Trying to compare the following:

Ease and Time of development

ease of making complex formulas

Included prewritten scripts

Network operation speed and scalability

Ability to set and automate printing forms to HP and Xerox printers. (any printer will do)

I am switching from Lotus Approach and I am looking for comparisons from people who have used both A5 and Filemaker pro. I am looking at filemaker pro 7 advanced server.

FileMaker Version: Server 7

Platform: Windows 2000

Hello,

Please help? Is this forum active??? Does filemaker monitor?

I am trying to make the right decision about which database system to use, but don't seem to be getting any answers. These questions, I would think, would be popular questions to have answered. Maybe I am not getting an answer because FM thinks it will be the wrong answer.?.?

Thanks... please give us some responses.

Jason

jasonsignature said:

Hello,

Please help? Is this forum active??? Does filemaker monitor?

I am trying to make the right decision about which database system to use, but don't seem to be getting any answers. These questions, I would think, would be popular questions to have answered. Maybe I am not getting an answer because FM thinks it will be the wrong answer.?.?

Thanks... please give us some responses.

Jason

Jason,

Yes the forms are active. But as it is primarily dedicated to FileMaker not all users have ventured or examined other products such as Alpha 5.

FM Forums is not moderated by FileMaker Inc. It is made up of thousands of individuals world wide who share the same common interest FileMaker.

In all fairness I cannot give you an unbiased answer. As FileMaker development is my chosen vocation and all things lean toward that end. You need to ask yourself what does the market show. Who's numbers in the market place are stronger and look at your feature sets including compatibility with platforms. Also you need to look at your source for resources and reference material.

Alpha is a competing product to FileMaker there are others here that may have more insight on the product. As I haven't even looked at it because it is PC based and I operate on Mac.

FileMaker Version: Dev 7

Platform: Mac OS X Panther

Hi Jason,

the products have a substantially different bottom line:

while FM is a good dbms targeted to ALL kind of users Alpha's suite of products is not.

If you need to unsleash the power of Alpha you MUST be familiar with:

objects and events driven programming

xbasic (basic-like language) extensive development

other data engines handling and interfacing, such as MS SQL Server, Oracle and so on

Standing this, the answer is a question: do you are ready for this ?

Sincerely

Thank you for your responses.

If you can not compare as to not working with the other software, any sort information on my questions would still be great.

I am very heavily leaning towards FMP 7Adv Server. Alpha5v6 is not a true client/server, they are expecting that in v7.

I really need a client server-I am sick of pulling my hair out when we are in our busy season and my current lotus system just drags. We have as many as 40 people accessing the system at any one time.

I am very interested in learning how to script for FM. Any suggestions on books, e-training or training?

Thank you.

jason

Jason

Your are more than welcome to visit often to ask your questions or search the forums for existing solutions. There is a host of information here as well as other FileMaker sites. I also recommend looking in to training from one of the many training facilities. Many users here were in your shoes not to long they are now becoming ever more proficient in their newly found skills. You too will advance given the wealth of information to be had.

Stephen

Hi, I have tried out the Alpha 5 software as well because they claim it's soooo much better than Filemaker, however, I was quite disappointed. It was a waste of time, you couldn't create your own layout colors, they only had templates. I use Filemaker for design and database, we produce CD alumni directories with the help of Filemaker, and Alpha 5 had nowhere near as many options for scripts or design.

Anji

I agree with Anji. I have a full version of Alpha 5, and everything seems to be canned and its only PC based. With FileMaker your imagination is your only limitation. (To a point that is.) There are things we all wish FileMaker could do, but over all there is no other program on the market that a person with no programming experience can jump into and get a working database up and running in a very short time.

Dean