When we searched on two terms (first name and country) in an admittedly small, sample contact database of 29 records, it turned up two matching records almost instantly. This can save time if you want to find a record about which you can only remember partial information, or in a database where you’re not sure in which field a search term is likely to appear. While it’s still possible to find records in a database by searching on a specific field, the new Quick Find feature lets you search multiple terms across all fields. This is a data entry layout sample using FileMaker Pro 11’s contact manager. The touted new QuickStart screen is not a huge innovation, but it does give quick, intuitive access to the most likely starting points - launching an existing database or application, converting an existing file such as a spreadsheet, using one of the bundled ready-made “solutions,” or going to tutorials and other help resources. We installed it on a two-year old dual-core Dell laptop. The program installed - it was a new installation, not an upgrade - without incident and reasonably quickly given its size and complexity.

Our out-of-the-box experience went smoothly.

But the longer answer will depend on your needs and resources.įileMaker Pro 11 does include substantial new features - new charting and report generation capabilities, for example - that make an already strong contender stronger.Īnd the new features, in our limited testing, work pretty much as advertised, although, as always, their incremental value to users may be overblown by the company. Is FileMaker Pro 11, the latest version of the ‘easy-to-use’ relational database for PC and Mac from FileMaker Inc., an essential upgrade that puts FileMaker head-and-shoulders above competitors? The short answer is probably not.

Filemaker pro database examples