Budgeting for Tools and plugins

[mr_vodka]

Hi All,

First of all, I just wanted to say that I have been away from the forums for a few months because I left my previous FM job in Florida.

Anyway, it is good to be back here in the forums again. So after dabbling with non FM related projects for the past few months, I am now back doing FM work with a large company this time. However, I find myself in uncharted territory now. I actually get a budget instead of having to beg for plugins, tools, hardware, software, etc for a change. lol.

Which brings me to the issue. I need to come up with items for my budget for next year. I would like to think about it now and incorportate it into my budget rather than have to beg for it later. Yay! So far, I have this list of things I am going to get. Are there other things that I am forgetting or that you guys would also recommend? The existing application is in FM6 but I am rebuilding it from scratch in FM 8.5.

• Troi Plugins (most of them)
• Inspector (by fmnexus)
• FM Robot

So here are some other questions in regard to some plugins and this is why although the post covers more than just plugins, I decided to post it here.

1. I will need an email plugin. They currently are using SMPTit for FM6 to send and track emails. However, the client has said that they would like receiving certain emails as well. So for FM8.5 do you guys like cnsplug-ins's SMTPit Pro or Dacon's Dacons Mail.it? Furthermore, has anyone used Productive Computing's Exchange Manipulator and if so what are the pluses and minuses.

2. Next we will need to disable the built in Windows functions such as exit, close, minimize etc for the windows, so do you guys like New Millenium's SecureFM with MenuMagic or Dacons Menu Control?

I apologize for this post containing many different things but I would just like to get the community's feedback in case I forgot something or you guys can recommend new tools so that I can build it into my budget.

Thanks and it is good to be back here.

[Fitch]

Don't forget MetadataMagic - still essential for pre-conversion. FM Robot is less useful since FileMaker 8 allows copy/pasting.

1. SMTPit Pro seems quite nice but we only use it for sending so I can't comment on the rest of this question.

2. Have you experimented with FileMaker 8's custom menus? That can get you pretty far; with that and the other new window scripting features, maybe you won't need a plugin for window control.

[SteveB]

Between Secure FM and Dacons Menu Control they are two completely different plugins. I use Dacons which I think is great. Secure FM has its own set of features, which I sure other users will attest to. You can't use both, so you'll need to do some comparison.

I also use Troi Dialog and File. I'd also look at 24U Simple Dialog; they may also do a File plugin.

I hope this helps. Steve

[mr_vodka]

Hi Fitch,

Thanks for the input. I was thinking about Metadatamagic but I decided that since I would be rearchitecting the entire solution, that maybe it would not be needed, but I guess it wouldnt be a bad thing to incorporate into a budget anyway; better to ask for more than less.

As for SMPTit, I am not ruling out using it. If it becomes too much of a hassle to incorporate receiving emails then we will stick to sending only. Ideally They only want to receive and store specific emails that have a case number in the subject.

Finally, I have used FM's native custom menu before. However, the client basically wants to completely disable it. I do not think that there is a great work around to remove the exit feature as well as to disable the Min, Max, Close effectively.

Thank again for the input!

[mr_vodka]

Yes I too have used Menu Control but that was with FM6. I have not used it for > 7.

I have never used Secure FM with MenuMagic so that is why i am interested if anyone out there has used both and could comment on which they preferred.

Using the Troi products, I must admit I never really looked at other options besides Troi Dialog and File. I will take a look at 24Us stuff.

Thanks Steve.