On 3rd December 2013 at SANTA CLARA, California Filemaker Inc. unveiled the next-generation platform for business productivity: FileMaker 13. The new software makes it even faster and easier than ever for teams to create gorgeous, tailored business solutions for iPad, iPhone, Windows, Mac and the web that deliver significant productivity gains. This is a superb version of Filemaker till date which includes more than 50 additional features.

- New design features make it faster and easier to consistently create great-looking databases.

- New features for iOS make it faster to create solutions and easier to enter data on iPad and iPhone.

- New development features help you create more useful solutions more efficiently than ever.

- New security features ensure your organization's data is more secured.

- Faster database operation.

- Get support to inserting multimedia like sound, videos into container fields.

There are lots of additional features included in different sections which are described below section-wise:

DESIGNING FEATURES

• Advanced Layout Management
  

Layout design enhancements: Redesigned New Layout/Report assistant Create layouts and reports that are optimized for the devices they'll be used on, with predefined screen dimensions, views, and themes for viewing on computer, iPhone, and iPad screens, or for printing in a variety of formats.

Undo/Redo Changes: Undo and redo changes to layouts even after you've saved the layout or previewed the layout in Browse mode.

- Page Breaks Control: Show or hide page breaks in Layout mode.

Theme

Enhanced options for managing styles and themes – Apply formatting styles to layout objects, parts, and backgrounds to promote a consistent look throughout your solutions. To manage theme FileMaker 13 provides options to create new theme, import theme from other files and save themes.

• Advanced Layout Objects
  

In FileMaker 13 there are 2 advanced layout objects added e.g. Popover and Slide Controls.

Popover: Create popovers to allow you to work with fields and other objects without having to move to another layout/window. To know more about Popover take a look on following video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4_Om6T8eOw&feature=youtu.be

Slide Control: Create multi-panel slide controls to allow you to group objects in separate slide panels. To know more about Slide Control take a look on following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwCq---9oZA&feature=youtu.be

• Object Styling
  

To add different style to layout objects in FileMaker13 there are many styling features added as below:

Control object visibility: Hide or show layout objects by indicating whether an object is hidden or displayed depending on a specific condition or calculation.

Field Picker: Using the Field Picker dialog box drag the fields to the layout.

Object type selection: Use the drop-down list in the Appearance tab of the Inspector to select and style objects with multiple parts (such as portals or slide controls).

Shadows and padding: Apply shadows and padding to objects in the new Advanced Graphic area of the Inspector.

Improved object moving and resizing: Duplicating objects with “snap-to”,Resizing multiple objects and Dynamic guides etc.

Dynamic Naming to Tab Object: Can give tab name by providing a calculation.

BUILD IN FUNCTIONS

New Functions: There are lots of new build-in-functions added in FileMaker13 such as following:

Base64Decode

Base64Encode

Get(ConnectionAttributes)

GetContainerAttribute

Get(CurrentTimeUTCMilliseconds)

Get(Device)

Get(EncryptionState)

Get(NetworkType)

Get(ScriptAnimationState)

Get(TriggerGestureInfo)

Get(WindowOrientation)

Changed Functions: Few existing functions have been modified in FileMaker13 they are as following-

GetLayoutObjectAttribute() ["isFrontTabPanel" attribute changed to isFrontPanel and a new attribute added "isObjectHidden" ]

Get( TriggerCurrentTabPanel ) changed to Get( TriggerCurrentPanel )

Get( TriggerTargetTabPanel ) changed to Get(TriggerTargetPanel)

SCRIPTING

To make better scripting in FileMaker13 there are many enhancement done to the script editor as there is new option for check compatibility to Macintosh and Windows platform.

Few script steps enhanced for better usability as follows:

- Improvement to 'Show Custom Dialog': You can create a button label based on a calculation.

- Execute SQL script step compatibility: Compatible with FileMaker Server, WebDirect and CWP

• New script steps
  

Few new script steps have been added in FileMaker13 they are:

Insert From Device

Open Manage Themes

Perform Script On Server

Refresh Object

Set Script Animation

Upload To FileMaker Server

• Script triggers
  

There are few new script triggers added they are:

OnGestureTap – Triggers a script to run when a tap gesture is received on a layout in FileMaker Go.

OnLayoutSizeChange – Triggers a script to run after a layout or window has changed size as a result of the following:

In FileMaker Go: Rotating the iOS device, hiding or showing the status toolbar, or when a window is first opened.

OR In FileMaker Pro and FileMaker WebDirect: Changing the size of a layout or window by user interaction, by script step, by hiding or showing the status toolbar or formatting bar via menu command, shortcut, or script step, or when a window is first opened.

1 script trigger has been changed that is:

OnTabSwitch is now OnPanelSwitch.

DATABASE SHARING/HOSTING

There are 2 ways to host the FileMaker database files first through Filemaker Server by upload files to FileMaker Server and another 1 is WebDirect which is a new and prominent feature in FileMaker13.

• Webdirect
  

By using FileMaker WebDirect technology user can access layouts from FileMaker Pro databases in a web browser.

With FileMaker WebDirect, you don’t need to use coding tools such as PHP, HTML5, CSS or JavaScript to create robust solutions for the web. For FileMaker Webdirect files should be hosted by FileMaker Server. This can provides users:

- Desktop style interaction: Use themes, styles, charts, menus, and more. Even drag and drop files into container fields.

- Live updates: Get instant access to changes in your data or solution no need to refresh your browser.

- Automated processes: Enable scripts, calculations and conditional formatting to validate data and streamline work flow.

If the IP of the hosted FileMaker server is 192.168.14.123 then the URL to open the WebDirect on browser will be: https://192.168.14.123/fmi/webd

SECURITY ENHANCEMENT

Database Encryption feature has been included in FileMaker13 to Encrypt database files to protect them from unauthorized access while the files are being stored on disk, by requiring all database clients to open encrypted database files with an encryption password.

You can encrypt database files by using the Database Encryption feature of FileMaker Pro Advanced. Encryption protects FileMaker database files from unauthorized access while the files are being stored on disk. Temporary files that are created by encrypted files are also encrypted. You create an encryption password for the file, which protects the data if the file is copied or stolen. Users who do not enter the encryption password are not allowed access to the file. Encrypted files can be decrypted as needed.

Features not available in Filemaker 13

- Instant Web Publishing (IWP): FileMaker Pro no longer hosts database files via Instant Web Publishing.

- Exporting and saving records in Excel .xls format – FileMaker 13 no longer supports exporting or saving records in Excel 95-2004 Workbook (.xls) format.

- Support for inserting sound into container fields – Menu commands that support recording sound into container fields have been removed from FileMaker13 Pro.

To view the PPT presentation of this topic visit following link:

http://www.slideshare.net/MindfireSolutions/addon-features-filemaker-13

With best regards,

Manjit