A bargain?

[Keith M. Davie]

This past week I was in a Goodwill store finding things I can afford. There I found (but did not buy 'cause I already have it) a copy of FMPro 4.0 with serial number and instruction book for all of $2.99! Ok. So 4 does not have inlineactions and only one token. But with my abilities to make ScriptMaker reliable on the web those shortcomings have never bothered me. What matters is that Pro 4 does not require unlimited or server versions and it allows CWP. If I had to get a new copy of Pro I would not get 7 but would have gotten that copy of 4 for a true savings and client service.

Keeping in mind the idea is to provide service to data via the web, not restricted by the number of clients, I just thought I'd mention this realistic solution considering the problems and expense folks seem to be having with later versions, especially 7.

[Wim Decorte]

That all may be true, but 4 lacks a lot of the features that are available in 5, 6 and 7. And CDML is very much a dead language now. With 7 you can do everything with industry standards like XML and XSLT (and thus leverage your skills with other apps/development platforms).

That and the fact that you can now talk XML/XSLT & IWP directly to FileMaker Server without having to go through a copy of client to get to the server makes for a lot more stability and better performance...

[gdurniak]

Yes, $2.99 is a bargain

For the average user (FileMaker's target market) FM4 works, and since it's not bloated with bells & whistles, it actually runs faster than 5, 6 or 7

We still use it, and will not upgrade until FM7 gets the bugs out

[Garry Claridge]

In Australia, US$2.99 is about $4.50. Here, FM7 Server Advanced costs $4,390

Now, that is inflation! I can't even afford to learn how to develop with it, nor write application modules for resale.

However, I am writing "work-arounds"

All the best.

Garry

[Steve T.]

RE: FM4

I am a big fan of FileMaker version 4.0 and agree that for many it is a great solution. It allows you to web publish your FileMaker databases and can be used by anyone at just about any level of technical (or non-technical) expertise. We use FM4, FM5, FM5.5, and FM6 regularly (though FM4 is not compatible with FM5-6 format) and I tend to develop in 4 since you can always upgrade a db to a newer version but you can never downgrade to an older version.

With FM4, all you need is an internet-capable computer and an IP address and you can serve a dynamic website on the internet... WAY COOL. Now, having said that, here's my recommendations/opinions/caveats for anyone actually thinking of going w/FM4...

FM4 Web Publishing

+ low-intermediate volume sites

+ good for basic web forms/db (sign-ups, surveys, feedback pages, search engines, catalogs, etc.)

+ Custom Web Publishing w/CDML needed for serious work; Instant Web Publishing for limited use only

- Mac users must use OS9/Classic only

- slower web service than FM5-6

- as Keith mentioned, no inlines and only 1 token

- does not support as many input/output file formats as newer versions of FM

I would not recommend FM4 for anything involving confidential information or financial transactions, but for serving information as a search engine or for receiving information from web visitors, FM4 will do rather nicely for many beginner/intermediate users or basic solutions. Someone who has never coded anything may have to start out with CDML slowly, but someone with programming experience and/or knows some HTML should be able to get along okay. Pro's should be able to jump right in but may have to adjust to how FM works.

FM4 browser compatibility used to be an issue (fewer browsers back when FM4 was new and old Netscape had trouble), but I have not heard of any major problems lately (of course, fewer and fewer folks are using FM4 to web publish, though, so that could be it, too). Also, our FM4 would Unexpectedly Quit from time to time, so we'd have to reboot or relaunch as needed (2-3/month?).

I've seen FM4 for sale here and there online, mostly at USED MAC vendor places, and it's always a good deal. For US$3, though, I'd buy at least 10 if I ever saw them that low... That'd be enough copies to set up a small business and their webserver for about $30 !

IMO, FM4 WOULD NOT be a good web server for someone with PHP/MySQL experience or who intends to do serious web development professionally outside their own modest interests. PHP/MySQL is powerful and a great value and every Mac OS X computer has Apache pre-installed. I love FM4 and it's ability to serve db's... that's how I got started; but modern technology is pretty cool, too, and open source is growing in power and popularity and I think is the future.

--ST

[surwoop]

Now, that is inflation! I can't even afford to learn how to develop with it, nor write application modules for resale.

Garry, do you know about the developer licence for server advanced? If you own a copy of Developer 7 you can get it for about $15.

[Garry Claridge]

Re: If you own a copy of Developer 7 you can get it for about $15

Thanks, I didn't know that. I will check it out.

All the best.

Garry