Missed Opportunities

[comment]

Wouldn't it be nice if you could:

• export a zipped file

• import directly from a document residing in a zipped archive

• export to a pre-formatted Excel worksheet

• export data as multiple worksheets in a Excel workbook

• export data to a pre-formatted Word template

• import data from a Word document

• export data to a pre-formatted PowerPoint presentation

(and more)

All of these capabilities already exist in FilemakerPro 10 - but we cannot use them. How do I know they are there? Because you can now use the Excel 2007/8 file format (.xlsx) for both import and export. And what is the .xlsx format? Nothing but a zipped archive containing a bunch of XML documents.

In order to export as .xlsx, Filemaker has to transform the exported data to the XML schema used by Excel, add some generic XML wrapper documents and zip the entire folder. To import, Filemaker needs to extract the data-containing document from the zipped archive, transform it to its own XML schema and then import it.

You could actually do the same thing: you could prepare a nice-looking spreadsheet, formated to your liking (including charts!), use it as a template for a XSLT stylesheet, and export your data as XML using the stylesheet. But you would need an additional step of zipping the result and changing the extension to .xlsx. Similarly, for import, you would need to start by unzipping the archive.

Filemaker 10 can do all this in a single integrated step - but there is no way for you to tell it to do so. How sad.

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Recommend you send this as a feaure request to FMI.

Steven

[comment]

Thank you - I did, and I urge all members who would like having these capabilities to do the same.

[genevieve charbon]

Like if FM Inc cared.

FMP 10 is proof they don't ! What a terrible sloppy job they did with it.

[comment]

Maybe it's that intern you made them hire:

http://fmforums.com/forum/showpost.php?post/274941/

[genevieve charbon]

No that's either they didn't (more probably) or if they did they didn't monitor him, which is worse.

But, clearly the one that decide the feature, the Product Manager I guess, is the responsible of that fiasco.

If only they made me their PM then you'll have an awesome FMP.

Let's hope they take some cues from Apple (like the snow leopard stuff), and focus on the innards of FMP for the next release. It's about time we should have true data separation built-in, no more corruption, fast database engine, sql like capabilities, true client server model etc.

Edited January 25, 2009 by Guest

[comment]

If only they made me their PM then you'll have an awesome FMP.

Everyone thinks the same thing - but everyone means something entirely different by that. In any case, to say that FMI don't care is unrealistic (to put it mildly). Of course they care - they have a product to sell. The problem is they don't always care about the right issues:

http://fmforums.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/200281/

[genevieve charbon]

If they don't care about the right issue, that's a failure of those responsible to look to those issues.That's very bad.

What pisses me off the most is not what about they don't listen from us but the sloppy job they do with their own design choice.

Look about the new staus area, I don't argue the fact that it's there but the sloppy implementation of it. The fact that it changes window height, the fact that it (on the mac at least) CANCELS the freeze window script steps etc.

Look at FMP10 advanced. there's not a single one new feature.

Oh wait their is : Script triggers in the ddr export. But even taht single one is baddly done, the info produced is incomplete !

To me it sounds like : GO FYRSLF devs

how could they dare to put a new release on the market and don't put a new feature in it.

People writes thesis about how to master the realtionship graph, isn't it a clear sign that something is wrong with it ? When people writes pages about how to overcome the inneficiencies of an interface frankly there's a HUGE problem.

It seems to me FMP is like Quark in the 4-6 era, but the bad thing is that we've no database Indesign to compete.

In quark they've put feature that no one used like publish to teh web, for years publishing people said to quark "eat it and die with it" (or they should have use that tone) but they kept doing that.

Now FMP puts a super new feature premade script !

that's laughing at us.

On the server side they put the capabilitie of the server 9 to execute some scripts, great except you couldn't import, the n° 1 scheduled task.

Now they fixed it, but only to import from predetermined forlders, no varaibales path ! What are they smoking !

This is like : "oh let's do that server import thing because we got request, and then they said, ok make sure nobody can use it till server 11"

and they'll laugh !

[genevieve charbon]

For the record, I've submitted in april 08 a very dangerous XML import bug to FM support. With my a premade sample for them, with a video etc.

They aknowledged that yes that's a serious bug.

A DATA LOSS ONE

Did they fixed it in FM 10.

NO