New Features

The update includes following features:

• Insert a photo into a container field
• Save or Send Database
• Save or Send PDF
• Import from Filemaker Database
• Integration with third party iOS apps

The photo feature lets you add images from the camera roll or take a new picture and insert it into a record. Save and Send allows for saving a copy of the database, and sharing by email. Filemaker Go can generate PDF reports from any view, and the import step allows mobile databases to update their content from existing Filemaker databases residing elsewhere over a network connection.

Barcode Scanning

While these updates are certainly welcome, the integration with third party iOS apps through the URL protocol handler is much more interesting. The first product announced that will work with this feature is CNS Barcode, which lets you include barcodes in databases.

A script step calls CNS Barcode using the URL protocol for that app. Once the barcode is captured via the camera and converted into a string, CNS Barcode passes that result back to Filemaker Go. Thanks to the magic of multitasking in iOS 4, Filemaker Go then continues the script where it left off. The potential for inventory and retail applications is apparent.

Possibilities

This kind of integration is available to any iOS app. Developers can extend Filemaker Go with bespoke apps that can perform a particular task and then insert the result into a database. For example, it would be possible to write an app that connects to a web service to get current information on pricing, inventory levels, etc. from an enterprise system and add those results to the database. Or a developer could create apps to talk to specialty hardware accessories through the dock connector, but return the results to Filemaker Go where they can be stored for later analysis or used to generate PDF reports on the go.

I think this will be particularly interesting to enterprise customers that want to tap into existing data sources because they should be able to focus on building just the bridge app that connects to their system and then leverage the existing features of Filemaker Go to store the results, search records, generate PDF reports that can be emailed, and so on.

We’re used to this sort of integration on the desktop, but seeing it work on an iPhone is surprising. It feels new again and shows me that the future of iOS apps is really limitless. I’m sure I’ve only just scratched the surface of possible future uses.

What about you? What apps would you like to integrate with Filemaker Go? How would you use this feature in your organization to tap into other data sources?

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The whirlwind development of FileMaker’s consumer database software continues with the release of Bento 3. Bento 3 adds several new features, including shared libraries, iPhoto integration, security options, and best of all, an upgrade price.

First released in November 2007, Bento was supposed to be the database for the rest of us, touting ease of use over the flexibility of complex relational database applications like FileMaker. Bento 1 was priced at $49, as was Bento 2, released just over a year later. That price caused some consternation among Bento 1 users opining Bento 2 was the “real” first release. Apparently FileMaker has listened, and is now offering current users of Bento a $20 discount. While the price for new users remains $49, Bento 3 has enough “new” that those using or needing a simple database application should at least consider the free trial.

As to what’s new in Bento 3, the first thing you see is a redesigned Template Screen. Bento 3 adds 10 new templates, bringing the total to 35, as well as a direct link to the Bento Template Exchange. The online exchange has nearly 300 database templates created by users and developers at FileMaker.

The biggest change to the interface of Bento 3 is Grid View. While database users will be familiar with the spreadsheet-like Table View, and Form View for individual database objects, Grid View is reminiscent of iPhoto Events. If there is a single image in a record, you see a thumbnail, with multiple images being cycled through via mouseover. This is actually pretty useful, be it with home inventory or recipes. If there are no images, you can look at a thumbnail of the Form View, which is not so useful. Something else that is useful is iPhoto integration.

As a serious iCal user, the seamless integration Bento affords is invaluable. As an example, Bento allows me to create Smart Collections of events, like auto maintenance or trips to the vet. Not only can I add fields in Bento, like cost, but I can edit fields that iCal uses. Now, Bento has added iPhoto to the list of integrated OS X apps: Address Book, iCal, and Mail. Unfortunately, what happens in Bento, stays in Bento with iPhoto integration. While I can associate new record fields with photos in Bento, I can’t edit iPhoto fields. Anyone who struggles with iPhoto’s awkward keyword editing understands how big a letdown this is. To balance that letdown for me, we finally have sharing in Bento 3.

To those who bemoan the lack of shared, editable calendars with iCal and MobileMe, Bento 3 appears to offer a workaround. Bento 3 sharing is a lot like iTunes sharing over a local network. It’s as easy to set up as the preference pane above, but even more useful. Up to five people, each needing their own copy of Bento, can edit shared databases. While I have not tested this yet, I’m assuming that editing iCal and Address Book data will be reflected for respective users.

