Looking for feedback from experts

[imoree]

Hello everyone;

I must say that i find learning filemaker documentation , books,et to be quite repetitive.

I have so much knowledge in other programs, etc that obviously took time to learn, but i was wondering if any experts could tell me if i am incorrect or on the right track.

I have too many fmp books now that got me to at least understand basic stuff in filemaker pro. OK i understand there may be 20 different ways to do 1 thing but really?

missing manual, filemaker desktop reference, fmp10 in depth. on & on. They all have basically the same information.

Can anyone tell me different that basically to master fmp you have to take the basics, practice doing certain things in fmp and then try & try again until you get it to work?

AM i off track here. I find dissecting custom functions, reading articled and examining them to the tee to be my best way to actually do what i need to do in filemaker.

Any other ideas will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

thanks,

-ian

[David McQueen]

A few things:

1. I have not purchased books in awhile. When I was, I generally purchased only 2. Usually one was the current version of the FileMaker Pro Bible as a compendium. The second would be whatever I could find that had lots of examples. You can buy as many books as you like, but they are to some extent going to cover the same thing. They all try to be complete in some form.

2. Yes, there may be 20 different ways to do something. FileMaker Pro is many different things:

Desktop application

Database

Rapid application development environment

Calculation and reporting engine

In other databases, you might have the database, then a PHP/web server interface, then go in and make reports using Crystal Reports and it's built in calculation engine. In the end you would also have 20+ ways of doing things, but using different tools in conjunction with the actual database engine. FileMaker Pro is pretty self contained, so it should not come as a surprise that there is some internal flexibility, especially with a built in calculation engine that would lead to several ways of doing the same thing.

3. Above all things, it is a relational database. Those architectural design items that make for a good database on other platforms will to a great extent also be good in FileMaker Pro. I am thinking of good entity attribute design, entity relationship design and normalization. So books on database architecture from your past are not wasted.

4. It does have differences.

The concept of a layout, tied to a table, is different from a form in other environments. The first has to be planned ahead while the second can be called on the fly. There is a lot of output pre-planning ion FileMaker Pro, at least for me.

FileMaker Pro's relationship graphing is terrific, but I would suggest that you want a good understanding of the Anchor and Buoy concept so that you do not build yourself a total snake's nest.

The concept of a calculated field is feature more in keeping with a spread sheet than a database, but it is really really useful and really powerful.

5. There is a lot there. Not only is there the native FileMaker "Database" things, but all of the connectivity methods, custom functions, variables and on and on. It is nice to have knowledge of all, but you will in most cases use a limited subset on any particular project. Also, there is no way of telling you up front that this is important and what can be ignored. You can end up in a program where there is a desired output that is only obtainable using really obscure methods. So for 99% of all users, this would have been marked "Unimportant", but for you it is a deal breaker if you do not know how to do it.

The only thing I can suggest here is experience under your belt. As you put in more hours, what is important to you will become self evident.

HTH

Dave

[imoree]

I appreciate the feedback David. IT seems that i just need to continue keeping on. I really love the scalability, interface , multiplatform usage of FMP.

will read up on anchor -> buoy and see what i need to grasp in that area.

i like more of the programming aspects of fmp as that is more my cup of tea, except the ways you have to go about doing it is kind of wonky to me.

calculations fields, scripts, custom functions, evaluate & let nesting. instead of an ide to do what you need to do. But anyway right, it is what it is & i kind of like it so far.

-ian