I use it for personal productivity and database stuff. I'm a unit-level computer manager, so I use it personally for stuff here at work, making my life easier. I use it extensively for lots of different things, both work and personal. It is not used widely throughout the university, but it is used.
I use it locally. They do have a cloud version, but I just don't use that.
I use it quite extensively for some of the stuff, and it is doing the job.
The cross-platform Mac and Windows feature is most valuable. I can do all sorts of stuff with this tool. It has got all sorts of automation capabilities. I have used some of them, but I have barely scratched the surface of what it can do on automation.
It is user-friendly, and it integrates well with other products. There are other third-party options that you can buy or in some cases, download for free to even extend it further. I use one or two of those.
They're always improving it, and I have been quite pleased with their improvements. There is some organizational stuff that I'd like to see done differently. They should make a structure so that you can have the data in one file and the app, the scripts, and the program in another file.
I would like to be able to easily share scripts between different databases. I write stuff, and some of the functions are shared across different databases. So, I have to copy them from one database to another. I wouldn't mind an infrastructure where I had a file, and on loading the program, this file is loaded with the functions that I had written. I can then call them from any database that I happen to be using.
Currently, you have a database open that has all of its data pieces and program pieces, and then you open another database that has got all of its data pieces and program pieces. Nothing is shared between them. When I write a complex function and I want to use it in two or three different databases, I have to copy it to each one of them and also remember where all it is used. It would be good if it has a little bit different organizational structure so that you could put your shared stuff in one place, and it loads the stuff. It is just an architectural difference. I've sent this requirement to them, but I doubt if that's going to happen. It is a huge system, and making changes for a single individual doesn't happen that quickly.
It has been around 30 years. I've been using it since the beginning when it came out in the middle '80s. It came out when Macintosh was fairly new.
It is very stable. There are no issues with its stability.
They've got very good scalability to a server and to the web.
I didn't have to use tech support very often. They are very good. I would rate them a nine out of ten.
Its price is pretty reasonable. I am at a university. We get educational discount pricing from most of the major vendors.
I love this product. I have been using it for 30 years. It has got lots of capabilities. Don't sell it short. It can do a lot more than you might think it can.
I would rate FileMaker a ten out of ten.
