I would like some advice. I would like to build, for my customers, a web site displaying a catalogue of their products. Presently I use Dreamweaver and Filemaker Pro 8 and have been looking at the option of using Filemaker Server 8 Advanced (using Custom Web Publishing) as a solution for building a database driven web site. However, at over £1,600 (approx $2,500) Filemaker Server 8 Advanced is very expensive and it's not possible to get a trial version of this to see whether it suits my needs. Furthermore, I can't find an example of a web site driven by this package. I spoke to Filemaker UK today and they said www.eatpret.com was an example, but having looked at it, it's nothing like a web site I wish to build.

I was intrigued by Lasso. I have looked at their web site and it looks like it might be a better solution. Whilst it is pricey, it's not as expensive as the Filemaker option and it supports both Filemaker and Dreamweaver. Furthermore, it is possible to download a trial version.

What do you think I should do? I would be grateful for any comments.

I might just add that I have used the Instant Web Publishing feature in Filemaker which is incredibly simple and it turned me on to the idea of Custom Web Publishing.

You need to use FileMaker Server Advanced to be able to connect to your databases with Lasso Professional. IMHO, Lasso is MUCH easier to use than FileMaker's built-in XML/XSLT Custom Web Publishing.

If you're concerned about pricing, I would suggest considering hosting with a provider such as ourselves - www.pointinspace.com - as we provide the FMSA, Lasso, etc. licenses on our servers as part of our hosting packages.

- John