Filemaker Version 8 ?

[stuj1026]

As I did not find a general filemaker catagory I am posting here.. Has anyone heard that filemaker is planning another release? not a patch as in 7.01 ... 7.02 etc but a full number release such as 7.5 or 8.0?

Our company is on a yearly maintanance schedule with filemaker for 50 seats as well as server and server advanced.. The maintenance is for 1 year and will cost us over $3000.00 ..this will allow us to have any upgrades to a new release for a period of 1 year. I am reluctant to spend the $3000 plus, if there will not be a new release..

Thanks for the info

Stu

[Walter B]

My understanding is that if you let Maintenance/VLA/Box Set license expire, you will pay full retail for the next upgrade that comes out. Economically speaking, you are ahead by paying the maintenance fee, even if Filemaker doesn't come out with and upgrade until next year.

[Ted S]

Stu,

We are in the same situation as you and I have heard that there will be a significant release this year.

I'm just a typical FileMaker customer/developer. I am not a member of the "alliance" nor do I have any other connections to the FileMaker community or its leaders other than my membership on this and a couple other smaller boards.

My info comes indirectly from someone in FileMaker sales. What I heard was that there is a new release planned for '05 and it will be focused on enhansements for the user. That's all I know. I took the word "user" to mean FileMaker's user base which is really FileMaker developers. Please keep in mind that this was an indirect source quoting someone in sales so the whole idea of a release this year could easily be bogus. In fact, I think history shows major releases tend to happen every other year for FileMaker but I may be wrong on this.

In my opinion the v7 release was more for the benefit of of the FileMaker company than the users. Before all you guys pounce on me I do in fact think that v7 has been, and will be, a huge win for FileMaker developers/users too. Its just that for FileMaker to continue to be a viable product they folks at FMI needed to tearout and rebuild the foundation to get them on the right road for future growth. The old single table per file limitation was going to kill the product eventually in my opinion.

Like Walter mentioned, I think it is significantly bigger $ if you let your contract lapse. You should call your FM sales representative. He or she may be able to share some minimal inside knowledge.

[transpower]

I have no inside information, but extrapolating from the past would lead one to conclude that it's unlikely that there would a major release. FM 5 came out in 1999 and FM 6 in 2002 (I think) and FM 7 in 2004, so FM 8 would probably come out in 2006. But there will probably be 7.04 and 7.05 this year.

[weldon]

This is pure speculation, but I would interpret the comment that the next release is focused on "user enhancements" to mean that they won't monkey with the database format itself (the new relational features in v7) but that they would clean up the UI, add additional features, etc. The file format and database structure would stay relatively stable. Again, that would be my expectation for the next release, and would be my own personal interpretation of such a comment.

[Steve N]

I had to face this same issue last fall. My agreement expired in november, renewal for 10 seats and server was about 600 which entitled me to a new full version. Cost for 10 upgrades and server upgrade was about 2000 which only gave me upgrades not full versions. Even if FM went two years for an upgrade I am money ahead.

Couple of other facters:

I received FM 7 by having a maintenance agreement on FM6, so I was happy and familiar with the program.

I speculated FM would do a 7.1 or 7.5 or 8 sooner than normal, because of the dramatic changes in 7 and all the unanswered question in 7. (Maybe this is only withfull thinking on my part.)

The FM salesperson implied something was comming (ok, take that for whats is worth, salesman and politicians lie)

Finally the decision rested on if I would ever upgrade, since my solution is fully written and does the job, I could stay with fm 6 for years to come. The benefit if the new security was my main reason to move forward.

I did decided to purchase agreement one more year. Hope this helps

[Llaamaboy]

Just asking a question, is FM moving towards an SQL model? To me, 7 was a step in that direction.

