You can now drag n drop files into containers. Streaming Containers (binary files) We are very excited about the improved usability and capabilities of containers. The underlying CSS3 is not customizable to developers, so for now we will have to use the GUI to access the available CSS3 features. When you upgrade, your theme will be set to Classic. With the new layout engine, I expect to see more web-like abilities in the foreseeable future. This change to CSS3 means you can now add gradients, rounded corners to fields, field highlighting and more. The FileMaker layout engine has been rebuilt and now uses CSS3. Layout Themes FileMaker 12 comes with 40 new designed themes out of the box. It is a free download and has been optimized to run on the latest version of FileMaker.
If you are looking for a pre-built CRM solution, check out our own template we custom built, FM Quickstart. Overall, I expect new and existing users to really enjoy using the 16 provided Starter Solutions. I do not expect templates for the iPad 3 in this release of FileMaker due to the doubling of the iPad's screen resolution to 2048 x 1536, though the prior resolutions will upscale fine on the new iPad. The templates are more modern and provide layouts for the Desktop, iPad, and iPhone. Starter Solutions FileMaker 12 comes with 16 new Starter Solutions that take advantage of the new Layout Themes in the product. New charts available in FileMaker 12 include positive/negative column, scatter, bubble, stacked column, and stacked bar, bringing the total to 10 types of charts. You can modify charts using the new Chart inspector. New Charts FileMaker continues to expand the types of charts available while increasing the ease of creating charts. Though they are grayed out, you can still see the Close, Minimize, and Maximize. You can turn off the Close, Minimize, Maximize, Zoom Control Area, and Resize controls if desired. In the New Window script step, under Specify Advanced Style Options you can specify if the window is a Standard Window, Floating Window, or a Modal Window. Windows Options When you make a new window you can now control the window options. When converting your database(s), if you have a lot of data it may take some time as all the fields will be re-indexed to enjoy the newly supported Unicode 5.2. The good news here is, unlike the switch from fp5 to fp7, upgrading to fmp12 is a smooth transition for large systems. Let's start with file conversion.įileMaker 12 Conversion In order to use FileMaker 12, you will need to convert your existing database(s) to utilize the new file extension fmp12. Below, you will find in-depth details on FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Go 12, and FileMaker Server 12! FileMaker Pro 12īeyond the addition of CSS3 and streaming containers covered in the Overview, FileMaker Pro 12 has many new features to enhance usability. There are many more technical and usability improvements that extend the previously-laid groundwork of the powerful, easy-to-use, rapid development solution you get with FileMaker. (In layman's terms: No more waiting for a whole file to download before taking action!) This improvement provides web-like performance and huge gains in usability, a definite win for developers and users alike. Now, container fields progressively stream your data (images, movies, pdfs, etc,), thus allowing you to navigate away like when loading a web page in a browser. Overall, themes and the new layout engine are very exciting improvements and will definitely provide more powerful theme/layout features in coming releases.Ī huge improvement in FileMaker 12 has to do with containers. FileMaker 12 doesn't allow editing CSS3 code directly‚ you need to use the Inspector to visual edit the theme one layout at a time. It's still the same one-layout-at-a-time technique as in prior versions of FileMaker. Though you are limited to roll those features out to other layouts in an efficient manner.
This is good news as CSS3 allows the interface to be more modern and web-like in nature.ĬSS3 allows for some really cool features like rounded corners, gradients, and hover over. Perhaps the biggest news with the release of FileMaker 12 product line is it starts over with a new layout engine with Themes based on CSS3. Below we will look at the FileMaker 12 product lines: FileMaker Pro 12, FileMaker Go 12, and FileMaker Server 12. This means it is not backward compatible. The new version of FileMaker 12 is here! Before we dive into all the features, note that version 12 is a file format change from fp7 to fmp12.