
The user interface was a prompt that was a single dot at the left edge of the screen. In their opinion, the existing databases were just awful. They concluded that it would be too hard to break into that market. They looked around and saw that a number of other companies were already working on word processing products. Outside the hall there was a tent that had a small section devoted to PCs. In those days, computer conferences for businesses concentrated on mini computers and larger. Spec and Dan attended a computer conference. This is quite different from the culture of most technology companies these days, which encourage or even require creativity. Spec Bowers, Alan Albert, Dan Chadwick and Jega Arulpragasam wanted to develop new products but the Wang Labs didn’t foster this type of creativity with their political culture. The history of FileMaker dates back to the early 1980s with four people who originally worked at Wang Laboratories.
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The rolodexes from FileMaker 1.0, FileMaker Plus, FileMaker Pro 1.0, FileMaker Pro 5.5, FileMaker Pro 7.0 and FileMaker Pro 15. Recent history is written from my knowledge of the industry. Glenn is a FileMaker developer and generalist who lives and works in Arlington, Massachusetts. Information regarding the early history of FileMaker is adapted from an interview with Spec Bowers by Glenn C. Other nicknames include Hoss, n2 and Wiz. Over the years, it's evolved to the current Jaymo but you can call me anything as long as you are friendly. Jaymo David Knight (aka Speedy) started calling me JoMo years ago, because of my initials, and it kinda stuck. The big difference is that the File Maintenance feature works on the current file, so you don't have to swap out the old copy for the new one.īeginner, Intermediate and Advanced Video Training The File Maintenance feature in FileMaker Developer 7 and FileMaker 8 Advanced simply splits these two tasks into separate features (this feature is long gone in modern versions of FileMaker). Scripts, Fields and other areas of FileMaker are also optimized to increase performance by allowing similar data to be accessed sequentially. Blocks are swapped so that data in records are grouped together. Optimizing a file is a lot like optimizing your hard drive. Compacting a file merges partial blocks, so there are fewer and fuller blocks - thus creating a smaller file.


FileMaker stores data in blocks and, when information is deleted, those blocks may become partially full. A compacted copy is a duplication of the file compacted and optimized. This feature allows you to save a compacted copy but not like WinZip or Stuffit. Email John Mark Osborne or call John Mark at (909) 393-4664 to find out more about this service.įile Maintenance The Save A Copy As feature is available in FileMaker Pro, Developer and Advanced (they've changed the name a lot over the years). Over programming hurdles via GoToMeeting. Meta-consulting is a service Database Pros offers to help other developers Support this site by clicking on a sponsor below or becoming a patron! The Philosophy of FileMaker - FileMaker History
