12 Feb
2002
12 Feb
'02
11:10 p.m.
If you use Mac
OS 7-9 on a used Mac and go with a used copy of Filemaker
instead of Paradox, they are *far* more likely to be able to maintain the
program themselves,
...
Disclaimer: I don't run a business, so I may
not know what I'm talking
about. Anybody knowledgable here, please chime in. I think this is a
*vital* topic for classic-computers, BTW, as keeping the machines
productive is far and away the best way to keep them alive and known. The
upgrade path availability is admittedly slightly off-topic, but relevant to the
discussion.
FileMaker Pro was designed with the office Secretary in mind. It was
meant for the average boss to hand the program to the average word
processor literate secretary and tell them to create a database.
It is VERY user friendly, and VERY quick and easy to create solutions. It
has also grown significantly over the years into a rather powerful
database system. It is NOT as powerful as some other applications out
there (I know Access is more powerful due to its VB abilities)... but for
a good chunk of database needs you can use FMP to do your complete
solution.
I have been making some rather complex solutions in FMP for years, and
once in a while hit roadblocks with it, but usually can get to a work
around (sometimes kludgy, but usually doable). But I will take the
development speed vs loss of the super high end abilities any day.
FMP is also ODBC complient (I don't know to what extent, I keep all my
work right in FMP, so I have never used the ODBC interface). And FMP can
publish to the web instantly, or you can develop full web abilities with
FMP as the backend.
It is fully cross platform (Mac and Win32)... I mean fully... there are
really only two minor issues with moving back and forth. You need to make
sure you use standard fonts that are available on both platforms (stick
to Ariel, Times New Roman, and Courier New and you should be fine)... and
when laying out items on the screen, it is best to use the T-Bars or
Windows will sometimes shift where something is slightly.
But the database works on both platforms unchanged. I generally do all my
FMP development on the Mac, and the move it to a WinNT hosted FMP server
where winNT clients log into it to do their work... and I still log in
using my Mac for admin stuff... same database, transparent access.
All in all... if your users aren't likely to know how to work with a
database system... and you want them to be able to manage it in the
future... I highely recommend FMP... or if you just want to get the job
done in half the time of other systems.
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>