Choosing a development platform

[charper]

I need to decide whether the FM application I'm going to build should be built on a PC or a Mac - I have the option of both. I also need to decide whether to use Developer 4.0 or upgrade to Developer 5.5.

The application will be multimedia heavy i.e. lots of full screen graphics, sounds, voice recordings, and probably some movies in various formats. My concern is mostly with cross platform capatibility.

1) Will a multimedia heavy FM application built on a PC using FM Developer 4.0 run ok on a Mac. 2) Will a multimedia heavy FM application built on a Mac using FM Developer 4.0 run ok on a PC. 3) Will a multimedia heavy FM application built on a PC using FM Developer 5.5 run ok on a Mac. 4) Will a multimedia heavy FM application built on a Mac using FM Developer 5.5 run ok on a PC.

My instinct tells me that these issues are ripe with Murphy's Law. Would I be right? I'm strongly inclined to just run some tests of my own to see how well these different combinations work with the various peices of multimedia, but I'd rather not have to purchase the FM 5.5 Developer upgrade just to discover that there's some crossplatform issues with it regarding multimedia.

Other info: This application will probably never need to run on a network but we may want to turn it into an internet app at some point. Last year when I was researching FM internet database publishing I became aware of some issues with FM 5.0 that were somewhat dissheartening e.g. Wouldn't work well with Lasso (if at all). There were clearly some advantages to sticking with 4.0, 4.1, etc. when it came to internet publishing.

Would really appreciate some advice in these areas. Once this platform issue and FM Developer version issue are resolved I can actually begin the development proper.

[Kurt Knippel]

You are a bit confused as to the product offerings. The Filemaker Developer Tool 4 is basically used for creating Runtimes, and that is it. The Filemaker Developer Tool 5 can do many things such as creating a runtime, renaming files, stripping all design information out of the files, etc. You do NOT actually do any development in those apps. Filemaker Developer 5.5 is basically a version of Filemaker Pro 5.5 which has the addition of the Script Debugger and Database Design Report. You do all of your development in a copy of Filemaker Pro.

Choosing between Filemaker 4 and Filemaker 5.x is easy. Go with Filemaker 5.x Filemaker 4 is a dead product line, and Filemaker 5.x has lots of cool new features that you'll end up wanting anyway. Filemaker Pro 5.x and Filemaker Server 5 will also be compatible with new versions of Filemaker and are also compatible with the newest OSs, such as OS X and WinXP/2000.

Choosing between Mac and Windows is a personal preference. I used to do all my development on a Win95 machine, but now do all development on a Mac. I found that I had no problems with cross-platform issues and most of my development has been for mixed environments. You just need to realize that there are font and graphical rendering differences between different OSs. And just to complicate matters, different versions of Windows have these issues as well.

Personally I do all my development on a Mac Powerbook running OS 9.2.2 with Filemaker Pro 5.5v2

[kenneth2k1]

I'd be interested to see what ppl think about this. Because I started off developing on a G3 MacOS 9.2. However, the solution I was developing was going to be ran entirely on Win. It was just the small things: like Win metafiles, how app windows are used and resizing.

I've heard ppl say that developing on MacOS is easier because of the UI. I would have to agree. But once I started developing on Win2k, I found the difference to be small - so I guess it really is a personal preference.

[charper]

Thanks for the replies. But since I posted this question earlier today, I've read complaints about:

1) Sounds in FM solutions developed on MACs not playing back in Windows

2) Runtime solutions bound on a PC not running correctly (or at all) on Macs.

3) Movies in runtime solutions bound on a Mac not playing back in Windows.

Is there nothing to these complaints? User error? I'm also hearing that, for reliable cross platform compatibility, you need to do two seperate bindings of your solution - one on a PC and one on a MAC - then incorporate both builds into your installation software which will choose (or allow the end user to choose) the approriate version.

Just to make sure my question is clear:

I'm building a multimedia heavy solution. If I build it, bind it with Developer, and burn it to a CD all from within Windows, will it run ok on when installed by an end user on a MAC? Same question for going from MAC to PC.

[Kurt Knippel]

A "runtime" is a compiled application. You must compile the runtime both on Mac and on Windows seperately. The Filemaker files can be the same, but the compiled application must be bound on each platform seperately.

You will also need to take this into account when building the CD. Make it either ISO9000 or a hybrid. Personally I'd go with the Hybrid, as it allows you to optimize it for both Macs and Windows.

I am not aware of issues with multimedia files, but most likely it is an issue of file types and formats. Saving Mac optimized formats will have problems in Windows and Windows formats will have problems on the Mac. Stick to standard formats such as MPEG and JPG and you should be OK.

As to specific issue with you particular design application, I cannot say. However the choice of development platform will make little different to the overall cross-platform issues.

[DykstrL]

If you're developing cross-platform runtime solutions, you really will have to do the development on both platforms. I personally start on the Windows platform, then move it over to the Mac side - the reason being is that the Mac is more forgiving as to file formats, font substitutions, etc.. Also, if you use some script steps, such as Print Setup, the printer set ups will have to be defined for both platforms - each one is separately 'saved' in FMP.

As to media file formats, if you use cross platform formats, they should work on both sides. The one thing to keep in mind - and where most problems are likely to occur - is the difference in how the Mac and Win OS'es keep track of where files are stored and accessed. Storing a relation (link) to a media file, as in a container field, usually does not work cross-platform because of this.

Working with media files is usually a case of trial-and-error, where you go back and forth between the platforms until you find a solution or combination of solutions that work on both sides.

[danjacoby]

Regarding runtime versions, once you've bound your solution on both platforms, you can actually have the files for both on one computer, then update them with new files if you bind the updated solution using the same filenames and binding key.

About CDs, I prefer to create Mac/ISO CDs; that way an end user will see only the version for the platform he/she is using. One caveat -- you must (read: really, really oughta) create an installer, especially for the Windows version. Once files are put on a CD, they are read by Windows machines as read-only. By creating an installer, only the installer is read-only, but the files, once installed, will work just fine. Even the Aladdin Systems' DropStuff works.

********************

Finally, I work on a Mac, so all of the above works on Mac, but might not be fully workable when working with Windows (alliteration intended). Also, I recommend Mac for any cross-platform development, primarily because its easier to use Windows-formatted media (such as Zip disks) on a Mac than Mac-formatted Zips on a PC, and also because you can create Mac/ISO CDs more easily from a Mac (i.e. with cheaper software), and finally because I don't like what Windows does to Mac files (i.e. the runtime solution). Others would say that, since font sizes are larger on Windows, it's better to develop on Windows to ensure that you have plenty of room for the fields when ported to Mac, whereas if you develop on Mac you have to allow extra space for Windows users.

[kenneth2k1]

Others would say that, since font sizes are larger on Windows, it's better to develop on Windows to ensure that you have plenty of room for the fields when ported to Mac, whereas if you develop on Mac you have to allow extra space for Windows users.

I found this out the hard way. I guess as long as you keep it in mind and adjust, it's not a big deal. What I liked about developing on MacOS was how long popup menus scroll automatically (and faster, it seems to me), how the inequality symbols didn't look like ">=", and window sizing seemed smoother. But there was just something about the general appearance that looked foreign when running on a PC. Since most of my users (99.8%) are Win2k, priority went to them. Then I went back and made some minor changes for a Mac version. As was stated earlier by the other members, Mac has much more forgiving file management.

Ken