The last big addition to Bento 3 is the option of database security, but there are numerous other small enhancements that can be experienced in free trial. Bento 3 requires OS X 10.5.7 or 10.6.1, costs $49 (or $29 for qualifying Bento 1 and Bento 2 users). There will also shortly be a new release of Bento for iPhone, free to current users and $5 for new users.

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They’ve also added some new core functionality and optimized the backend. To me, this feels like more than a 0.01 update. With every update of Sequel Pro, the open-source project continues to close the gap between itself and commercial competitors such as Querious.

New Features

Sequel Pro now includes full SSH tunnel support built into the connection manager (which has also got a UI facelift).

There is a new Relations screen that lets you view and edit foreign keys for a table.

Enhancements

By far one of my favorite new enhancements is the ability to filter the database’s table list. When the list gets larger than the displayed area, a filter box appears at the top, enabling you to quickly find the one you’re looking for. I’ve been using this a lot already.

When running custom queries, the results used to be presented in a static table. Now you can sort the results on the fly by clicking the column titles. Even better, for supported queries you can edit the results directly.

Browser-like table history navigation has been added, allowing you to go back to previous table views, which is great for flicking back and forth.

Significant Update

There are also plenty of smaller enhancements. Another favorite is the ability to select a record (either in the content view or after running a custom query) and then select “Copy As INSERT Statement”. This is so handy, I don’t know why it wasn’t there before. There are plenty of small changes like this, and almost every part of the application has had numerous bugs fixed.

In addition to all the new features, enhancements and fixes, this release is significantly snappier, and very noticeably so. The memory overhead is also greatly reduced. The developers have done some serious optimizing, and the results have paid off. See the full release notes for Sequel Pro 0.96 for a complete list of changes since 0.95.

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The venerable Mac database solution, Filemaker Pro, has received a whole new look for 2009. I have had a chance to kick the tires a little prior to release and this is certainly the biggest visible change to Filemaker in years.

Filemaker Gets a Facelift

The first thing that you’ll notice with the update is that the familiar left-hand sidebar is completely gone. Now there is a whole new Status Toolbar that runs across the top of your database window. Because this is a standard Mac interface toolbar, buttons can be customized and rearranged as you like by command-clicking and dragging them around. Toolbar sets are configured for each mode, so that the appropriate buttons show up as you move into Find, Layout, or Preview mode. You have to give up some vertical real estate on the screen for the new horizontal toolbar, so layouts may need to be redone. You can hide the toolbar completely if you like, but I bet most users will welcome the changes once they get used to the new buttons.

The net result is an interface that feels a lot more current and more representative of what a Mac application is supposed to look like. From an interface perspective, Filemaker has finally entered the 21st century.

Bringing New Users Into the Fold

According to Rick Kalman, the Filemaker Pro product manager, one of the key goals was to bring the power of Filemaker Pro to more people. The new interface makes Filemaker Pro more accessible to new users and some new features make it easier to get started working with your data. New for version 10 is the ability to import Bento 2 files and a prompt to create a database from an existing Excel file (which was somewhat hidden before). The Bento 2 support is a boon for users that started in Bento and now want to move up to Filemaker Pro. This also provides a sort of backdoor that can be used to bring Address Book and iCal info into Filemaker Pro. I had been hoping that this functionality would be incorporated into Filemaker Pro itself, but the cross-platform issues put this feature on the chopping block.

The Starter Solutions have also been updated with a completely new look that is just a night and day contrast to the old look. They have been updated with advanced Filemaker Pro features like integrated Web Viewer for Google Maps and label printing. These updates make the Starter Solutions a much more useful resource for learning how to use these features in your own databases.

Not Just a Pretty Face

This update is not just cosmetic, though. There are a number of new features and scripting functions that make Filemaker more powerful. Script Triggers are a fantastic new addition. This feature will fire a script to run when a user performs one of 12 different actions (click in or out of a field, save a record, enter a mode, etc.). This provides new flexibility in programming Filemaker that wasn’t there before. For example, you could run spell check when a user tabs out of a text field. I can already think of several uses for triggers that will provide a much cleaner way to do what could only be accomplished with tricks or hacks before.

