FileMaker Pro - rediscovered by a do-it-yourselfer Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I'm a FileMaker Pro do-it-yourselfer. A non-programmer who ironically, since 1984, has always had the desire to create his own applications, whether for my own business and creative endeavors, or when I need a very specialized workflow that no pre-packaged software exists to provide.  I have no interest in learning programming, and though I have even attempted to home study Objective C, I can get only so far before my head hurts.

I have dabbled in database/application development environments over the years such as Double Helix, AppWare, FileMaker Pro, SuperCard, Revolution, REALbasic, Xcode, Bento, with a little dash of AppleScript and QuicKeys thrown in the mix. All with the intention of creating a specialized application for myself that would aid me in managing a particular information process and often automate it.  In all cases, I became frustrated in one way or another.  

Ultimately, I went with: FileMaker Pro 10 Advanced

With Double Helix it was performance issues as the database grew and the eventual unwieldiness of its unique graphical interface.  With AppWare, it was bugginess and the eventual lack of ongoing development of the software.  With SuperCard and Revolution it was the near-programming level of expertise required in its scripting language, its non-elegance, and its limitations based on its unique HyperCard card stacks paradigm.  With REALBasic and Xcode, it was the need of knowing programming and the time it would take to then program a full solution.  With Bento, with which I at first fell in love and became a power user, it was the eventual performance issues of my massive power database and Bento's limited calculations and lack of scripting.

I have had an on-again/off-again, love/hate relationship with FileMaker Pro for years.  The issues I had with FileMaker Pro in the past had to do with me not understanding enough about relations, calculations, and scripting, that I could never really do what I wanted in my solutions.  I would pull my hair out trying to get a certain solution to work the way I wanted.  And I was frustrated in the old Mac OS 7 looking scroll bars and radio buttons, especially while in OS X.  It seemed like I spent most of my FileMaker Pro database building just trying to create a decent good-looking interface.  It seemed like such a waste of time.  I loved the ease of creating an OS X graphical interface in Xcode's Project Builder, so I grumbled whenever I had to suffer with FileMaker Pro's antiquated graphic underpinnings.  And the time it took to create a solution that had pleasing graphics;  it seemed half of your database development time was spent on manipulating objects to give some semblance of a real application.

Which is one of the reasons why I fell in love with Bento.  Finally, a database I had been looking for.  In Bento, it was easy to throw together a pleasing graphical layout.  FileMaker Pro could learn a trick or two from Bento.  Sure Bento lacked a lot of FileMaker Pro's power, but some things were so quick and easy to do in Bento that would be painstakingly laborious in FileMaker Pro.  I definitely became a Bento power user, pushing its limits.  I had developed my own little bag of tricks and workarounds to deal with Bento's lack of extensive calculations and no scripting.  Part of my workarounds were to include FileMaker Pro as a backend in my solutions for complicated calculations and use QuicKeys macros to move back and forth and share data between the two applications.

But I eventually outgrew Bento.  My powerful impressive solution became unwieldy.  It would slow Bento down.  And then when version 3 came out, my humoungous database would slow Bento version 3 down to a crawl.  I had to eventually downgrade back to version 2, but in reality, there was no downgrade option of the actual database file, so I had to lose a couple of weeks of work and revert back to a previous version 2 copy of my database.


I realized I was spending a lot of time switching back and forth to FileMaker Pro.  I also came to appreciate all of the calculations I was performing in FileMaker Pro that I couldn't do without.  It made me look at my estranged lover again, but this time, like with any relationship, I worked at the relationship and invested time in learning more about what made FileMaker Pro tick.  I finally learned about relations and relational tables, studied up on techniques, got a grasp on better interface design, became more familiar with calculations and scripting.  I found myself falling in love again, as I realized the power that FileMaker Pro gave me, if I only would take the time to learn how to harness its power.  The more I learned about FileMaker Pro, the more it helped me to create a truly powerful database solution, which is the foundation of my business.

To this end, there was no better (nor easier) training than the VTC FileMaker Pro training CDs by John Mark Osborne. The FileMaker Pro 10 Bundle VTC Training CDs includes all three, the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced CDs. I have no better recommendation than to go through all three of these CDs, no matter what your current knowledge level.  John Mark Osborne is an excellent instructor.  For me, versus going through tutorials in a book, watching actual video as Mr. Osborne builds a FileMaker Pro solution is invaluable.  This training bundle is how I, after years of dabbling aimlessly, finally got a strong grasp of FileMaker Pro and its power, and I did so fairly quickly and easily, too.

I have dedicated this blog to do-it-yourselfers like me who have the desire to want to create applications but who have no desire to learn programming.  Out of all of the applications development environments, FileMaker Pro, which is primarily a database development application, is the easiest way to design applications that can range from being simple to very complex.  It can grow with you.  The more you learn about relational tables, calculations, and scripting, the more power you have to create exciting solutions.  It is cross-platform, so if you ever do decide to distribute an "application", you can do so for both Mac and PC.  Its scripting language is relatively simple, although it will require some study to understand what certain calculations and script steps do and how to use them.  To get the full power of FileMaker Pro will require some investment of time in learning curve, but it will be worth it, for great power with relative simplicity awaits you if you are willing to put forth the effort to get a handle on FileMaker Pro.  It will not, however, be anywhere near the complication of learning a true programming language like Objective-C.

There is also a broad community of FileMaker Pro developers who offer much information online for how to accomplish certain solutions.  In fact, along with the FileMaker Pro help window being always minimized in my dock for quick access to the function reference (calculations) and script steps reference, I have found that I spend equal time in Googling for any help I need.  Most of the times if I want to know how to accomplish a particular calculation, I simply Google my question and I more oftent than not find a solution.  In addition, there are a wide range of third-party plugins that can be found.

The downside to this broad community of FileMaker Pro developers is that most are developers for hire to design databases for big businesses.  As a result, for a do-it-yourselfer like me, the explanation of their solutions often assume that you already think like a developer.  This blog will bridge that gap, the gap between the two types of FileMaker Pro users: the FileMaker Pro developer and the FileMaker Pro do-it-yourselfer.  And though there are some fantastic plugins available for FileMaker Pro, again, since often they are written by developers for other developers to use in creating databases for big businesses, these plugins are often expensive.  Sometimes, outrageously expensive.  This blog will sort through FileMaker Pro plugins that are practical and necessary for do-it-yourselfers and that are either free or low-priced.

So what was often a frustrating and hair-pulling relationship with FileMaker Pro, I have come back home now, worked at our realtionship, and learned to appreciate her power and relative ease of use more than I ever did before.  After being infatuated with the graphical beauty of laying out a database in Bento, only to be burned by her youthfulness and limited capacities in the end, I have my little interface tricks that help me to design solutions in FileMaker Pro that don't cause me to cringe when I look at the database's graphical interface nor take an inordinate amount of time laying out.  And by finally learning how to deal with FileMaker Pro's relational tables, calculations, and script steps, I am energized as I have now great power at my finger tips.  FileMaker Pro has become my new favorite application, something I never thought I would say.  It is enabling me to design business and creatives solutions for myself that are highly specialized, that are not available as pre-package software, that automates my business processes, and that I am expecting will bring me great success.  Thank you FileMaker Pro Advanced. Thank you FileMaker Pro.