Wondering if FM 7 is right for me...

[Eric Klinger]

Hi - This is my first post here. I am very new to this and purchased FM Pro 7 on a recommendation from a friend / business associate. So, I am wondering if this is what I need to do what I want. I know that FM is very powerful, but please read what I HOPE to do...

I am mainly a studio engineer / musician by trade. I supplement my income by doing CD artwork / layouts. These are my only sources of income. I am getting fairly busy as of this year and am seeking better ways to organize my info. What I would like to do is create a database in FM 7 that allows me to have three main sections and several nested sections. The three main sections would be audio (for recording clients), graphic (for artwork/layout clients) and personal (for friends and family). Under audio and graphics sections, I would like to have contacts (which I have already began), invoices (that I hope to create and file in FM) and calenders. I suppose calender should be another main part. I am hoping to be able to add a client to the contacts, create a button that will in turn create an invoice for that client. But I will need more than one invoice per client (I get lots of repeat business) and maybe a preview of listed filed invoices and maybe a preview that will extract that client from my calender and show me my next "booking:" with that client. There's more that I can't even think of at the moment.

At the present, I have an iMac G5 for book keeping and I am using Excel (invoices), iCal (calender), Address Book (contacts) and Stickies (for reminders). This results in alot of open programs and open / saved files... more than I like to have.

Will FM Pro 7 be the solution I am looking for?

Thanks for your time.

Eric Klinger

[Reed]

All of this is doable in Filemaker Pro.... Things you want to consider when you're building your system are how to organize your data. It sounds like you want to have separate database files for audio and graphic clients, but you could have one contacts table for all three with a field for each contact designating what type of client they are.

There are plenty of examples out there of systems that track contacts, products, invoices, and line items.... One free one that comes to mind is Filemaker Business Tracker:

http://collection.filemaker.com/collection/search_details.jsp?serial=2206

You have to register to get it, but it's free and unlocked so you can see how it works and modify it to your heart's content.

A really nice calendar solution is available:

www.clevelandconsulting.com

There are versions that range in price from $0 to $159 depending on features, but they're all open so you can modify them and integrate them with your own system.

HTH,

Dana

[Eric Klinger]

Thank very much for your reply. I have Bus. Tracker... but it's so complex and I thought it would take me about as long to strip it down to what I want as it would take me to create my own.... but then there's the hours and hours of reading and learning, but I think I would enjoy the final product of doing it myself much more. I saw that with Bus. Tracker, that alot of what I want is possible, but wasn't sure about everything. By the way, CC does make a nice calender... I think I will look more into them. Is it recommended that I create a few files for this and not one? Is it possible to extract or combine info from two different databases with a script? I suppose I could begin with the manual. I was just hoping to get some answers before I dove in. Thanks for your time!

Eric

[Reed]

For your system, especially if it's just for your use, and will be created and maintained just by you, could be done in one file.

You can access information from several files as though they were in one file by defining file references and creating table occurrences that reference the other file. You just use relationships to link data in different tables.

A really good book that goes from beginning to advanced is:

Special Edition: Using Filemaker 7; by Steve Lane, Bob Bowers, Scott Love, and Chris Moyer

It's >1000 pages and has details on everything from how to structure your data to advanced use of scripting and calculation functions.

[Eric Klinger]

Thank you, Reed, very much!! I will look into that book.

Eric

[dkemme]

Be prepared to spend a fair amount of time learning FM and then creating your solution. If you spend the time you will be greatly rewarded with increased efficiency. If your are too busy to learn a new tool and implement it, you will be frustrated and further behind at work.