[Jodin]

i find it hard to believe that they would have anything 'major' out in 2005, but i don't have any inside info. i'd like to see a completion of what they've started in v7, meaning since the backend is shaping up to be a solid engine now it's time to add the features needed for us to complete the separation model properly and give the user more modern interfaces. we can make things look nice in fmp but we still can't make our data or layouts really *do* much without alot of trickery. also i would think that improvements in the developer product -- namely in debugging are overdue.

i don't see a ton of improvements to be made to the basic table/field/relationship model introduced in 7 except for in some ways simplifying it and making it easier to manage/exploit. the rest of the feature enhancements should include scriptmaker (more script steps, we should be able to script EVERYTHING!) and dynamic layout features. anyways, i'll file a feature request for the rest of my ideas.

[Vaughan]

"more script steps, we should be able to script EVERYTHING!!!!"

What can't be already be scripted? (Apart from "Enter Layout Mode []".)

[LaRetta]

Hi Vaughan

Performing File Maintenance might be nice.

I have one 360 MB file but it takes 12 minutes to compact and 5 minutes to optimize. I wouldn't even attempt such a thing while hosted.

But it would be nice to plop on a Developer layout for US to use instead of having to display the Status Area and execute it manually. It could test for numbers of Users and halt script if greater than 1.

LaRetta

[Munchie]

Vaughan,

Applescript does a lot of stuff that isn't available for Windows users without plugins. I see lots of solutions to issues I have, however they involve Applescript many times.

Things that can be done with plugins, should really be standard for Filemaker. Send Mail script step is very limited.

I really want some of the features that are in Secure FM with Menu Magic to be standard. The asking price for that plugin is well out of my budget limits for what it does.

[Oldfogey]

Vaughan, Are you joking?

How about Case, and a decent Do Loop just for starters?

Scriptmaker is really great but it could do with a lot of improvements.

[Vaughan]

Paul

Sure, Case would be great, but it does nothing that nested IFs can't do only Case is neater. Dunno about Do Loops. I'll take your word for it.

Now if people were asking for enhanced Export and Import features... yeah, I'd agree with requests like that.

My original point was that in FMP 7 just about everything is scriptable.

[Oldfogey]

Just about everything was scriptable in V6. It's the 'just about' that is the problem and also 'scriptable'. It is realy amazing just what you can do with Scriptmaker but it is really primitive.

It is interpretive, which means it is not all that difficult to incorporate new things.

Two things that get right up my nose are -

the absence of any text editing facility; the nature of Scriptmaker is such that this could be implemented quite easily (unless the developers REALLY screwed up.)

and no GOTO, or commenting out of instructions, so that you can bypass a heap of stuff when you are testing.

I could go on forever ......

(By the way, the primitive exporting facilities have served my purposes beautifully!)

[-Queue-]

A quick way to bypass certain parts of scripts is to through in an If [0] ... End If around the section to be ignored, adding a blank comment line before and after it to make it obvious.

[Oldfogey]

Queue, Are you just trying to embarrass me? I use semi-permanent True/Falses all over the place and never though to use it in that way.

Thanks!

[-Queue-]

Nothing of the sort; I am in the business of 'informing'.

Granted, it is a work-around, but one of the quickest and least painless there is.

Don't feel embarrassed. It was just your turn for a 'why didn't I think of that?' moment. I have plenty of them myself, every time I talk to Ugo.

[ralph.nusser]

HPO Soft has published the FileMaker version history (with more details)

HPO Soft FileMaker History

Apr 1985------- FileMaker, v1.0 ------------------Forethought Inc.

Oct 1986 -------FileMaker Plus, v2.1 -------------Nashoba Systems

Jun 1988 -------FileMaker 4, v 4 -----------------Nashoba Systems

Aug 1988 -------FileMaker II, v 1.0 --------------Claris Corporation

Oct 1990 -------FileMaker Pro 1.0v1---------------Claris Corporation

Sep 1992 -------FileMaker Pro 2.0v1---------------Claris Corporation

Dec 1995 -------FileMaker Pro 3.0v1---------------Claris Corporation

Sep 1997 -------FileMaker Pro 4.0v1---------------Claris Corporation

Sep 1999 -------FileMaker Pro 5.0v1---------------FileMaker, Inc.

: 2002 -------FileMaker Pro 6.0v1---------------FileMaker, Inc.

