FileMaker Adds a Window to the Web

More and more, the data we care about; maps, prices, pictures, definitions lives on the Web. The new version of FileMaker Pro gives your databases a Web viewer, a window on that information. Aside from that big advance, though, there’s not much new in File Maker Pro 8.5 ($299, $99 upgrade from version 8).

FileMaker’s developers have programmed in hooks to popular and open Web databases like Google and Google Maps, MapQuest, FedEx’s package tracking database, and Wikipedia and its associated reference sites. Just specify where in your database to find, say, a street address, and you’ll receive a map of that address. Change the information, and the page you see changes.

You can add pages from sites of your choice. It’s simple to have a data block show the page associated with a URL in your database. Once you learn the correct formatting, you can also construct a specialized URL based on the info in your database to get a particular page on a Web site.

The “Web viewer” name points to the feature’s weakness: You can view Web data, but you can’t incorporate it into your database. The Web viewer will show you the FedEx tracking page with the date your package is expected, but it can’t compare it to the original ETA and tell you whether the package will be late, for instance. You’ll have to make such calculations yourself.

Version 8.5 is still a worthy update to FileMaker. Owners of 8.0 must decide whether the Web viewer is worth $99.
[tags]Database, FileMaker[/tags]