Market Responds Rapidly to New FileMaker Pro 8.5

August 15, 2006; 02:47 AM
FileMaker announced strong support from database developers worldwide for FileMaker Pro 8.5, the first desktop database to provide built-in integration with live web data (http://www.filemaker.com/fmp85pr) which the company shipped last month.

Several companies have already announced products that take advantage of FileMaker Pro 8.5 and are showcasing the new products for the more than 1000 attendees from 30 countries at this year's FileMaker Developer Conference (http://www.filemaker.com/devcon/) in Orlando, Florida.

As easy as bookmarking a web page, a live web page can now be added to a record in a database using the new Web Viewer Control in FileMaker Pro 8.5. Data in specified record fields, such as a customer's address or a product name, can drive the URL in the Web Viewer. Set it up once and there will be a live web link for every record in the database. There are already several examples of deploying this feature at FileMaker's Web Viewer Gallery (http://www.filemaker.com/products/fmp/wvg/).

New products integrating the power and innovation of FileMaker Pro 8.5

Key new products and services supporting the new FileMaker Pro 8.5 announced today include:

-- ICE, from iSolutions (http://www.isolutions-inc.com/ice/) -- Web Service Plugin, from FMNexus (http://www.fmnexus.com/) -- New versions of Inspector, Account Manager, and Dragon Web Survey from FMNexus (http://www.fmnexus.com/) -- FmPro Layout Diff, from .Com Solutions, Inc. (http://www.dotcomsolutionsinc.net/) -- SyncDeK Universal, from World Sync, Inc. (http://www.worldsync.com/) -- Web service plug-ins from Digital Fusion, Ltd. (http://www.digitalfusion.co.nz/) Developers Praise FileMaker Pro 8.5

Many developers and software companies who have already begun using FileMaker Pro 8.5 praised its flexibility, power, ease of use and its live web data features:

    "The Web Viewer control in FileMaker Pro 8.5 provides developers with an
    exponential amount of layout enhancement, all with just one feature,"
    said Cris Ippolite, president of iSolutions, that announced a Flash-
    based dynamic charting tool for FileMaker Pro 8.5 solutions. "Developers
    can now leverage not only interface elements, but web-based
    functionality into their solutions with very little to no programming.
    The Web Viewer brings extensible, instant gratification to FileMaker
    layout developers."

    "FileMaker 8.5's Web Viewer has opened a new era of FileMaker
    potential," said Vincenzo Menanno, president of FMNexus, that just
    announced Web Service Plugin. "We built the Web Services Plugin to
    supplement the Web Viewer, so developers can integrate direct calls from
    FileMaker to any web service API as simply as defining a FileMaker
    calculation."

    "The new FileMaker 8.5 layout object naming feature makes it easier for
    developers to control the user interface of their solutions," said David
    Simpson, president of .Com Solutions, Inc., which will preview a new
    product named FmPro Layout Diff on Mac OS X, a tool that will quickly
    print, document and compare FileMaker 7/8/8.5 layouts without requiring
    the creation of a Database Design Report (DDR). "Instead of creating an
    invisible field and then scrolling the display to that field, developers
    can now simply scroll the display to any existing layout object as long
    as the object has been given a name. This feature reduces development
    time and means less clutter on the layout."

    "FileMaker 8.5, with its embedded Web Viewer, has had a radical impact
    on our development of SyncDeK," said Jason Erickson, CEO of WorldSync,
    Inc., which is showing a beta version of SyncDeK Universal. "Being a
    background service that syncs and backs up data, SyncDeK is implicitly a
    web service, but reflecting that in the user experience has always been
    a challenge. Now, the entire user experience with SyncDeK is through a
    browser, but right inside FileMaker -- it's beautiful. The Web Viewer is
    going to be one of FileMaker's most important features. Coupled with the
    product's increasing SQL support, the viewer can even be used to
    manipulate data within the same FileMaker database, giving developers
    the ability to create very powerful interfaces that combine the rapid
    speed advantages of building forms in FileMaker with the power of
    custom-built web pages."

