Filemaker 8 Advanced vs RealBasic

[Chris S]

Hi All,

I have a client who need an applications developed that can run on either Windows or Mac. I am trying to decide between FM8 Advanced or RealBasic.

Am I correct in assuming FM8 Adv will be able to create a Win and Mac executable?

Also, if I used a MySQL db, would I be able to connect via ODBC (on Win), what could I use on the Mac side?

Thanks.

Chris

[Søren Dyhr]

Am I correct in assuming FM8 Adv will be able to create a Win and Mac executable?

You are, but there're several snatches to it:

1) Runtimes can't network

2) You would need both environment's to bind/compile the runtimes

If you've a strong hand with VBA/Realbasic might this be a more flexible option:

http://www.paradigmasoft.com/

--sd

[stanley]

Chris:

Welcome to the Forums.

I haven't used RealBasic since around 2002, but back then I found that its native database system was pretty unstable and unreliable. I had prototyped the application I was building in FMP 5, and the prototype was always faster at dealing with the database than the RealBasic app was. Hopefully they've dealt with those issues, as otherwise I found it to be a pretty good RAD tool. It certainly has greater programming depth than FileMaker. I think your choice will depend on the specifics of your situation.

Also, my Windows executables (done on the Mac, if I remember right) were never really up to snuff. Again, that's 2002. Hopefully they've dealt with all that stuff.

RealBasic's biggest advantage may lie in their customer support. Unlike FMI, they actually listened to my questions and came back at me with answers.

-Stanley