The University of Pennsylvania's Online Computing Magazine
|
 |
April 1996 Volume 12:5 [Printout | Contents | Search ]
By John Mulhern III In January 1996, Claris's long anticipated relational version of the FileMaker Pro database management system is a significant upgrade. Version 3.0 is the first full rewrite of FileMaker's underlying code, and athough it is full of new features and capabilities, it retains much of the ease of use for which FileMaker is known.
Relational capabilitiesNumber one on the list of improvements in version 3.0 is the addition of "relational" features. Though version 3.0 is certainly not a fully relational database management system (and Claris did not intend it to be), it does include enough relational features to significantly enhance its capabilities. With a relational database you can create separate data files and then view information from them in many different ways via separate report layouts. When you change information in one data file, it will automatically be reflected in any related data files.A relational database uses rows and columns to relate data more efficiently than a flat file database. A simple example would be that of professors, students, and courses: many professors teach many different courses to many different students. In a flat file database, every combination of data must be kept as an individual file. Record Professor Student Courses 1 Smith Jones English 101 2 Brown David Philosophy 101 3 Brown Baker Philosophy 101 4 James Jackson History 101 5 Smith Jones Philosophy 101In this example, there is a lot of data duplication. In a relational database you don't need to keep the redundant data - you create a data file for professors, another for students, and another for courses. Then, in a report, you create the "relationships" between the data "on-the-fly."
 So Professor Brown could be related to the class list of all his Philosophy 101 students and Student Jones can be related to a list of all his classes, two of which happen to be with Professor Smith. The relational features of FileMaker Pro are well implemented, but users of these features need to be aware that a relational database is significantly more complex to design than a flat file database. The manual includes a short discus sion of relational operations, but is certainly not complete in this area.
ScriptingFileMaker Pro includes more powerful scripting features than the previous version, including loops, conditionals, and error checking. These added features allow databases created in version 3.0 to be more highly automated and error-resistant than before. The number of scripting options has also been increased, from 62 script statements in version 2.1 to 92 script statements in version 3.0.Native code and more spaceRewriting FileMaker Pro in PowerPC native code yielded significant performance improvements on Power Macintoshes but slows 680x0 machines down just as significantly. For instance, test results for the time (in seconds) required to perform a two-tier sort of 2,500 record database were as follows:FMPro 2.1 FMPro 3.0 33 MHz 68040 8.5 17.5 66 MHz PowerPC 16.9 5.5 Note: Tests were performed on a Macintosh with 20 MB of RAM running System 7.5.1.Another major benefit of the rewrite is an increase in maximum database size from 32 MB to 2 GB. This is significant since databases have become increasingly large due to the addition of graphics, video, and sound. In addition, version 3.0 has the ability to open up to 50 files simultaneously (compared to 16 files in version 2.1).
Other enhancementsFileMaker Pro has added extensive word-processing capabilities to both layouts and individual fields, including a new text ruler. Version 3.0 has all the text manipulation capabilities of a basic word processor, including tabs, indents, precise font control, and the ability to embed data fields in text. These features are significantly improved over FileMaker 2.1 and make it extremely easy to generate form letters and complex reports.Several enhancements aimed at making database creation and modification easier have been added. An automated button control makes the creation of buttons easier than in version 2.1. Another enhancement is the inclusion of many useful templates, both simple and complex, which provide over 50 "ready-to-wear" databases as starting points for custom databases. Version 3.0 is available for both Macintosh and Windows 95 operating systems, with both versions supporting the same set of features. The same file format is used in both Macintosh and Windows 95, which results in easy cross-platform transfer, with fonts and colors remaining reasonably consistent. Version 3.0 also supports TCP/IP in addition to IPX, which means that FileMaker Pro databases can be published over the World Wide Web. According to Claris, they are considering a version of FileMaker 3.0 for Windows 3.1.
System requirementsISC's suggested system requirements for FileMaker are:680x0 PowerPC RAM 8 MB 16 MB CPU 33 MHz 68040 any PPC OS 7.1 7.5.1
Installation and upgradingInstallation is extremely easy, but an "Easy Install" takes up about 24 MB of hard-disk space. This is significantly larger than version 2.1's 2.2 MB (both applications install similar files in the System Folder). Much of this space is taken up in templates and tutorials, but the absolutely essential parts of FileMaker 3.0 still amount to about 5 MB.Another factor that must be kept in mind is that, like most database management systems, FileMaker Pro 3.0 is only upwardly compatible: Version 3.0 databases can not be saved as FileMaker 2.1 databases. If any user of a particular FileMaker database upgrades to version 3.0, all users of that database must upgrade. The actual conversion of a database developed in version 2.1 process is simple, involving merely opening the 2.1 database from within FileMaker Pro 3.0, but the aforementioned conditions must be kept in mind.
Should you upgrade?Macintosh users should upgrade to FileMaker Pro 3.0 if these four conditions are met:
JOHN MULHERN III is a Consultant for ISC's Computing Resource Center.
|