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Provides: FileMaker Go lets you run full FileMaker databases on your iPhone or iPad
Developer: FileMaker Inc.
Requirements: iPhone with iOS 4 or greater. FileMaker Pro 7 or later.
Retail Price: iPhone - $19.99, iPad - $39.99
FileMaker Go lets you take your FileMaker database (relational or flat) with you wherever you go. That's a big thing. FileMaker Go, either for the iPad or the iPhone, lets you access your database either from a server (via the web) or via copying your database directly onto your device. The only complete limitation is that you cannot perform any database development and/or alteration from FileMaker Go. FileMaker Go is a FileMaker database "player." It lets you work with just about any pre-made database. You're limited by the design and/or scripting of the database because of limitations on the size of the screen and certain iOS limitations. Admittedly, not all databases are the kinds of things you need with you at any time. But if you ever have needed to look up something and you were not near your computer, now you can find the information with the usual few clicks.
If you've followed my reviews for any length of time, you know I'm a big fan of FileMaker Pro. The catch to FileMaker is simply that it needs a computer to run on. Prior to this release, the closest thing one had to run a database on an iPhone was Bento. Bento is FileMaker's "database-light" program that let people who've never made a database before create databases with significant ease and the iPhone version of Bento was a great asset to those who used Bento. The reality though is that Bento is not as powerful as FileMaker. And while you can import a Bento database into a FileMaker database, you can't do it the other direction. While I do appreciate Bento, I don't use Bento. This is no different from Photoshop Elements from Photoshop. I do appreciate Photoshop Elements and I recommend Photoshop Elements to all those who want to enhance images but do not want the learning curve of Photoshop. Nonetheless, I use Photoshop.
In my past conversations with the PTB (Powers That Be) at FileMaker, when I asked them about running a FileMaker database on my iPhone, I was told that "well, you can always host the database on a server and access it from a browser." That's all well and good if you can host your FileMaker database from a server. I couldn't so the whole concept was a non-starter for me.
But now I'm good. I can run any of my FileMaker databases right on my iPhone and they work perfectly. I can add data, search data, add new records, delete records, you name it. Printing? Well there is a crutch for that: you can save out a found set into a PDF (with certain limitations mentioned below), email that to any computer with a printer and you're done.
There are two different options to running a database on FileMaker Go, one is link to a database being run on a server. This is the best approach because any changes you make to the database will be made to the master database and those changes will be shared by all. The 2nd option is to place a copy of the database right on your iPhone. The advantage of this approach is that you do not need the database being placed on a server and you do not need to worry about connections to that server. The disadvantage is that if you make any changes in that database (add/delete records, alter field contents, etc.) those changes exist only on the database on your iPhone and for those changes to be shared, you need to upload that database and replace the original. If there's only one person making these changes, that's not a big deal, but if many people are making these changes, it can become a bit of a messy situation or a nightmare. This is NOT a fault of FileMaker or FileMaker Go, but rather just a complication when working with any database that is not based on a central server.
[Note: I recently learned a cleaver feature on the iPhone: if you press and hold the shut-off button on the top and then press the "home" button on the bottom front, you can take a screen shot of whatever is on your iPhone. The images will be found in your Photos on your running camera roll. This has nothing to do with FileMaker Go, but does explain how the screenshots below were obtained. Prior to learning this I was planning on taking photographs of my iPhone for this review.]
When you first start up FM Go, you need to find your files. Since these files may either be on your iPhone or hosted, you get to select where to look. The Recent Files does exactly what it should do, display a list of files that have been opened recently on your iPhone. For reasons that are beyond me, it seems that Recent Files should have been on the top of that list or the bottom. But placing this selection in the middle doesn't seem to make any sense to me, but that's the way it is. You can either drag your files into iTunes for uploading to your iPhone or you can also email the files. Either way, once the files are on your iPhone, you can access them as local files.
Below is a roster database displayed on an iPhone. There's a couple of things to point out. First off note that Portals (and the data contained therein) in the upper right show up just fine in FM Go, no issues there. Also note that all of the general dynamics of FileMaker's structures also show up as expected such as the Tabs, radio buttons, checkboxes, you name it. The one primary issue is that this layout was not designed to fit easily on FM Go. Let's look at some of the issues:
You can double-tap your screen to zoom in, but that has the limitation that you can neither see the full width or length of of your database as shown below.
FileMaker Go is rotationally smart, so if you do rotate your phone to landscape mode it will display and act as expected. The problem here is that while it's displaying the full width, the length is significantly cut off requiring the user to have to scroll up and down all the time to see the data for this one individual.
If you look at the above images, on the bottom left of the screens is an icon that looks like a stack of papers. This is the link to view the various Layouts that have been prepared for that database. This means that even if the database has been designed to fit on a standard computer screen, it's also possible to have layouts as part of the regular database that are designed to fit on an iPhone's screen.
FileMaker Inc. does provide several extensive documents on how to prepare databases for the iPhone, you can access from this FileMaker support page here. (Look toward the bottom where it says "More Information.") The "Development Guide" provides an excellent overview of tips, tricks, and things to watch out for when altering layouts and/or scripts for the iPhone. Meanwhile the Technical Brief provides a more academic view of the differences.