: 2004 -------FileMaker Pro 7.0v1---------------FileMaker, Inc.

[color:"red"] 2006 or 2007FileMaker Pro 8.0v1---------------FileMaker, Inc.

Just a guess.

Happy FileMaking

[DykstrL]

I think that major releases if FMP are more tied to Operating Systems releases than anything else. Taking ralph.nusser's little history, I added OS release dates. I think you can kinda see a pattern:

Oct 1990 FileMaker Pro 1.0v1 Claris Corporation

May 1991 System 7 (Big Bang) Apple

Apr 1992 Windows 3.1 Microsoft

Sep 1992 FileMaker Pro 2.0v1 Claris Corporation

Aug 1995 Windows 95 Microsoft

Dec 1995 FileMaker Pro 3.0v1 Claris Corporation

Sep 1997 FileMaker Pro 4.0v1 Claris Corporation

Jan 1998 Mac OS 8.1 Apple

Jun 1998 Windows 98 Microsoft

Oct 1998 Mac OS 8.5 Apple

May 1999 Windows 98 SE Microsoft

May 1999 Mac OS 8.6 Apple

Sep 1999 FileMaker Pro 5.0v1 FileMaker, Inc.

Feb 2000 Windows 2000 Microsoft

Mar 2001 OS X Cheetah (10.0) Apple

Nov 2001 FileMaker Pro 5.5v1 FileMaker, Inc.

Sep 2001 OS X Puma (10.1) Apple

Oct 2001 Windows XP Microsoft

Nov 2001 Mac OS 9.2.2 Apple

Aug 2002 OS X Jaguar (10.2) Apple

Sep 2002 FileMaker Pro 6.0v1 FileMaker, Inc.

Mar 2004 FileMaker Pro 7.0v1 FileMaker, Inc.

Oct 2004 OS X Panther (10.3) Apple

: 2005 OS X Tiger (10.4) Apple

: 2006 Windows Longhorn Microsoft

2006 Mac OS (Eleven?) Apple

2006 FileMaker Pro 8 (7.5?) FileMaker, Inc.

[Steve N]

Filemaker did come out with a 4.1 in 98. I just went to the store room and found the old box to confrim my memory. Best I can remember there was very little change from 4.0 and I doubt many upgraded from 4 to 4.1, but there were some changes.

My hope is we will see a 7.x this year because of the dramatic changes in 7. Not big changes but some fine tuning. Built in script event. Scroll mouse. Fine tune relationship model. Many other fine tunes

I also hope to win the lottery.

[Jodin]

re: what can't we script --- how about addressing the few primary and obvious tasks most database users want to do, like generate a custom report, manage user accounts (with extended priveleges), and work more smartly with multimedia (images, sound, video).

many of these features are provided in one form or another in FMP if you ship an open system. if you remove the native interface like as in any vertical market or shrink-wrapped solution, much of this can not be duplicated using scriptmaker alone. for instance, you can't even allow them use the built in New Layout wizard. even if you were to set up permissions to leave it accessable, you can't then dynamically hook up the newly created script to a button. i've tried.

scripting 'go to layout mode' is a huge one, especially if they then allow us to 'position object [name] at [coordinates]'. there is MUCH of the native abilities that cannot be scripted, and those features are left to be used by devs only or brave/crazy users.

another random but helpful feature would be to have smart dev layouts -- a permanent table view layout for every table made, that stays updated with all fields for that table. if FMI is going to continue to market FMP as a RAD tool then it should encourage that, and work to help developers cut the busy time needed to 'clean up' if you develop as you design.

also, my biggest idea of the moment is to make the developer product use non-modal dialogs. fmp makes us go through so many dialog boxes to get anything done (yes, even 7), and the developer product could be made much more useful and sellable if we could have scriptmaker, a script, the relationship graph, the field list, and other developer windows open at the same time.

but anyways, we may be using the program differently than you, but i see a whole ton of improvements to be made in scriptmaker. i was dissapointed that it is so similar in v7, but i'm not complaining -- the changes made to the engine were huge.

