Hey Guys,

Hopefully this is the correct forum. Basically I am wondering which version of FM is going to be the best for me. I obviously cant give a full overview of my entire project, but I can give some general bullets.

I need to be able to do pretty complication equations. Right now I have about 1/3 of the entire project built in Excel and have pretty much exhausted the capabilities of Excel (not to mention its not all that user friendly).

We are a full service glass shop and do everything from window screens, table tops, new windows, showers, doors and hardware etc.

Most calculations are based on square footage and/or united inches - so as the dimensions change so does the price. There are also multiple options for everything, pricing changes whether we do it in house or order it out and minimum charges (sq ft minimums) and a bunch of other variables and restrictions.

Here are a couple examples of formulas I have in the current excel, for those that have enough familiarity with it:

This formula is referencing different price tables based on sizes for a new screen.

=IF(AH18=0,0,IF(E18>81,VLOOKUP(F18,KD97,4,FALSE),IF(D18<31.1,VLOOKUP(F18,KD31,4,FALSE),IF(D18<37.1,VLOOKUP(F18,KD37,4,FALSE),IF(D18<49.1,VLOOKUP(F18,KD49,4,FALSE),IF(D18>49,"N/A"))))+((AM18*AN18)/144)*M18))

This formula is A. Rounding the dimensions up to the next whole even number for pricing (Industry standard), B. Telling it to calculate one product at a 3 SQ FT minimum, another product with no SQ FT minimum, and the rest of the products at a 1 SQ FT minimum

=IF(LEFT(F19,3)="Tem",IF((D19*E19)/144<3,G19*3,((EVEN(D19)*EVEN(E19))/144)*G19),IF(LEFT(F19,8)="3/16 Neo",((EVEN(D19)*EVEN(E19))/144)*G19,IF((D19*E19)/144<1,G19,(((EVEN(D19))*EVEN(E19))/144)*G19)))

The calculation thing is my biggest concern, however I have some other ideas that I would like to implement. The potentially problematic issues would be:

I want to incorporate a sort of google maps into the database. So that when we type in an address it will tell us how far that address is from us and print directions to that location.

I want a searchable pricebook of all the parts we have that we search through a catalog type set up, click the product we want, and it gets added to an order.

Anyways, hopefully atleast some of that makes sense. If its not clear yet, I have no experience really with FM. I have downloaded the trial, but have not yet installed it because I want to make sure I fully utilize the 30 day trial. I am just having a hard time dropping the $300 (possibly the $500 if I go advanced) so that I can really explore these possibilities.

Thanks for any advice.

I didn't even have to read all of your post, go for Advanced. It gives you invaluable tools like the data viewer and script debugger that you don't have in regular Pro.

Most calculations are based on square footage and/or united inches - so as the dimensions change so does the price. There are also multiple options for everything, pricing changes whether we do it in house or order it out and minimum charges (sq ft minimums) and a bunch of other variables and restrictions.

In Filemaker, these "calculations" would be done mostly by lookups (which in Filemaker are handled by relationship between tables, rather than by calculation formulae).

Having the Advanced version is convenient - but probably not essential in your case. The trial version should very quickly provide more answers for you. However, if you are only starting with it, 30 days might be painfully short: it's not something you just pick up as you go along.

Comment suggests a good approach using lookups (or auto-enter calcs). I tend to use scripts and events more since it allows me to concentrate all my business logic in the scripts more than in the database schema. For that, using the Advanced version is more useful than the regular Pro version.

Thanks for the help. I think I am looking at this incorrectly though. I think my real questions should be:

1. Can you open files created in filemaker pro advanced in filemaker pro with full capabilities (other than editing/modification?)

2. Can you create files in filemaker pro and then further modify it in FMP advanced?

Our system will eventually consist of 12 computers, likely more in the future. I would really only need FMP advanced on 1 (maybe 2) computers as long as there will be full functionality on the users end with FMP and I could work on the database with both programs on different computers. The extra money for advanced on 1 or 2 computers isn't the big deal, its more having to have it on all computers.

The answer to both your questions is yes.