Taste a Database

[mkruter]

Currently I only have a few people that need to access my FM8 database hosted on my powerbook. I find IWP to be very clunky and am tempted to buy my employees their own copies of FM so that they can have smooth seamless use of my DB. I'm curious if I am alone in thinking that IWP is not the best solution and wonder why I can't buy a $100 data entry client FM (Bento is less than $100 so why not develop software similar that can read FM DB's?). I was not aware, when I purchased FM, that runtime solutions have embedded DB's and cannot be "shared". That was a real disappointment as I thought I would develop a runtime and distribute it to my employees.

Anyway, I understand that If I really wanted the users to have full functionality I can buy multiple copies of FM and if I order enough I will get a discounted rate. But I was wondering exactly what it is that Server Advance does. I have a vision in my mind that I think may be too good to be true:

Can you develop a database that, like IWP, allows users who do not have copies of FM on their system to log in via the internet and use it for data entry. But unlike IWP it is not an adapted version of your database but a streamline app that utilizes Ajax and a host of other web based technology that gives the client-side the impression that they are not using a window on the web, rather, a fully functioning app on their own computer? And as the developer I can make changes and update the host without having to do anything client-side? Next time the client logs in they find the new field that I added or whatever changes have been made?

I would LOVE to see a sample of this type of thing in action. Please, somebody allow me to log into their database to witness how smooth it is, if it indeed works as I imagine.

p.s. as long as i am dreaming, why not develop my database so that i can access it via an iphone and anywhere i have web access. is that possible? is it crazy to do all this if i only have a handful of employees? i just love when things work well and look good doing it. what would this cost to have developed, deployed and hosted? I cant find solid answers about this anywhere.

Thanks - Marc

[Fenton]

Go to http://www.fmwebschool.com

They have recently been talking about iPhone access. Basically what you are asking about would be Custom Web Publishing from FileMaker Server Advanced (which could be hosted by a FileMaker hosting company), via PHP. FileMaker has their own PHP API you can use, and there are others, FX.php for example.

Fmwebschool also has a product FMStudio, a Dreamweaver extension which facilitates "visual" development using either of the 2 above PHP classes. It still has a learning curve however (for me anyway -).

On the other hand, for LAN, or even WAN access, I still think you cannot beat FileMaker's own native access. It's fast, less development time, etc..

[mr_vodka]

Well starting with FM9 Server, you do not need the Advanced copy of server to do Custom Web. IWP has been moved to the advanced copy.

With CWP, you can use different web technologies to interact with your FM database. Currently FMI has made it easier so that you can use PHP as the API to develop your system. The front end could use HTML, XML, Javascript, etc... and yes you can create apps for the iPhone as well.

You may want to check out the resources on the FMI website.

http://www.filemaker.com/support/technologies/php.html

Here is another article on Advisor...

http://my.advisor.com/doc/19312

Here is an iPhone apps done by Jonathan Stark.

http://www.apple.com/webapps/entertainment/gossipdb.html

HTH.

[mkruter]

Wow, fantastic references. Thanks guys!

So do you think it's a huge waste of money to buy a second copy for client-side data entry instead of using IWP? Some of my core functionality does not work with IWP and it would probably cost more for me to learn how to redevelope the DB to work over the web.

[mr_vodka]

No I do not think its a waste of money. It really depends on your user base, but if you have power users or those that do lots of data entry, they really should do most of that in FM Pro Client in my opinion. Web interface could be used for the read only or light users. Just my 2 cents.

[Fitch]

A custom web application full of the AJAX-y goodness you want is going to take much more time and money to develop than it will cost you to buy a few FileMaker clients, a copy of FileMaker Server, and a new server machine to run it on.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Pay attention to what Fitch says. Save $3000 on licenses,spend an extra $10,000 for customized web publishing. Not a good bargain.

Steven

[mkruter]

Fitch & Steven, I realize that it makes no sense for such a small user group. But if you re-read my initial question you can see that I am asking, just out of curiosity, approximately how much it would cost. Obviously I'm not going to drop 10k instead of 3k but Steven was the first person to even give me a ballpark as to what it would cost. Plus, if most of my users are salesman working off of an iPhone than purchasing copies of FMclient won't do them much good.

Thanks for all the responses!

[Steven H. Blackwell]

I can't give you a cost estimate until I have system requirements. But if your people are using the telephone or other small form factor appliances, then you'll need custom programming to manage their accessibility. Several locations, notabily FMPug, have done database publishing especially for these small form factor devices.

You will not need FileMaker Server Advanced to do this; however, you will need the standard FileMaker Server running on appropriate hardware.

When your requirements are completed, I am sure we can get a CWP programmer to offer you an estimate.

Steven