Cross Platform

[Mo Gibbs]

If I am developing a cross platform database, do I need to develop it on the Mac platform or can I develop it on either. I read somewhere that you had to develop your database on the Mac and then transfer it to the Windows platform. Any assistance would greatly be appreciated.

[Kurt Knippel]

It is generally accepted that Mac first - Windows second is the best way to develop your interfaces, but honestly I am not sure that that is necessary.

I rountinly developed for Windows on a Mac without ever moving it to Windows, likewise I had an app that was originally developed on a Mac, then reeveloped on Windows, the further worked on a Mac, all the while being distributed cross platform.

Basically there are a few font issues that you need to be aware of, mainly in how they are rendered on the screen.

If this is your first cross-platform development endevour, then I would highly suggest that you have both platforms so that you can see how it looks and see if you need to make any adjustments.

[cjaeger]

It is generally accepted that Mac first - Windows second is the best way to develop your interfaces, but honestly I am not sure that that is necessary.

As for the font problems, it is easier to design layouts windows first, since new fields on the layout will be auto-sized to windows requirements (slightly bigger). I do it on a mac anyway, but use a font size about 10-20% bigger, the set it back to normal to make up for the font problem. Stick to fonts available on both platforms.

Make sure the first thing you do after defining some initial fields n a new database is that you go to doc prefs and click "use compatible graphics" (and maybe uncheck "use smart quotes" as they conflict with find mode).

You should definitely test it on both plattforms unless you are 100% certain you did not use platform-specific script commands or PageSetup (restore) anywhere in the database.

For effiicient development, I can highly recommend getting VirtualPC, so you can verify your programming easily on the other platform after every major change.

If you develop both for MacOS X and Classic MacOS, you should Develop on X, with Filemaker installed both for X and Classic. And if you are developing for several versions of Windows, have one Virtual PC set up for Win98/ME, one for WinNT/2k and maybe even one for Win XP.

[cjaeger]

It is generally accepted that Mac first - Windows second is the best way to develop your interfaces, but honestly I am not sure that that is necessary.

As for the font problems, it is easier to design layouts windows first, since new fields on the layout will be auto-sized to windows requirements (slightly bigger). I do it on a mac anyway, but use a font size about 10-20% bigger, the set it back to normal to make up for the font problem. Stick to fonts available on both platforms.

Make sure the first thing you do after defining some initial fields n a new database is that you go to doc prefs and click "use compatible graphics" (and maybe uncheck "use smart quotes" as they conflict with find mode).

You should definitely test it on both plattforms unless you are 100% certain you did not use platform-specific script commands or PageSetup (restore) anywhere in the database.

[Mo Gibbs]

Thank you for the information and your time.

Mo