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FileMaker 8.5: Integrating the Web

July 10, 2006

Sebastopol, CA--Just in time for the release of FileMaker 8.5, Susan Prosser's new FileMaker 8.5: Integrating the Web (O'Reilly, US $7.99) is the inexpensive and highly informative PDF for everyone who's ready to jumpstart FileMaker 8.5. (It's also the perfect companion to Prosser and Geoff Coffey's bestselling FileMaker Pro 8: The Missing Manual.)

"The new features in FileMaker Pro 8.5 will have a big impact on the way users interact with data," observes Prosser. "These new features also streamline under-the-hood work and give developers more ways to make life easier for end users."

FileMaker itself is the ideal database, according to Prosser, FileMaker Pro 8 Certified Developer, and president of the consulting firm DBHQ: it's approachable, and user-friendly, but with unsuspected depth for those willing to poke around. And the new FileMaker 8.5 is by far the most powerful, flexible, and responsive version of the software yet.

Inarguably the biggest and most exciting new feature in FileMaker 8.5 is the Web Viewer. "It lets you assemble data from the web on the same layout as your business data," says Prosser. "With the Web Viewer, FileMaker shows you the data you need, right where you need to see it. But you don't have to store or maintain that data, since it stays on the Web, where it belongs." For example, "you'll see a different Google search result or MapQuest map or FedEx tracking page in the Web Viewer for each of the records in your database."

"In other words, FileMaker is bringing you what the experts call data-driven web content," says Prosser. And that's precisely what today's users demand. For taking full advantage of the Web Viewer, Prosser's PDF--developed with advice and review from top experts at FileMaker--covers:

  • How the new Web Viewer works and how it interacts with FileMaker
  • Step-by-step instructions for creating a Web Viewer from one of FileMaker's templates or a totally custom Web Viewer
  • How to use a Web Viewer to surf your company's Intranet
  • Ways to make the Web Viewer more user friendly
  • Where to access the Web Viewer Gallery, where professional developers' Web Viewer applications are featured
  • But the improvements and additions to FileMaker 8.5 aren't limited to the Web Viewer. This 30-page PDF, which covers both the Mac and Windows platforms, is packed with information about what's new in 8.5. Readers will also learn about:

  • Object Naming (including FileMaker's rules for object names and how to
  • use Object Names in scripts)
  • New Script Steps: Set Web Viewer and Go to Object
  • New Functions: LayoutObjectNames, GetAsURLEncoded, and List
  • FileMaker's new Learning Center, with video tutorials for both beginners
  • and experienced users
  • 8.5's Universal Binary (for the new Intel Macs)
  • With this affordable PDF and its companion sample file at their fingertips and FileMaker 8.5 loaded onto their computers, developers will be able to create smart, dependable, up-to-the-minute databases in no time.

    Additional Resources:

    FileMaker 8.5: Integrating the Web
    Susan Prosser
    ISBN: 059652823X, 30 pages, $7.99 US
    order@oreilly.com
    1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000

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