

Container fields are greatly improved in version 12. Enhanced Container FieldsĪ container field is a special type of field that can store images, QuickTime files, audio, and several other types of files. Version 12, while free, will only work with databases created in the new desktop v12 you can't use the older files with it. Version 11 is still a paid app, and will open databases created with the older versions of FileMaker Pro.

It's important to note that both flavors of FileMaker Go - v11 and v12 - remain on the App Store at this time, and each comes in a separate iPhone and iPad package. Also, new ways container fields handle images (automatically creating thumbnails) and video (streaming from FileMaker Server), not to mention gesture support, further enhance the iOS story. What's more, when changes were made to that layout, they showed up automatically on the iPad.

When you consider the touch layouts, web support and FileMaker Go for iPad and iPhone (now free apps!) you realize that small business owners or even individuals who lack the time or resources to create a custom iOS app have a solution in FileMaker Pro.ĭuring the demo that I saw, an iPad running FileMaker Go was able to view an iOS-optimized layout, stored remotely. What's most impressive to me about FileMaker Pro 12 is the amount of attention the team has clearly paid to iOS. When I was learning years ago, these templates provided a great start for me, and poking around to see how things worked was very educational. The folks at FileMaker told me that one half of its customers use a starter solution as a launchpad for their database projects. New Starter SolutionsįileMaker Pro 12 comes with 16 new starter solutions. Now buttons behave much the same as they do on websites, making them eminently clickable. Use the inspector to customize the button's appearance in each state, even with gradients. Instead of a static image, FileMaker Pro 12 lets you assign three states to your buttons: normal, hover and pressed. Anyone who's made a button in FileMaker Pro will appreciate this. Version 12 also features improved layout object formatting, including object states. There's no guesswork just tell FileMaker which device you're designing for and the layout guides jump into place. Also, new guides and rulers (or "stencils," as they're called) make it easy to create a layout that fits your target device's screen. FileMaker followed Apple's Human Interface Guidelines while developing the touch themes, so every field, button and element is legible and usable and Apple's mobile devices. Several of the new themes have companion "touch" themes, which have been optimized to run on the iPhone and iPad. FileMaker Pro 12 features a new theme architecture and 40 total themes to choose from.
