Filemaker Go Limitations

[mlpremoli]

Hi All, I have a designed a small solution for my business that works great for my needs....is just for a single user, pretty simple.

I was thinking on buying an iphone and being able enter data on the go using this tool (after modifying my layouts / scripts, etc). My question is:

My First option would be to have both files (iphone / Pc) synchronized...is there any limitation on the amount of records Filemaker Go / iphone can handle ?

Most likely a better option would be to get FMS and enter data directly on the server. Thing is, I know nothing about FMS and I'm not always online....

 

Thank in advance for your help.

 

 

 

[bcooney]

Third option, just copy the database file using iTunes from your PC to the iPhone and back, as needed.

Fourth option, build another database that has just the functionality you need for iOS. Script an import of records to the "master" database on the PC.

If you need to do data entry offline, then you either do this, or build a sync solution.

 

Remember, data entry on  iOS can be somewhat arduous. You should really think about what you'll need when you're on the go.

[mlpremoli]

Thanks bcooney, if I copy my database from my pc to iphone, any limitation on size / # of records iphone 6 plus / filemaker go can handle? My estimation is that my database might grow 10k records a year

[bcooney]

too many variables. I doubt you'll run into an issue. 

http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/ipad/whats-iphone-or-ipads-true-storage-capacity-3511773/

[Wim Decorte]

any limitation on size / # of records iphone 6 plus / filemaker go can handle? My estimation is that my database might grow 10k records a year

 

You typically won't need ALL records on your phone though so think hard about that.  The processors on the iPhone and iPad are nowhere close to what you get on the desktop so making those iOS devices work through a big data set is going to tax the device unnecessarily to the point that it interferes with what the user is really interested in. 

[Rick Whitelaw]

Unless you're far underground or out in the wilderness somewhere I would suggest you could always be online either by wifi or a cellular connection. If that's possible I would go with FMS. I'm a recent convert (and largely due to Wim's advice) and for me it's been a breeze. Not much of a learning curve. If you don't have a static ip address you can use a service like noip.com to connect from outside your LAN. The "master" version is then always the server version and no other syncing is needed. As well, FMS will back up your files on the server machine. Occasionally I download the files from the server to my desktop machine so I can take advantage of an off-site backup service I use. Just in case. My two cents . . .

[mikedr]

A dumb (maybe) follow-up question. I'm becoming quite adept at FileMaker, and there are some data-oriented apps I'd love to have for my iPhone, but I'm not an iPhone programmer. Is FM Go a viable solution? The database would be small -- say no more than 500 records at any given time. I was thinking of syncing to a hosted server, but the idea of simply copying the database to my iPhone and running locally from there is quite appealing.

Would the DB be backed up as part of the regular iCloud backup?