But while making the connections is as easy in FileMaker Pro as it is in Access, the latter provides more options for maintaining data integrity between tables in that sense Access leads FileMaker Pro. When you work with tables, sometimes you need to connect keys or combine related data so that updating a record in one table also updates a record in another. Requiring mandatory data integrity binds fields together between tables so that relationships between records stay consistent. In fact, FileMaker allows you to force data integrity between tables, and I found the software's data-relationship manager just as easy to work with as the entity-relationship diagram feature that Access uses. You'll end up working through lots of table-link errors and data output that doesn't make sense.
FileMaker is not going to help you here if you go at it manually.
While the capability to mix forms is there, you should follow the design patterns used by FileMaker's auto-generated forms to reduce the development time of your projects and eliminate unnecessary errors when combining forms.
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Designing that way is sloppy, and you can't expect that the form will update the data properly. Mixing fields from different databases doesn't always make sense, because you may break the links between fields on forms and in tables. There are data boundaries that FileMaker needs to uphold, of course-the fields are always related to tables in a database.
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FileMaker knows how to keep the data appropriately linked.- Next: Data Integrity The flexibility is quite impressive, because you can mix forms from different databases without extra steps. You can also insert forms next to each other. FileMaker will even let you create tabs, as well as change button design and behavior. You can start with a basic layout and easily move up to a far more complex design very quickly.įew capabilities for altering details were left out of this version. It's certainly a RAD (rapid application development) design concept. Building reports in FileMaker takes a bit of getting used to, but I found it faster than working with Access, because you can test and build forms at the same time. You can also add records as you design and build the forms. The new design-mode capabilities allow you to add fields on the fly. After you select the style, you can customize the design by moving the graphical elements and fields. Let's face it, FileMaker emphasizes form design, so all aspects of development revolve around forms.įor reports, a wizard lets you choose which layout you want. Working directly with tables in FileMaker Pro, however, is less intuitive than in Microsoft Access because the options FileMaker provides to modify table properties are limited. The underlying tables that make up your forms are accessible this way as well. It allows you to switch between design and browser modes with ease and lets you navigate through records as you test your application. Having some of those capabilities readily accessible in the workspace simplifies the design process. Forms are compact and intuitive, and they give access to features previously available only from the menu. FileMaker, however, understands the average business user. That package, which is more neutral in the way it displays the objects you build and the way it lets you use them, understands the corporate developer better. Best of all, it makes doing so simple and painless.Īs with previous versions, in FileMaker Pro 10 you design databases using forms-quite a different approach from the one taken by Microsoft Access. Take the order entry application and integrate it with a Web-based pie-charting library so that you can analyze data instantly. And if you want to exercise your Web 2.0 muscle, you can do that, too. Imagine needing to develop an order-entry application that ties into your inventory data in QuickBooks, displays your Outlook customer information, and connects to B2B suppliers via Web services-you can build it with this tool.