Find is also improved in Filemaker Pro 10. You can now pull up recent searches and save regularly used finds. This will be a great boon for Filemaker power-users that don’t want to write a script to perform a particular search as part of their daily workflow. The Find “pie” shows the percentage of records that you have found and clicking on it toggles between the found set and the excluded records.

The other major new feature is Dynamic Reports. All views, including sub-summary groupings, are “live” and editable. If you change the value in a grouped field, the record will move to the appropriate group. Along with Dynamic Reporting, table view allows you to add and remove fields from the table without having to drop into Layout mode first.

While developers will appreciate the power of the new scripting functions and script triggers, users are going to really appreciate the changes to finds, reports and table views because it will be much simpler to keep working in browse mode and do more simple ad-hoc reporting without going into layout mode or writing scripts.

What Else is New?

• Direct SMTP support for sending email
• Direct import of Bento 2 files
• New Resource Center with video tutorials
• Excel 2007 support (.xslx files)
• More SQL Database support
• File Recovery Enhancements
• Set Field by Name script function
• IPv6 support

First Reaction

I think anyone’s immediate reaction to the new Filemaker Pro is going to be a strong “wow!” for the new look. Other Filemaker Pro developers I know are cautiously optimistic about the new scripting features, and power-users are going to love recent and saved searches, Dynamic Reporting, and the flexible table view. After that excitement has worn off, I think most will say this is a decent update, but maybe not earth-shattering in the way that Filemaker 7 was. Frankly, I was really looking for more features from Bento to work into Filemaker Pro (particularly the layout tools and Address Book linking), but I understand that supporting cross-platform compatability with Windows users limits some of what can be done.

The user interface changes are a big deal, but this is going to create some tension in the Filemaker community. The new Status Toolbar makes Filemaker Pro look like a current Mac app, but it’s also going to cause a lot of relearning for existing users. At the end of the day, the UI updates are necessary but don’t advance the state of art beyond what’s expected of any current release.

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Welcome To Aqua

The first noticeable item is how quickly OpenOffice 3.0 beta loads, even when compared with Microsoft Office 2008. In less than five seconds you are at the welcome screen ready to create your next masterpiece. Where the X11 interface felt choppy and looked…like an X11 interface, OO 3.0 definitely looks and feels like a fully integrated Aqua application, with menus being very responsive and keyboard shortcuts working (mostly – hey, it’s beta) as expected. How does each behave in this newly integrated world? Let’s take a look.

Writer

Whether it be your latest manuscript, research paper or basic flyer Writer definitely has the tools you need to get the job done. Complex header/footer arrangements, full table of contents manipulation, floating frames and more make this a very sophisticated word & document processor.

I do a great deal of legal document markup and the new notes feature keeps OO 3.0 on track with Pages and Word:

I also especially liked the font preview option for the font menu:

The multi-page layout view mode makes it very easy to see if the visual flow of your document is to your liking:

And, it was refreshing to see a “preview” mode that wasn’t just a export-view to Preview.app:

However, this is also where my first beta bug reared its ugly head with a half-dup of the menubar:

Writer also has basic support for VBA macros, something which neither Pages nor Word 2008 can claim and a feature which came in extremely handy this past weekend for a document I absolutely needed to work with (I could have VMware’d or Boot Camp’d into XP, but OO 3.0 made it so I didn’t have to). That same document also had many form-fields which all worked flawlessly in Writer.

When saving my document, doing so in Microsoft Office compatibility mode produced documents that worked flawlessly on Word 2008 and Word 2003/2007 (on Windows). Importing Microsoft’s new XML-format documents also worked well, though mine aren’t complex by any stretch of the imagination.

