I have filemaker pro 5 v3 and have just acquired developer 6.

1) Do I need pro 6 to design and update my databases?

2)When I open any of my existing databases in pro 5, it launches developer 6....why?

3) If I trash pro 5, will I still be able to design, develop and run databases using only Developer 6?

Sorry if I sound like an absolute twit, I suppose I just don't really understand what is happening..!

In short, no, now that you have Developer 6, you are unlikely to need to use pro 5.0v3.

Developer is a 'super-set' of Pro, which is to say it includes all the standard Pro features plus some extra ones of its own. Databases you design or modify using Developer 6 will run just fine in Pro 6.

Of course any of the new features of v6 that you use will not be available if databases are opened in v5.5 or v5.0 - but that is equally true of both Dev 6 and Pro 6.

Operating systems are generally set up to associate file types with the latest or most recently installed version of the application to which they 'belong'. That is why now that you have installed Dev 6 (for which the file format is the same as Pro 5) your .fp5 files are opening into it rather than into the earlier version.

In addition to what Ray said:

Developer 6 is in fact Filemaker 6 plus some extra things, like the Database Design Report, and of course the Developer tool itself, but if you do not use or make runtime versions, the Developer 6 part is the same as Filemaker 6. I mean, there are no extra Filemaker options in the Developer 6 compared to Filemaker 6

When you 'filemake' for yourself, version 6 is an excellent idea. When you 'filemake' for others not in runtime environments, keep in mind the extra field and script options in version 6 compared to version 5. Because a lot of users haven't upgraded to version 6. When you depend too much on only version 6 options you lose the downward compatibility.

Harryk

Of course any of the new features of v6 that you use will not be available if databases are opened in v5.5 or v5.0 - but that is equally true of both Dev 6 and Pro 6.

Would be true if there was a version 7... I do not understand your 'equally true' here..

Harryk

Well given the history: v3 thru v4.x shared the same file format. v5 thru v6.x share the same file format. I would expect the v7 will be a new file format.

What I meant by that, Harry, is that whether you are using Developer 6 or standard 6, the issues about backwards compatibility to users running 5.0 and 5.5 are the same.

I would expect the v7 will be a new file format.

I've noticed that a number of software companies are getting a bit cleverer about creating file formats that are flexible enough allow for new features without having to abandon the format. Makes it nice for users who don't always have the latest software version. They can still open a new file with the old software. Only the new features are disabled or missing.