[the Otter]

Filemaker did come out with a 4.1 in 98. I just went to the store room and found the old box to confrim my memory. Best I can remember there was very little change from 4.0 and I doubt many upgraded from 4 to 4.1, but there were some changes.

If I remember correctly, 4.1 was just 4.0 + ODBC. Nothing to sneeze at, but I think that was the only difference.

[argentphil]

My insiders tell me that version 8 will be out by the end of this year, and that it will be so radically different that they will drop the version 8 moniker for something totally different. Sounds like FileMaker will be solidifying the program changes made in version 7, and finally differentiating the product from previous versions in the market place. This is all speculation at this point, but I do trust my source and the information as received directly from the mothership.

FileMaker are such good stewards of their product, the changes will most likely be very welcome, and only help to improve the positioning and functionality of the title.

My 2 cents worth.

[argentphil]

My insiders tell me that version 8 will be out by the end of this year, and that it will be so radically different that they will drop the version 8 moniker for something totally different. Sounds like FileMaker will be solidifying the program changes made in version 7, and finally differentiating the product from previous versions in the market place. This is all speculation at this point, but I do trust my source and the information as received directly from the mothership.

FileMaker are such good stewards of their product, the changes will most likely be very welcome, and only help to improve the positioning and functionality of the title.

My 2 cents worth.

[argentphil]

My insiders tell me that version 8 will be out by the end of this year, and that it will be so radically different that they will drop the version 8 moniker for something totally different. Sounds like FileMaker will be solidifying the program changes made in version 7, and finally differentiating the product from previous versions in the market place. This is all speculation at this point, but I do trust my source and the information as received directly from the mothership.

FileMaker are such good stewards of their product, the changes will most likely be very welcome, and only help to improve the positioning and functionality of the title.

My 2 cents worth.

[Rob 7 Collins]

I have no inside information, but extrapolating from the past would lead one to conclude that it's unlikely that there would a major release. FM 5 came out in 1999 and FM 6 in 2002 (I think) and FM 7 in 2004, so FM 8 would probably come out in 2006. But there will probably be 7.04 and 7.05 this year.

This doesn't quite add up, just in pure logic. In reality I'd bet on you. But 3 deltas are the minimum necessary to make a prediction... well, I at least know you need no fewer than three numbers to define a pattern. The three numbers are: 1999,2002,2004 the next would be 2005. (+3,+2 -> +1)

Myself, I would be very surprised if they changed file format this year, kinda surprised if they changed the scripting/formula environment in a major way, and not so surprised if they began supporting a seperation model in the year.

[Rob 7 Collins]

I have no inside information, but extrapolating from the past would lead one to conclude that it's unlikely that there would a major release. FM 5 came out in 1999 and FM 6 in 2002 (I think) and FM 7 in 2004, so FM 8 would probably come out in 2006. But there will probably be 7.04 and 7.05 this year.

This doesn't quite add up, just in pure logic. In reality I'd bet on you. But 3 deltas are the minimum necessary to make a prediction... well, I at least know you need no fewer than three numbers to define a pattern. The three numbers are: 1999,2002,2004 the next would be 2005. (+3,+2 -> +1)

Myself, I would be very surprised if they changed file format this year, kinda surprised if they changed the scripting/formula environment in a major way, and not so surprised if they began supporting a seperation model in the year.

[Rob 7 Collins]

I have no inside information, but extrapolating from the past would lead one to conclude that it's unlikely that there would a major release. FM 5 came out in 1999 and FM 6 in 2002 (I think) and FM 7 in 2004, so FM 8 would probably come out in 2006. But there will probably be 7.04 and 7.05 this year.

This doesn't quite add up, just in pure logic. In reality I'd bet on you. But 3 deltas are the minimum necessary to make a prediction... well, I at least know you need no fewer than three numbers to define a pattern. The three numbers are: 1999,2002,2004 the next would be 2005. (+3,+2 -> +1)

Myself, I would be very surprised if they changed file format this year, kinda surprised if they changed the scripting/formula environment in a major way, and not so surprised if they began supporting a seperation model in the year.