Writer is a fine tool, but there are still multi-platform quirks, like the button rendering in some dialogs:

and a less-than Mac-like preferences system:

Calc

I’ll state up-front that I hate spreadsheets. I hate them mostly due to the fact that people use spreadsheet programs as page-layout tools rather then as number crunchers. Numbers understood this and makes no attempt to hide that it is first-and-foremost a way to make pretty, numerical pages. But, getting back to the topic at hand…

Calc is a clear mimic of Excel 2003 for Windows, complete with charting and “solving” capabilities (which the developers are quick to point out do not exist in Excel 2008). Not being a non-work spreadsheet geek (and, I can’t use work examples) I Googled for filetype:xls and pulled a pseudo-random document to work with (the one pictured above). You can see what that Excel document looks like in Excel 2008 just for comparison:

The formatting is pretty much identical and, as a result, I decided to extend my test by checking out Calc’s new charting capabilities:

and then saving in compatibility mode and re-opening in Excel 2008:

I was truly impressed by just how well the two programs worked together, making me a bit more confident if I ever have to use OO 3.0 to edit/share docs with others. I did not have an opportunity to test the new collaboration (i.e. track/merge) feature.

Impress & Draw

With Keynote I have little need for alternate presentation software, but Impress worked as well as previous versions and I did create and preview a quick presentation with no issues:

Similarly, while I have no real need for Draw, it was trivial to create basic line-art documents with this tool:

Database

While it may not have a catchy name like FileMaker (although one could argue that is equally as utilitarian a name) or Bento (I promised myself I would not take this review as an opportunity to trash Bento), OO 3.0′s “Database” application fills a void that exists in Microsoft Office on the Mac and that has been missing in general from the open source world.

The built-in field sets and templates in Database made it trivial to setup a quick recipe database with entry form. And, best of all, I just used the defaults. If I wanted to make it more attractive, I could have spent as much time as necessary crafting primary keys, adjusting field sizes, adding font labels and customizing each feature of the forms. It may be worth it just to keep OpenOffice.org 3.0 around just for the Database program.

The true power of Database comes with full integration into the OO 3.0 suite. I can use the recipe database (if I populate it) to have Writer make a nice recipe file (Database reports could do this as well). Database also allows for data export as well, so you are definitely not locked into the program.

Odds & Ends

Some features spread across the individual components and others were just noteworthy or interesting. For example, when comparing the PDF export feature in Calc, it wound up creating a smaller file than the OS X “print to PDF” option and created table of contents labels based on the spreadsheet tab names.

OO 3.0 also provides a decent number of templates to choose from when starting a new document, some of which aren’t obvious from the flashy “welcome” dialog or just casual interaction with the program (like the full XML document editor).

The help system is very robust and can assist you in pinpointing where to find the functionality you just know is there (like how to mimic Word’s “different first page” feature).

OO 3.0 provides no AppleScript dictionary, so scripters are once again relegated to GUI scripting and the UI – while integrated well with Aqua and with decent Universal Access support – is definitely showing its age. The beta outright crashed on me several times as well, but it confirmed the rock solid document recovery capabilities of the program.

I can say, honestly, that the final version of the software will take its rightful place in my Applications folder, if only to have the ability to deal with the occasional VBA-based document that comes my way and to make use of the Database program.

If you’ve tried OO 3.0 beta or are one of the developers for it, drop a note in the comments with your take on the software and any tips or advice on using the various components. Remember to submit bug reports if you do test the beta and find some quirks. You can also grab a slew of test cases which will cover more of the functionality than I have in this post.

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FileMaker’s new personal database, Bento is big on style and ease. Watch the tutorial movie and in less than five minutes you will be comfortable using Bento’s main features.

Bento comes with a set of libraries (databases) that relate directly to OS X’s Address Book and iCal. Whatever changes you make in these Bento libraries — called, not surprisingly, Address Book, iCal Events and iCal Tasks — appear in OS X’s Address Book or iCal and vice versa.

When you install Bento, it imports your Address Book and iCal data, recognizes what Address groups you’ve created and calls them Collections that have their own icon in the Source List.

And by creating additional libraries of your own and using Bento’s relational fields, you can extend OS X’s functionality: the organizational world you create in Bento will interrelate with and stretch the features of Address Book, iCal, Numbers and Keynote. And you can view it all with one swift glance at the Source List (Bento’s left-hand panel).

The price is easy too, $49 for a single-user license, $99 for a family license — five license keys for use on different computers in the same household.

You can test it free for 30 days. (Note: Bento only works with Leopard.)

Drag And Drop Relating

The power of Bento is in its Relational Fields. To create a relational field, you can use the menu command for creating a new field or you can drag a library icon from the Source List onto the form in a new Library.

