I'm looking to publish a simple database for web addresses.

I am looking for the following features

Fields -

1. Title

2. Description

3. URL

Features

1. ability to click URL and open page in browser

2. search title and description fields

3. Win and Mac compatible

FM Issues

1. bound solutions are very large ( I'd like to be able to email file )

2. I realize earlier versions of FM will make smaller bound solutions, I don't know if FM 6 bound solutions are compatible with OS X and current Windows OS

Can anyone help with an answer to the FM 6 question or offer an alternative to develop project.

Thanks for any help

Michael

One option is to have the bound solution available for download, and if you want to distribute updates to the data via email, those files could be bound to the same runtime and distributed via email. Users would not have to change the actual runtime unless you needed to rebind because of changes to the FM runtime itself.

You can remove the unwanted language files from the runtime (some of them are inside the application package on OS X. If you zip the resulting file, it's down to about 22 MB.

I've gotten FM6 to work on XP and on OS 10.4 and 10.5 I seem to remember somewhere that there is a problem with non-universal binary versions of filemaker running in rosetta on intel macs. Specifically, the mod function returning incorrect resuts. In any case, FM6 is not officially supported on Vista or 10.5

Of course if your looking for alternatives that are cross-platform, then there are a few options if you don't want to develop completely different apps in parallel. One option is to use something like RealBasic and its built in SQLite database to write your application, but this and any other option will require a complete rewrite of the program and for you to learn that environment.

Another question: Why not just host your app as a web application and allow people to use it that way? If the purpose is to search for URLs and click links to open a page, you could do that with IWP.

Hi Reed,

My initial goal is to raise money for a charitable cause. My idea is to publish a DB with 200 links. I am thinking of giving access to 20 links initially and users can see and search descriptions for other links. Users make a donation and they get access to the rest of links.

I was thinking of Real Basic, downside for me is having to invest in RB. You mentioned FM 6 having some issues on OS X and Vista concerning the Mod Function.

My application really just requires the ability to store text and being able to search the text. Sounds like I should be able to use FM 6?

My interest in being able to import info could come into play down the road. If the first portion was successful I see an opportunity to add some features to the app and possibly generate income down the road.

The vertical market I am looking at is a group that is very non techie. I think I need to avoid compressing files, minor issue for us but a big issue for my potential users.

Thanks for the input Reed, do you agree that for this app I should be able to get started with FM 6?

Thanks

Michael

As long as you test thoroughly on all platforms where you plan to deploy, you should be fine.

PS. If your target audience is very non-technical, then you should consider distributing your solution using installation methods that are expected on each platform. On OS X, this usually involves either creating a .dmg file and then either having the user drag the app right into the apps folder, or more rarely, using an installer. Although nowadays I see a lot of apps for OS X come just as zip archives. Safari automatically decompresses the folder for the user, and any recent version of OS X requires no 3rd party software to open the archive, just double-click.

On windows, installers seem to be the norm. I don't have any experience with which programs work best to make these files, and which are less expensive. But most installers, as well as .dmg files are compressed. Even if you bind with FMP Dev v6, the uncompressed files will likely choke some people's inboxes. It still might be best to offer the software as a downloadable option and just email the users a link to a web site.