Prepress
.com Solutions Demonstrates FmPro Migrator Developer Edition with Support for FileMaker 9 Table Consolidation Migrations at MacWorld Expo 2008
Friday 18. January 2008 - .com Solutions Inc. Announces New FmPro Migrator 4.0 Developer Edition with Support for Automated FileMaker 9 Table Consolidation Migrations on Mac OS X and Windows.
FmPro Migrator 4.0 Developer Edition will be demonstrated at the .com Solutions Inc. FileMaker Pavilion (Booth S-1235) during MacWorld Expo 2008 in San Francisco, January 15 – 19, 2008. FmPro Migrator Developer Edition includes a new automated table consolidation feature, enabling developers to simplify solution deployments and take advantage of the new database security model incorporated within FileMaker 7, 8, 9. FmPro Migrator Developer Edition implements automated batch capture and creation features for Tables/Fields, Table Occurrences, Relationships, Layouts and ScriptMaker Scripts using FileMaker Pro Advanced 8, 8.5 and 9 databases.
During the migration process, Table Occurrences and file references are automatically remapped into the new database structure without manual intervention on the part of the developer. TOs are remapped throughout every object of every Layout, Script and Relationship within the new migrated database file.
The Layout text search and replace feature enables developers to quickly repurpose Layouts between database solutions, by changing specified text strings within dozens of Layouts at once. This intelligent search mechanism is implemented to insure that text is changed only within Layout text objects, thus preventing the accidental replacement of text within TOs or field names.
FmPro Migrator Developer Edition Features:
? Consolidates Multi-File Solutions – Consolidating a multi-file solution into a single file enables developers to take advantage of improved performance and new robust security model implemented within FileMaker Pro 7/8/9. Single-file solutions can also be easier to backup/move between computers and even send to users via an email attachment.
? Batch Copies TOs, Relationships, Layouts – Manually re-building TOs, Relationships and Layouts can take hours of painstaking and repetitive work. FmPro Migrator Developer Edition can reduce the copying of dozens of these objects to a matter of minutes, generally requiring only about 5 – 10 seconds for each object. The automation of these tasks also reduces the number of mistakes introduced by performing these tasks manually.
? Quickly Paste Tables/Fields/Scripts – FmPro Migrator Developer Edition leverages new features incorporated within FileMaker Pro Advanced 8/8.5/9 which enables the copying of Tables/Fields and Scripts via the Clipboard. Pasting complete Table and Script definitions is much faster than creating each item individually and generally only takes a few seconds.
? Customizable Automation Shortcuts – FmPro Migrator Developer Edition leverages the application automation features of QuicKeys (Mac OS X) and WinAutomation (Windows) when controlling the FileMaker Pro Advanced graphical interface. FmPro Migrator Developer Edition uses customized shortcuts to automate the creation of Table Occurrences, Relationships and Layouts within the consolidated database file. The use of publicly available automation utilities enables developers to localize the automation shortcuts for their own language. These shortcuts can also be used as templates for the creation of additional shortcuts for common everyday development tasks.
? Cross-Platform Compatibility – FmPro Migrator Developer Edition is compiled as a Universal Binary application on Mac OS X, and as a standard EXE file on Windows. All table consolidation features are implemented with equivalent functionality on each platform.
? Quickly View Layout Details – Each FileMaker Pro Layout is captured in its entirety, along with a thumbnail image of the Layout and a list of the Portals included within the Layout. Clicking on each Portal shows the location of the Portal within the thumbnail view. This information enables developers to verify which layout they are migrating. The Layouts tab can also be used to manually rename the Layout and its underlying Table Occurrence.
? Data Import Script Creation – The last processing step of the migration process automatically creates data import scripts for each migrated table. These scripts automate the importing of data from each individual source database file into the new consolidated database file. Import scripts are created for each base table and put onto the Clipboard for pasting directly into the ScriptMaker window.
? Restartable Migration Process – Each of the database migration parameters are written into the SQLite database file within the output directory. As migration steps are completed, the resulting data and status results from each migration step are also updated within this file. A migration project can easily be restarted by launching FmPro Migrator Developer Edition, selecting the output directory then selecting the “Continue Migration…” menu selection. Source database files can then be added or removed and migration step processing can be continued for any individual file.
? Accessible SQLite Data Store – Experienced developers can directly access the FileMaker Pro object definition XML code within the SQLite database file used by FmPro Migrator Developer Edition. This SQLite database file drives the entire migration process, and enables developers to run SQL code against the database to further customize the migrated objects during the migration process. One use of this feature would be to provide additional customization of Layouts or ScriptMaker Scripts within the SQLite file prior to re-creating these objects within the destination FileMaker Pro database file. Information could also be extracted from the SQLite file for use within source code control systems, documentation and analysis software.
The single-user licensing ($200) for FmPro Migrator Developer Edition includes a copy of FmPro Migrator 4.0 Developer Edition for both Mac OS X (Universal Binary) and Windows platforms.