solutions wanted Need FM consultant to convert my Lotus Approach templates

[MiaData]

greetings. i am trying to transition to FM Pro for mac, from lotus approach for windows, my legacy database system.

i have several approach APR files with templates, reports/forms, with scripts, macros, formulas, etc., that i need to use in FM.

please contact me if you have the expertise to do this. best way is Private Message.

thanks!

Edited March 26, 2011 by bcooney
removed email

[bcooney]

To reply, just send a private message to MiaData.

MiaData,

Have you visited FMI's site? There is a link to area consultants.

[Lee Smith]

To reply, just send a private message to MiaData.

MiaData,

Have you visited FMI's site? There is a link to area consultants.

We have this site here for this use too.

Lee

[Vaughan]

Where on the planet is this work?

[MiaData]

thanks everyone for your patience. i'm new to this site.

i'm in miami, florida, usa.

yes, i will check out FM's list of consultants. that said, i'm more concerned about competency, diligence than where someone lives.

plus, the FM site doesn't allow you to search if someone also has expertise in Lotus Approach -- something that would be incredibly helpful for this engagement, me thinks.

[LaRetta]

I have created several solutions using Lotus Approach (in the past). However, it is standard entity-based database and it exports beautifully.

There is no need to 'know Approach' to properly recreate the same functionality in FileMaker. Simply put ... it cannot be migrated .... layouts, scripting and relationships will need to be recreated. Lotus Approach uses LotusScript and cannot transfer.

Any good FileMaker Developer can handle it just fine and it probably does not require on-site assistance (unless your business rules need to be tweaked and your Management feels better with on-site assistance) but it is NOT required.

Look for someone like Comment, Vaughan, CobaltSky ... you get what you pay for. It will save you money if you hire the best. :)

[carlosnorvik]

How did it go with your conversion? I did it myself and it works fine.

The only thing I miss are Approach search capabilities, in my opinion, they are far better.

I still have one database in Approach, it is for an import statistics of Crop Protection Chemicals, I populate it every January with last year statistics.

Best regards

Carlos

[LaRetta]

10 hours ago, carlosnorvik said:

The only thing I miss are Approach search capabilities, in my opinion, they are far better.

Agreed ... as were Approach's field masking and crosstab/pivot table reporting capabilities which existed clear back in 1998.

[carlosnorvik]

Hi LaRetta:

Merry Christmas!

I never used Field Masking, how did it work?

There were also script triggers (attached macros) back in 1998 and it was incredibly easy to use as MySql front end. If it had not been abandoned by IBM it would be a wonderful product nowadays.

There seem to be a few former Approach users in this forum.

Carlos

 

 

[LaRetta]

1 hour ago, carlosnorvik said:

I never used Field Masking, how did it work?

Approach worked like FM's field behavior - Data > Data Formatting ... except the field would display the selected format, such as for phone - (###) ###-#### and it stayed as the person typed, replacing # with the characters.  It allowed custom formatting for number, date, time etc.  And yes, it had field triggers also.  IBM blew it (in many ways) but dropping LotusSuite was a big one.  123 was better than Excel as well, and AmiPro was better than Word (at that time).

[carlosnorvik]

Thanks, I never used that one, the Std available formats were enough for me. Since you mention 123, I still use it as my main spreadsheet, when I need to send it in Excel to somebody, I use save as :-)