Get your Web on with FileMaker

FileMaker has done it again. The venerable maker of database software recently released a new version of FileMaker Pro that will help you work more productively than ever.

The whiz-bang feature in Version 8.5 lets users connect to live Internet data directly from the FileMaker Pro interface.

“We put in a unique feature that has caught the eye of some of our customers: We have a Web viewer directly within the application,” said Stephen Gallagher, senior director of sales and systems engineering.

So you could, for example, type a FedEx tracking number right into your FileMaker program and get connected to the live tracking information on FedEx’s Web site. There’s no need to open a pesky browser window.

Employees at the National Cancer Institute are using the feature to access the National Center for Biological Information, said Chris Lieberman, the company’s business account manager for the mid-Atlantic region. “They can reach out and pull genetic information off that site that can sit side-by-side on the screen next to the other information in their research project,” he said.

Another significant new feature is Universal Application support. That means users can design a database in Windows and deploy it on Apple Computer Macintosh computers and vice versa.

Universal Application support also means FileMaker Pro 8.5 offers native support for next-generation Intel-based Macintosh computers so you don’t have to run an emulation program. That translates into vastly superior performance.

Developers will also appreciate the new object functions and scripts in this version, including Layout Object Names, Go to Object script steps and Layout Object calculations.

“These improvements are being extremely well-received by people who develop these applications for government solutions,” Gallagher said.