It's not like we do not have tasks that could benefit from a Filemaker Database, but there are just a lot of other tasks that needs doing. (and that is a con in my book, that I do not get to use FileMaker on a daily basis). So unfortunately I do not use Filemaker at my new job, but I remember it fondly from my old job. Only dislike I have, is that I currently do not have the time to delve into some serious database-design and programming, but that is not actually a problem with the software, but stress-levels at work. I could write for hours about the fantastic scripting system. While making logic statements is also possible in SQL, it is far from easy, and getting data from a field in SQL? You need a lot of commands in Filemaker, you just select the relevant field or can even make a logic function that selects the correct field. Simple IF/THEN/ELSE commands is a godsend, when you need to create a logic for database functions. It makes it easy to add many more functions to a database, while requiring a lot less experience with programming than e.g. The most powerful part of FileMaker is its scripting platform. Quick and easy communication with the translators without having to look up their phone numbers all the time. Also wrote an SMS/texting script (which used Envaya SMS on an android phone), allowing easy contact with the translators from within the Project Management database. There were many of such special functions that was offloaded to Filemaker scripts. Thus reducing several hours of (manual) labor per project to mere seconds. I wrote a parser in Filemaker that parsed the Trados Project data file, which contained all the data anyway. This was previously a manual process and calculation which took more than an hour to gather and process. Importing Trados project translation data the project management database, allowing the invoicing, translator payments and project data to be easily calculated. A lot of functions were built into the databases to offload a lot of manual tasks to the scripts. The database(s) handles everything from employees, customers, timesheets, project management, invoicing, subletting workstations (they also ran a small office hotel). That feeds into FileMaker's strengths of being easy to learn.Īt my old job at a translation company, I built an entire "company management system" from scratch over the course of 10 years. Although this is FileMaker's biggest weakness, it also means that you aren't overwhelmed with options when designing layouts. Even a free version of Visual Studio will provide you with a lot more layout controls than FileMaker. Although there is a very good selection of controls available, it pales in comparison to what you can get with other software. CONSįileMaker's weakest spot has to do with user interface (layout) tools. I can make something small for myself, or something huge for a client. All this to say that the thing I like the most about FileMaker is how easy it was to learn along with how powerful it is to develop in. I learned databases with FileMaker and that has helped me understand how SQL works and how databases in general work. The ability to grasp how databases function, how to build them, how to maintain them, and how to develop a solution for yourself, or others, is unmatched. Although FileMaker is VERY powerful, it caters to beginners in a way that no other software does. It wasn't until I started using FileMaker that I really began understanding how databases work. I tried learning databases with SQL and MS Access. We developed numerous other business solutions that have had a significant impact on our ability to be profitable and become more efficient at everything we do as a company. We have done our timekeeping in FileMaker for over two decades.
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