Proving that I'm overly anal, the one area I was caught up in was potential differences between the older iPhones and the new "retinal screen" iPhones. Specifically, the iPhone 4 has a resolution of 640 x 960 while the earlier iPhones have a resolution of 320 x 480. I was very puzzled about what the consequences would be if one set T-Squares within FileMaker's Layout view to the 640 x 960 pixels on the rulers. While such a setting should look just fine in an iPhone 4, what would happen on an earlier, non-retinal, iPhone? I asked the folks at FileMaker this question and the answer is "nothing, no problem." The layout will work just fine on either phone. Earlier iPhones will simply downsampling the layout to make things fit.
[Note: due to the two tool strips on the top and bottom of FileMaker Go's screen, viable screen resolution is actually more like 640 x 830 (Portrait) or 960 x 510 (Landscape).]
What all this does mean is that if you have a layout that does not work all that well within the iPhone, it's not all that difficult to duplicate that Layout, set up your T-Squares to the above dimensions, move, delete, and/or alter the problem fields to fit the iPhone, create new button links to work with the new iPhone layouts for the iPhone, and you are good go.
Well mostly. As stated, since you cannot print from the iPhone, there is no Preview mode. Thus, any layouts that are dependant upon the Preview structure will not work AND if you have any buttons that otherwise would not show up when printing will appear in all their glory on the iPhone and if you create a PDF as well. Fortunately, because of Live-Summary (which works just fine on the iPhone), the full need for the Preview mode is not that much of an issue. On the other hand, if you have a layout, such as a roster, that generates columns, forget it. These layouts will not work at all and what you will get is one long column on the left had side as opposed to the originally planned multi-layout option.
Meanwhile, let me lead you through some of the other aspects of FileMaker Go's iPhone interface (see the screenshots above as a reference for the following descriptions):
The square rectangle-over-rectangle icon in the upper left corner (below the AT&T in the portrait view) acts a bit like a cross between FileMaker and Safari on the iPhone. Once opened, you can either open up another database or open up other copies of the same database you currently already have opened. You move from one to the other just as you do within Safari when you go from different web page to another.
The Gear icon in the upper right (just below the icon for battery level), let's you control a variety of different dynamics about your database and/or FM Go. Note the "Perform Script" option which lists all of the scripts in that database so if you wish to perform a script but do not have any button access, you can access the script from this control.
The "Save/Send" selection provides three different options. The first one lets you email, save a copy, and/or save and view a database. Surprisingly, what you can't do is to save out a found set. I find this a particular failing because if such a dynamic existed, one could do a "found set' of any new records created while away from the master database and email that to the master computer. From there one could easily import those new records. One way around this might be to take the new duplicate database, repeat the find but omit all of the find, then delete the other records and send the results to whomever. However, this is a clumsy approach that has too much a chance of deleting the wrong database. There might also be scripting option for this, but I'd need to play with it for a while to see if it could work or not. Regardless, making a copy of a found set is not possible in this release.
The next Save/Send option lets you generate PDFs of your database and these can also be emailed, Saved, or Saved and Viewed. This is the option you want if you wish to Print something as you can send the PDF to a computer with access to a printer. Although you are limited to the PDF as explained above.
Lastly, if your cursor is in a field, you can send save, view and/or send the contents of that field. Thus, if someone has asked you for the content of a specific record's field, you can place your cursor within that field and send it to the person/people who need to see that information.
Tapping the target icon on the bottom of the screen lets you see which record you are currently looking at (e.g., 72 of 215 records). The left and right facing arrows lets you go from record to record.
The +/- icon lets you Add, Duplicate, Delete a single or a full found set of records. The lines with the magnifying lens lets you work with finding and found sets. See the images below to see the full list of commands available.
Overall, FileMaker Go preformed flawlessly with everything I could throw at it. There was one issue though were there were some visual glitches. Specifically when going into "Enter Find Mode," each field was not populated with magnifying lenses as they should have been. Once you've tapped into a field, all of the other fields displayed the magnifying lens but the specific field you tapped into appears to have had the Return key pressed (see below). This extended height field issue shows up in either Browser or Find mode. In no way did the extended height effect the performance of FM Go in any way, but like I said, that's the only real glitch I could find.
In short, FileMaker Go is a remarkable application. To pull in all of the features and capabilities that they did in this first release is very remarkable. That notwithstanding, the limitation that FM Go cannot even emulate the Preview mode is a limitation that may or may not effect you. Perhaps a greater limitation is the inability to save a found set as a separate database that one could send.
I consider these to be significant limitations with FM Go but on the other hand, for a 1st release, this is a wonderful welcome achievement. As such I'm giving this a 4.5 "A" rating, but will show as a full 5 "A" tally. A result that will probably satisfy no one.
Applelinks Rating:
Buy FileMaker Go and FileMaker Go for iPad
___________ Gary Coyne has been a scientific glassblower for over 30 years. He's been using Macs since 1985 (his first was a fat Mac) and has been writing reviews of Mac software and hardware since 1995.
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