An Example: A New Library With A Relational Field

In the example below, I created a new library and called it Short Story Submissions. I exported a Numbers spreadsheet as a CSV file and used Bento’s Import command to populate the library.

By the way, you can quickly change Bento’s view on your screen, showing or hiding one or both side panels by using the view button in the lower right-hand corner or by using keyboard shortcuts:

• Command +1 shows all three panels — Source List, Records, Field List
• Command + 2 shows Source + Records
• Command + 3 shows Records + Fields
• Command + 4 shows Records only

After importing my data, I created another form and called it Detail. Once I had chosen a theme and layout, I dragged the iCal Tasks icon from the Source List onto the form to create my relational field.

Then I customized it by choosing a few fields for the new field (see right-hand column). Now when I thumb through the detail of each record, I can add a task if I wish and the task shows up in Bento’s iCal Tasks as well as in OS X’s iCal.

Alternatively, I can add Tasks directly from iCal Tasks, my relational source, by clicking on the Add Related Records button in the lower left-hand corner of the field.

Here are the tasks as they appear in OS X’s iCal:

If you are looking an easy way to interrelate projects or your personal or business life with each other, I recommend Bento.

What I Like

• The Price. It does a lot for the money.
• Ease of use. It’s intuitive and the online tutorial consists of quick and colorful movies, each one taking less than five minutes. After watching them you’ll be ready to start using the program.
• Themes. With Bento, layout is a snap. It comes with an attractive set of themes. One click on a Theme (preset background colors and fonts) and you change the overall look of a Collection. The theme carries over into all forms. The ability to create and change database layout is a hallmark of FileMaker, going back to the 1980s and the early days of FileMaker by Claris Works — at that time part of Apple — when it was the only database that allowed users to add and arrange fields in a form.
• Seamless flow of data to and from OS X’s Address Book and iCal. And with the “Related Records List” field you can flow the data from any of the other Libraries in Bento to iCal and Address Book. (See How To Use Relational Fields, above.)
• Source List Panel. Ability to view icons of all my databases at once in the Source List — hence the name, a reference to the Japanese Bento box with food arranged in compartments.

What I’d Like To See In Future Versions

• Smart Quotes.
• Themes that carry over from Collections into the Library.
• More font, leading and kerning choices. A link to Apple’s text formatting box would be ideal. Or an Inspector.
• An option to make completed events invisible in (Bento’s) iCal Events without deleting them in iCal.

System Requirements

• Mac OS X Leopard
• Intel Mac or Power PC G4 or G5 processor running at 867 MHz or faster 512MB RAM. 1GB recommended

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Back in November, FileMaker released a preview of their soon-to-be-released personal database app, Bento.

Yesterday they officially released the gold version of Bento.

The design in functionality of Bento is such that you’d think it was just another iWork application. It meshes extremely well with Apple’s design standards set in its iWork apps and has an almost limitless number of uses.

It’s available in a single-license and family-license at $49 and $99, respectively.

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The makers of FileMaker have released a preview of a new application called Bento. It’s labeled as “personal database software” for managing all aspects of your life from contacts and events to inventory and expenses.

It’s currently a pre-release trial version, meaning your trial will eventually expire, forcing you to purchase Bento if you intend to keep your data. The trial looks to last around 90 days at this point which I assume will coincide with an official launch of the product.

I have to say that Bento looks quite promising thus far. FileMaker is specifically targeting the “personal use” users, as opposed to businesses, with dozens of pre-made templates and simplistic interface. It seems they’ve taken their wildly popular FileMaker software and cut the fluff down so that the average user can get up and running quickly…which I have to say is quite appealing.

Bento divides data into “Libraries”. You can choose from a set of 23 different pre-built libraries that cover just about ever category imaginable of data that could be put in a database. Everything from an Exercise Log to Vehicle Maintenance to Home Inventory is available to jump right in to.

All of the libraries can be customized to fit your needs. My only complaint with this is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to change the default visual design of the templates though I assume this may be available in a future release.

Bento is definitely geared toward personal use but given its ability to be heavily customize, I would imagine that a slew of small businesses will be able to make use of this software. It can import any CSV-formated text file, which is great for those people who have been using something like an Excel spreadsheet for this type of data.

No word yet on pricing or an official launch date, but with a 3 month trial period, I highly suggest giving it a try.

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