![]() ![]() The triumvirate of password, group and access dialogs is still there, but the Password dialog now allows you to define dynamic calculations for checking if a user can browse, edit and/or delete a record. The passwording mechanisms in FileMaker have long been a thorn in developers' sides, so much so that even the Web Companion provided an alternative. The most powerful new feature for designers and administrators is record level security. The bulk of the changes to the application itself are under the hood, and more likely to be of interest to a developer or whoever builds the databases in the first place. And since the new operating system supports PDF as a native file format, you can now import Acrobat PDF documents into container fields. So you’ll need all that new functionality to allow users to search, view and edit via buttons you add to your layouts.īy the way, if you’re more graphically orientated, then version 5.5 also has improved QuickTime support, especially if you are running OS X. The main benefit is that by using a ‘Toggle Status Area’ step in your script, you can turn off the default interface frame that FileMaker puts up for auto-published databases. When loading a Web-published site for the first time, FileMaker will look through any startup script set in a FileMaker document’s preferences and, where possible, interpret it in terms of the Web site. This is especially useful given Web Companion’s other new trick. Provided you’re using steps that are capable of being translated to Web functionality (there’s a list of compatible functions) you can attach scripts to buttons on FileMaker layouts and have them mimicked on your Web site. As well as adding to the number of single script steps that can be imitated on Web pages, you can now use multi-step scripts (well, three-step scripts) as actions for buttons on layouts. The souped-up Web Companion also deals with scripts better. ![]() Button objects on rendered Web pages now highlight on mouse-over and you can sort your table views (now rendered using colours in your original layouts) just by clicking column headings. Support for CSS has been enhanced, so layouts created in FileMaker and converted for the Web are both more FileMaker-like (closer to your original layouts) and more Web-like. Version 5.5 ships with a much-improved, multi-threaded, and therefore faster, Web companion. So it’s no surprise that perhaps the most obvious visual improvements in 5.5 are in the area of Web support. Version 5.0 upped the ante with the introduction of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to mimic user-layouts from your FileMaker files directly to the Web. Since version 4.0, FileMaker has included the ability to publish databases directly to the Web, without the need to get your hands dirtied with HTML. As a Carbonized application, FileMaker 5.5 benefits from the new Aqua interface, but don’t expect to see the sort of speed increase associated with some Cocoa applications. The key phrase here is ‘written to support’, which is code for a ‘Carbonized’ application as opposed to ‘written for’ - shorthand for a Cocoa-based application. Indeed, there’s just one CD in the box, which is used to install a single copy on your platform. The big claim to fame for FileMaker Pro 5.5 is that it’s written to support the ‘Mac OS X environment’ and Windows 2000, as well as Mac OS 9. ![]() Helping IT since 1993 LinksįileMaker Pro 5.5 Thursday 28th June, 2001 Dyce & Sons | FileMaker Pro 5.5 Dyce & Sons Ltd.
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