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FileMaker Pro 5.5 for Mac OS X


FileMaker Inc. has shipped FileMaker Pro 5.5, the latest version of its popular desktop database application. The new version adds Carbon support for Mac OS X as well as improved Web publishing features like interactive buttons (enabled via JavaScript), the capability to execute a subset of FileMaker’s ScriptMaker commands from the Web, and the ability to suppress the default Instant Web Publishing navigational interface. Version 5.5 also sports record-by-record access privileges, new script steps, improvements to resizable dialogs and window positioning introduced with FileMaker Pro 5, the capability to execute dynamic SQL queries, and better Excel data import. The Mac OS X version does not yet support toolbars, ODBC import, or the Send Mail script step with Mac OS X’s mail.app. FileMaker Pro 5.5 is also available for Windows 2000. Upgrades from previous versions of FileMaker are $150; otherwise, FileMaker Pro 5.5 is $250.


By the end of the third quarter of the year, FileMaker also plans to ship its $1,000 FileMaker Pro Server 5.5 with support for Mac OS X and Red Hat Linux, and the $1,000 FileMaker Pro Unlimited with unrestricted Web publishing features and a new multi-threaded Web Companion plug-in (which ought to speed general Web serving, but won’t help with FileMaker’s fundamental Web publishing bottlenecks). FileMaker Pro Developer 5.5 – which offers FileMaker developers the ability to create stand-alone solutions, as well as providing documentation, SDKs, debuggers, and other materials – should ship before the end of 2001.

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