Fanfare please! FileMaker Inc., has released their latest upgrade to the FileMaker family of products. There are new versions now shipping for FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Pro Advanced, FileMaker Server and FileMaker Server Advanced.

The FileMaker Pro products have a swag of new features that will satisfy new users and experienced developers alike. Leading the way is charting. Yes, it is here! Now you can create a dynamic chart in FileMaker Pro. There are five chart types to start - bar, horizontal bar, line, area and pie. That should get you started.

Also look out for the very cool QuickFind. Now you can search all fields on a layout in one simple step.

In FileMaker Pro Advanced, there is a new feature I just love - the ability to copy/paste or import custom functions between files. Yay!!!

There are heaps of new features and the best place to learn about them will be the FileMaker web site. In coming days, we will be posting articles here about specific new features and how you might use them.

The FileMaker Server products have had an upgrade too. There are new options for backups, client statistics and the ability to set time limits on server-side scripts. In FileMaker Server Advanced there is now NO LIMIT to the number of FileMaker Pro users who can connect concurrently. And you can create Admin Groups for server management.

If you are looking to become a FileMaker 11 Certified Developer, have a look at the sessions on offer at the FileMaker Developer Conference in the FileMaker Training Series track. These sessions will be extremely useful for you and will provide some very handy resources for further study.

Check out my twtpoll and have your say:

What are your favourite new features in FileMaker Pro 10?
(select all that are important to you)

http://twtpoll.com/wm66p1

For anyone who cares, and apparently a lot of people did, FileMaker Inc., has reinstated DBF as an import/export format in FileMaker Pro 10. Thank you FileMaker Inc., for listening to your customers. Some cynics say they don't listen but I think this shows they do listen and that they do care what you think.

All you need to do is to visit the FileMaker Downloads page to get the FileMaker Pro 10.0v3 updater. The simplest way to do that is to select Downloads and Updates in your Help menu in FileMaker Pro.

The updater also fixes a myriad of other issues that users have found and reported. This includes an interesting issue where, on certain hardware, the Random function was not returning random values! FileMaker have also clarified exactly what it is that the Random function returns:
"The Random calculation [function] will generate values greater than 0 and less than 1. The value will never be 1."

The FileMaker Knowledgebase article (5464) now also needs to be updated

This is a recommended update for all FileMaker Pro 10 users.

Update on the Random function: I ran a looping script which created records with random numbers and let it run until nearly 5 million records were created.
Smallest random number was .000000043306499719619750977
Largest random number was .99999961769208312035.
FWIW, the file size was 310 MB.
It took a while to sort the records! But no zeroes or ones. Not 100% conclusive but good enough for me.

FileMaker, Inc. has today announced the new FileMaker Training Series updated for FileMaker 10. The training series provides the building blocks necessary for developers who plan to become FileMaker 10 Certified Developers. The certification examination will be available from June 2009.

uLearnIT is proud to announce that David Head has updated his status as a FileMaker Authorised Trainer for the new FileMaker Training Series for FileMaker 10. As a FileMaker Authorised Trainer, David has undergone training with FileMaker, Inc. in the USA to deliver the FileMaker Training Series programs and has extensive knowledge of FileMaker best practices and solutions.

uLearnIT offers a three courses based on the official FileMaker Inc., training curriculum - the FileMaker Training Series. Check the course schedule for locations, dates and costs. Book online early to avoid missing out on your place.

It's 2009 and here's a late Christmas present - FileMaker Pro 10.

There are lots of new features to play with. In this quick post, we will look at three new features in FileMaker Pro.

Perhaps the main feature of this version will be script triggers. Yes, now there are many more events that can trigger a script. Now a script can run when the user exits a field, goes to a layout, types a character, and many more. There will be a lot of things written about the use (and abuse) of script triggers in the next few months. Developers will need to be careful with all that new power.

The newly designed status toolbar gives the user easier access to more features. It has been moved to the top of the FileMaker Pro window. It contains a number of new default buttons and it is user customisable. Nice job.

And now you can send email directly from FileMaker Pro. This is a big change. In previous versions, FileMaker Pro required an email client to actually send the email. To send directly, you needed a plug-in. No more.

Stay tuned for more posts about the wonderful new FileMaker Pro 10 and FileMaker 10 Server.

In conjunction with Goya Ptd Ltd, uLearnIT is giving away a copy of BaseElements.

Simply attend any uLearnIT training course between 1 August 2008 and 30 November 2008, and you will be automatically entered into the draw for a single user copy of BaseElements valued at US$499.00. Read all the Terms and Conditions of entry here.

BaseElements is a tool to assist FileMaker Pro developers, and make development easier. It imports the Database Design Report from FileMaker Pro Advanced to give you a complete cross-reference of every element in your solution. From fields to script steps, layouts to custom functions. Everything is included, everything is cross-referenced.

It's a database for your database.

Important news for FileMaker 7 users. As of September 26, 2008, technical support and replacement media will no longer be available for any FileMaker 7 products. After that date, if you want to get the latest version of FileMaker products, you will be required to purchase the full product not just an upgrade.

If you act now, you get three versions' worth of new features for a special low price.

Upgrade to FileMaker Pro 9 for AUD$199.00 inc GST. That's a $100 saving.

An upgrade to FileMaker Pro 9 Advanced is just AUD$295.00 inc GST. That's a saving of $155.

Note that these upgrade prices also apply if you are currently using versions 8 and 8.5. So you can still save with this special offer.

These offers are available until 26 September 2008 unless withdrawn earlier.

Available now for download:

FileMaker Server and Server Advanced 9.0v3 for Leopard (OS X 10.5.x)
FileMaker Server and Server Advanced 9.0v3 for Tiger (OS X 10.4.x)
FileMaker Server and Server Advanced 9.0v3 for Windows

This welcome update includes a lot of bug fixes including compatibility between FileMaker Server and Leopard.

To download, go to the downloads page on the FileMaker web site. Please read the installation instructions on the web site carefully as they apply to your current server and FileMaker Server installation.

FileMaker Inc. has released a public beta of a new personal database product – Bento – designed exclusively for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. It takes advantage of many of the new features of Leopard, including live linking to iCal data, core animation, advanced find, Time Machine backups, and multimedia features. Read more about Bento and download a preview beta copy from the Bento site.