    "The Web Viewer is absolutely a competitive advantage when creating a
    solution or plug-in," said Craig Saunders, managing director of Digital
    Fusion, Ltd, which is showcasing email, fax and web service plug-ins.
    "The usability and convenience it delivers to view web content right in
    FileMaker layouts raises the bar. But as developers, we always want to
    push the envelope to see what we can really do, so we put some AJAX
    driven content (asynchronous JavaScript) into the Web Viewer so AJAX
    could be talking directly to FileMaker Server Advanced. FileMaker Web
    Viewer is like magic because it works so seamlessly."

  New Publications about FileMaker Pro 8.5 Already Available

In addition to the rapid adoption of FileMaker Pro 8.5 by developers, publishers are moving fast to deliver information about FileMaker Pro 8.5. Just published are:

-- Learn FileMaker Pro 8.5, from Wordware Publishing (http://www.wordware.com/), by Jonathan Stars, a writer for FileMaker Advisor magazine, a FileMaker Certified developer, and the author of four previous versions of Learn FileMaker Pro from Wordware Publishing. -- FileMaker Pro Business Applications -- for versions 8 and 8.5, also from Wordware Publishing (http://www.wordware.com/), by Arthur Evans, written primarily for small business owners and workgroup managers. -- FileMaker 8.5 -- Integrating the Web, from O'Reilly Publishing (http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/filemaker85/), by Susan Prosser, who is also co-author of the bestselling FileMaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual. Additional New Products Highlighted at FileMaker Developer Conference

Other new products highlighted at the FileMaker Developer Conference include:

-- Excelisys, Inc. (http://www.excelisys.com/) announced two new additions to "eX- Files," their line of FileMaker Pro-based "Jump-Start" solutions: eX- Mailer and eX-BizTracker. -- FMWebschool (http://www.fmwebschool.com/) announced availability of FXForge 3.0, CDML Converter for the FileMaker API for PHP, a new book and free companion video series Custom Web Publishing with the FileMaker API for PHP, Instant Web Publishing PowerPack application for PHP servers, and Grab-it, a new plug-in. -- Life Success Institute (http://www.lifesuccess.org/) announced a suite of scheduling products designed for FileMaker Pro 8.0 and 8.5: Schedula Daybook(TM) and Schedula Agenda(TM). -- myFMbutler (http://www.myfmbutler.com/) announced AutoSender 1.5, a messaging solution robot for e-mailing directly from a FileMaker solution, and PrinterSwitch 1.5, a plug-in for Windows and Macintosh for easy printer switching. -- NRG Software (http://www.nrgsoft.com/) announced a new web component to itsNRG Address Validation software that uses the FileMaker Web Viewer to help verify addresses for postal recipients. -- Productive Computing (http://www.productivecomputing.com/) unveiled the beta versions of FM Books Connector plug-in and the Core2 CRM customer relationship management solution. -- SeedCode (http://www.seedcode.com/) announced SeedCodeContacts, a series of templates that integrate contact management, project management, and calendaring in an unlocked file. -- Troi Automatisering released the Troi Text Plug-in (http://www.troi.com/software/textplugin.html) is a very powerful tool for dealing efficiently with text in your FileMaker Pro database.

Additional conference-related announcements included release of FileMaker Pro 8 Essential Training" from online training site Lynda.com (http://www.lynda.com/), availability of a selection of FileMaker training CDs from FMPtraining (http://www.fmptraining.com/), and FileMaker hosting and dedicated server offerings from dbdom.com (http://www.dbdom.com/). See additional third-party news releases from the FileMaker Developer Conference in FileMaker's Newsroom at http://www.filemaker.com/company/newsroom/news/third_press_releases.html

About FileMaker, Inc.

FileMaker Pro is used by millions of individuals and workgroups around the world to be more productive and efficient. Business, education and government customers rely on FileMaker to manage people, projects, images, assets and other information. In addition to being the number one-selling easy-to-use database software, the award-winning FileMaker product line also includes low- cost Applications that automate basic business tasks, ready-to-use Starter Solutions, and tools to create and share solutions from the desktop to the web. FileMaker, Inc. is a subsidiary of Apple Computer, Inc.

Customer contact: 800-325-2747 http://www.filemaker.com/