Filemaker GO

[touch and go]

any opinions out there on Filemaker Go and how it compares to FM touch? 

not being a very tech savvy person, it took many trials and errors for me to get filemaker set up on the i touch using FM touch.  still not completely satisfied with the results.  the images in my container fields create such a large database that i had to start over, leave them out, and drag them into the fm touch database manually on the itouch. have half given up and not completed this part of the process. 

is filemaker go any easier to use?  how about in terms of syncing container fields?

thanks.

[Peter Bates]

Bought both of them (FM Go for the iPhone, and FM Go for the iPad), as soon as they were available in the App store yesterday. No regrets what so ever! Can stop exploring them and using them. In answer to you question about container fields, this is copied directly from FileMaker's support site:

"In FileMaker Go, you have the ability to Cut, Copy, and Paste embedded files from one container field into another.  Additionally, you can take images from another app and paste them into a FileMaker Go container field."

Highly recommended!

[Peter Bates]

Oops! that was supposed to say "I can't stop", not "Can stop"

Bought both of them (FM Go for the iPhone, and FM Go for the iPad), as soon as they were available in the App store yesterday. No regrets what so ever! Can stop exploring them and using them. In answer to you question about container fields, this is copied directly from FileMaker's support site:

"In FileMaker Go, you have the ability to Cut, Copy, and Paste embedded files from one container field into another.  Additionally, you can take images from another app and paste them into a FileMaker Go container field."

Highly recommended!

[agi]

Well FMtouch does not support reports, and summary fields + not all scrips work properly. While FMgo does supports those things but I have it tested on the same database i use on FMtouch and it is slow and sluggish in comparison and it does not allow sync... If reports and summary fields would be available FMtouch is the best IMO however I am developing on FMgo right now for I really need to have summary updates.

[rrenfrow]

I got help from a fellow lister, Susan, to do some summary field workarounds on data in FMT.  See the post below:

Raylene

=================
Summary fields don’t work, but sum calcs on relationships will.

Example:

Table 1 = AMT__Amount
Fields
AMT__Amount::ItemAmount (number)
AMT__Amount::Type (text)

Table 2 =RPT__Report
Fields
RPT__Report::Type (text)
RPT__Report::SumAmount [calc = Sum(rpt_AMT__Amount::ItemAmount)]

Relationship RPT__Report to rpt_AMT__Amount (Type = Type)

Records:
(A) RPT__Report::Type = FOOD
(B) RPT__Report::Type = BOOZE

(1) AMT__Amount::ItemAmount = $20
AMT__Amount::Type = FOOD
(2) AMT__Amount::ItemAmount = $100
AMT_amount::Type = BOOZE
(3) AMT__Amount::ItemAmount = $25
AMT_amount::Type = FOOD
(4) AMT__Amount::ItemAmount = $80
AMT__Amount::Type = BOOZE

Layout based on RPT__Report TO with portal = rpt_AMT__Amount

Record A
Above portal = RPT__Report::TYPE = FOOD
Portal shows records (1) and (3)
Below portal field = RPT__Report::ItemAmount = $45

Go to record B
Above portal = RPT__Report::TYPE = BOOZE
Portal shows records (2) and (4)
Below portal field = RPT__Report::ItemAmount = $180

-Susan

[kawnee]

hi,
With filemaker go, no more DDR size limitation (10mb), and for the first edition, is appeared have more power than fmtouch, does the end for Fmtouch?

[Lance]

Unless I am mistaken, Filemaker Go is a dead horse for me. I requires a connection to do anything. You can do the same thing without it using the Filemaker Web Sharing. I can't count on having a connection 100% of the time. It seems nearly as misguided as Filemaker Mobile was, it didn't require a connection but couldn't do ANYTHING.

