it was more
important to choose a system that could be designed, developed, and
modified by our design staff. FileMaker Pro 8 makes that easier
than ever,” Matthew Edmonds, Job Captain, AR7
HooverDesmondArchitects, Denver, CO.
New FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced
To meet the needs of the growing number of professional developers
and advanced database creators, FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced includes
all the features of FileMaker Pro 8, plus breakthrough development
and customization tools. With the ability to customize menus and
add custom Tooltips, as well as robust troubleshooting and database
analysis tools, developers and advanced FileMaker users alike can
efficiently build more powerful, more customized databases. It is
available now.
New features include:
Custom Menus – One of the most highly requested advanced user
features, Custom Menus provides maximum customization of FileMaker
Pro solutions, including the ability to execute scripts from menus;
add, edit or delete menus and menu items; and create custom scripts
for toolbars, context menus, window options and more.
Custom Tooltips (static and calculated) – For providing guided
data entry guidance, pertinent information related to a particular
record, and enhanced training tips for new users.
Data Viewer – For monitoring fields, variables, and expressions
when debugging scripts or general troubleshooting and testing
calculation formulas without modifying the database schema.
“We renamed FileMaker Developer to FileMaker Pro Advanced because
we found that growing numbers of our users were building advanced
solutions but did not consider themselves traditional developers,”
said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president, Marketing and Services for
FileMaker. “With FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced we deliver the tools
needed to customize and manage powerful databases, while retaining
the ease of use that has made FileMaker a market
leader.”
FileMaker Server 8 and FileMaker Server 8 Advanced
FileMaker Server 8 offers high-performance, reliable file sharing
for teams of FileMaker users. FileMaker Server 8 Advanced provides
all that FileMaker Server 8 offers plus powerful web publishing and
external connectivity options. In FileMaker Server 8 Advanced, the
extremely popular Instant Web Publishing (IWP) has been updated to
offer even more functionality and security. Both Server products
are scheduled to ship this Fall, the company said. Users can find,
add, edit, and delete information faster using the newly optimized
FileMaker Server 8 database engine. All of the features offered
within FileMaker Pro 8 are supported by FileMaker Server 8.
FileMaker Mobile 8
FileMaker Mobile 8, also scheduled to ship this Fall, is a
companion version of FileMaker Pro 8 designed specifically for Palm
OS and Pocket PC handhelds (supports Palm OS 5 and Windows Mobile
2003) that lets users take their information on the road. FileMaker
Mobile 8 supports FileMaker Pro-based runtime applications and can
synchronize multiple devices to the desktop database.
Pricing and Availability
FileMaker Pro 8 is available now at (www.store.filemaker.com/)
$299/$179 upgrade (for both FileMaker Pro 7 and 6 licensed users)
(U.S. Suggested List Price). FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced is $499.
Licensed users of FileMaker Developer 6 and 7 may upgrade to
FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced for $299 (U.S. Suggested List Price)
and licensed users of FileMaker Pro 6, 7, 8 may upgrade to
FileMaker Pro 8 Advanced through June 30, 2006 for $299. All five
FileMaker Applications, including FileMaker Tasks, FileMaker
Meetings, FileMaker Recruiter FileMaker Donations and FileMaker
Work Requests, are compatible with the FileMaker 8 product
line. For system requirements go to
http://www.filemaker.com/products/fmp/
.
Full purchase options, which include the Apple Store online, are at
http://www.filemaker.com/purchase/store/purchase_options
.
About FileMaker, Inc.
FileMaker Pro is used by millions of individuals and workgroups
around the world to be more productive and efficient. Business,
education and government customers rely on FileMaker to manage
people, projects, images, assets and other information. In addition
to being the number one-selling easy-to-use database software, the
award-winning FileMaker product line also includes low-cost
Applications that automate basic business tasks, ready-to-use
Starter Solutions, and tools to create and share solutions from the
desktop to the web. FileMaker, Inc. is a subsidiary of Apple
Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).
###
Customer contact:
800-325-2747
http://www.filemaker.com
Media contact:
Kevin Mallon
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
©2005 FileMaker, Inc. All rights reserved. FileMaker is a
trademark of FileMaker, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other
countries. Adobe is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems
Incorporated in the United States and other countries.
Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries. The stated prices are suggested list prices
and actual prices may vary.