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| QSA ToolWorks Public Feedback Forum > General Helix Talk > Migrating to Filemaker Pro | You are not logged in. Login or Register. |
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| Author: | Topic: Migrating to Filemaker Pro | |||
johnfaludi Posts: 1 Registered: 2006-09-20    |
 Posted: Oct 20, 2006 4:42:11 pm    
Currently I'm the only person using our database. I've been given the deadline of June '07 to get our database working on our OSX Macs and on our Windows machines or migrate to Filemaker Pro which is compatible with both environments. I have managed to stall for a long time but now my time is up. My question is, has anybody else had to migrate to Filemaker? And is there an easy way to do it? Any ideas would be appreciated. John
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dkuchta Posts: 40 Registered: 2003-04-09 |
 Posted: Oct 21, 2006 10:12:31 am
I have not made the transition, but I have looked at doing it several time and always been sorely dissappointed. Unfortunately, its a very different set of tools, and that has a major impact on your design. Certain Helix features are just not available in FileMaker (and visa versa) so you will probably have to rethink how you approach the database altogether. If its a VERY simple database, you might be ok. But I tried it with what I thought were some pretty straightforward databases and found that I'd have to pretty much start my design over from scratch. At that point I gave up, and I keep hoping Helix will be out in OSX "real soon now". I've been hoping that for a couple of years. :-) I hate to be so negative, but maybe others have had different experiences they can report on?
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| twistsol Posts: 2 Registered: 2005-03-14 |
Posted: Oct 25, 2006 11:37:01 am
I have attempted a migration of other products to FileMaker uncuccessfully. To be frank, it simply isn't as robust as Helix and maintenance on complex applications becomes a nightmare. Caveat I haven't used the 8.x versions which are supposed to enhance the relational abilities of the product. In my opinion, you would be better served to move to 4th dimension or Omnis Studio. You will experience a signficantly higher learning curve, but won't be bound by the limitations of FileMaker Chr's
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| optixbil Posts: 6 Registered: 2006-09-27 |
Posted: Oct 26, 2006 3:22:19 pm
I've tried Access, Omnis, 4D and I've used Filemaker for about 8 years. Filemaker is a very good program. I've sold a lot of stuff using it, all to PC users. Mostly police departments with a central server. It is not Helix, but then Helix has it's shortcomings too. Imagine a program that needed a DOS only client. Filemaker has some very real advantages such as cross platform. You can modify the database while others are using it. You can publish to the web using desktop forms, no coding. You can access a database that is hosted on the web with either a browser or a real Filemaker client or both at the same time, (100 real clients and 250 browser clients) and if you use a real Filemaker client, you can modify the database in real time, while clients are using it, from 1000 miles away. No need to shut down the server. You can have separate files (tables) like Helix or you can have multiple tables all in one file. The relationships are easy. Multi user is a breeze using peer to peer or with a server. It comes with a lot of pre-built templates that are very nice looking. I've used Helix since '84 and it's my favorite, my whole company is built around it, payables, receivables, payroll, everything, but... For a PC only database I like Alpha 5. That is real power, steeper learning curve but you can trigger events when you open a form, close a form, click into or out of a field, mouse over events, you name it. But for Macs, you've pretty much got Helix and Filemaker. You'll have to get your mind around the fact that you'll have to start over, but it's really quick to program and I find that after spending years on a program, I can think of a lot of better and easier ways to do it the second time. You've got a clean slate. Don't hesitate to contact me off list if you need help. Bill@TrackerSystems.com |
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