[webko]

Unless I am mistaken, Filemaker Go is a dead horse for me. I requires a connection to do anything. You can do the same thing without it using the Filemaker Web Sharing. I can't count on having a connection 100% of the time. It seems nearly as misguided as Filemaker Mobile was, it didn't require a connection but couldn't do ANYTHING.

You are mistaken:
"FileMaker Go users can also copy databases between their desktop or laptop computers and FileMaker Go via File Sharing in iTunes - perfect for single user databases. Databases may also be downloaded by email, popular file sharing sites, or the web."

Now, synching back the changed data afterwards may be fun though...

[tmod4eva]

I was excited at the thought of FileMaker Go being introduced. However, after playing with it for about an hour, I hate it at the moment for my current situation.

As previous people have stated, an internet connection is required. Internet latency tends to make the database information load sloooow on my end. Even filemaker, doing a video demo of their product appears to be sluggish. I have been using FMtouch for a while now, and have come accustomed to the SYNC capabilities which are useful in a 'dead' zone.

[Lance]

You are right, I left out the part about being able to drag files back and forth like a #@$% Cave Man using iTunes, thus rendering Filemaker back to Single User. It's so disappointing and almost shocking that FM has come out with yet another useless Mobile app, thank goodness we have the geniuses at FMT to give us the best database program yet seen on a handheld.


tmod4eva, thanks for relating your experience.

[Peter Bates]

Unless I am mistaken, Filemaker Go is a dead horse for me. I requires a connection to do anything. You can do the same thing without it using the Filemaker Web Sharing. I can't count on having a connection 100% of the time. It seems nearly as misguided as Filemaker Mobile was, it didn't require a connection but couldn't do ANYTHING.

That's not quite correct as you could always load the actual database on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, so you don't need a connection. There is no sync ability while it is loaded on your device. I guess some would consider that to be a drawback. Considering what FileMaker has included with version 1 of the app, it is simply amazing. To attempt to put it into the same class as FileMaker Mobile is so wrong. They are planning to keep adding even more functionality to the app.

The most important thing to remember is it "just works" without having to jump through any hoops or extra steps like you seem to do with other products.

[kawnee]

Hi,
With Filemaker GO, I have all my custom functions works, the unless problem is a little slow compare to FMtouch, and more 90 % script step and calculation works.I believe the
market is great for that platform, filemaker teams does a good work for the first release, they don't wait since the ipad went to proposed this solution; more to come. I wait

[phcranston]

I've been using FMTouch and FileMaker Go since day 1 of both products.  Go is great if you are looking for easy access to your data and are okay with having to pull the data down from the server.   I've found that if you build layouts specifically for the iOS device and avoid things like large portals and doing sorts on large number of records, Go works well.

If you want to be able to access your data while offline or just don't like the slower speed of pulling data over the network, then FMTouch is probably for you.   A big advantage to FMTouch is the ability to sync your data directly from the iOS device to the FileMaker database.   There is no sync functionality if you use an offline version of the database in FileMaker Go.

I would be surprised to see FileMaker add true sync to their product anytime soon since they've never done it with there desktop products and FileMaker Go is built to be like a thin desktop client.

[oberlehrer]

Using the Same database, i will take FMTouch for the Iphone with Sync and FM go for the Ipad, without thinking of 10 MB. iPad is Not Slow and all scipts are working, now no end for DB's. Both are paid and usefull. Now i'm happy using all scripts

[looter]

I’m using both.

Go is slow and I’m not that confident in FileMaker to keep updating it after they abandon FM Mobile. Can’t do offline/downlaod in iTunes with multiple users, would be a nightmare synching back data. Upside layouts built for FMT look great in FM Go.

FMTouch’s sync is good especially for speed and offline viewing. But server sync is buggy. FMT hasn’t seen much in the way of updates recently. A Tweet implied only bug fixes should be looked forward too.

RT @stephenknight:
"James, we will not compete against FileMaker its foolish. We will continue to support and fix bugs and evolve the enterprise version."

Neither support export scripts.