FileMaker Pro 9: The Missing Manual

What’s New in FileMaker Pro 9

FileMaker Pro is a single software package that serves two fundamentally different types of people: users and designers. Users are the folks who need a database to help them organize and manage the data they work with in order to do their jobs. Developers create the databases that users use. No matter which category you’re in (and lots of people fall into both categories, sometimes popping back and forth dozens of times a day), you’ll find that FileMaker doesn’t play favorites. The features you need for both roles are equally accessible.

Day-to-day users appreciate features like the following, because they address many common tasks:

• When you create a new file, you get more options in the new Quick Start screen. You can create a new database from one of FileMaker’s many templates, create a new file from scratch, or open an existing file, whether it’s on your computer’s hard drive or it’s shared using FileMaker Server. The Learn More link serves as a clearing house for FileMaker help. Choose from links to the File-Maker Learning Center, a What’s New guide, the User Guide, or FileMaker’s Knowledge Base.

• The enhanced Web viewer you use to track FedEx and UPS packages (new since FileMaker 8.5) now gives you a progress bar as the page loads, so you don’t have to wonder if your Internet connection is working. And when you pay for purchases, say on Amazon.com or eBay, the Web viewer shows a Lock icon to indicate that your connection is secure.

• If you need a quick ...