FileMaker 5 Pro Features

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1) Product Description

2) Who Uses FileMaker Pro ?
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Microsoft Office Integration	FileMaker, an excellent database alternative for Microsoft Office users, now features an entirely new interface that has the complete Microsoft Office look and feel with new Office 2000 menus, and toolbars providing seamless integration and ease of use with Office 2000. FileMaker Pro is Windows 2000 ready.

Excel 2000 Import and File Conversion	FileMaker Pro now makes Excel 2000 spreadsheet conversion easier and better by creating field names from the column names in Excel and assigning appropriate data type (text, number, date or time) to fields, based on the data in the column.

Enhanced Instant Web Publishing	With new support of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) users of FileMaker Pro now have much more control over the interaction and presentation of their FileMaker databases with a brand new selection of five style options. (Classic, Wheat, Purple, Neutral, Text Only) and two function options (Search Only and Entry Only). Six of the Styles are implemented using Cascading Style Sheets and require Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater. Netscape does not currently support CSS to the level required; however, it is anticipated that Netscape 5.0 or later will do so. The Text Only Style uses plain HTML and has a less restrictive browser requirement.

Web Companion Features	A new security option — ideal for intranets — helps limit access to web enabled databases by allowing users to specify IP addresses that can request data from the Web Companion. The log file format has been changed to comply with the NCSA/CERN compatible common log format. Also, there are new options for tracking Web Companion activity use in log files.

Built-in ODBC Support	Users may now exchange data with Oracle and other ODBC compatible applications with simple point-and-click operations. Create charts, enact easy mail merging, construct ad-hoc queries, build a front-end with other applications, such as Microsoft Visual Basic, or construct SQL queries in FileMaker Pro to import data from other ODBC data sources such as Microsoft Access or Oracle databases.

Table View	Provides a Table View (spreadsheet-like) view of the current layout. View as Table is enabled when a View as Table command is selected from a menu in Browse or Find mode. Table view is a printable feature in FileMaker Pro, so users now have the option to print their data similar to a spreadsheet layout. The columns can be resized, re-ordered and even sorted by simple clicking and dragging.

Data Merging/Import Update	Users can now update records in one file with information from matching records in another file — great for updating the desktop copy of FileMaker files with changes made on the road with a laptop or PDA.

Layout/Report Assistant	Simplifies the creation of reports and includes: Standard Form, Columnar List/Report, Table View, Blank Layout, Labels, and Envelope. In addition, the layout/report assistant will assist users in developing "Summary Fields." The Layout Report Assistant uses XML based theme files, which can be customized to suit individual needs.

Conditional Value List	Enhances the relational database functionality of FileMaker Pro databases by allowing users to base a value in one field to conditionally update the value list in a related field.

Enhanced ScriptMaker	Easily transfer ScriptMaker (FileMaker’s built-in point and click programming capability) single or multiple scripts from one FileMaker database to another. FileMaker Pro provides this functionality by allowing ScriptMaker scripts to be imported from one file into another. An "Import..." button has been added into the Define Scripts dialog.

ActiveX Automation (Windows)	Users can automate a task (getting sales data from Excel and pasting data into a FileMaker Pro sales report layout) that spans multiple applications.


4) Additional New Features

5) System Requirements