FileMaker Inc. releases FileMaker 16 Platform

FileMaker Inc. today released the FileMaker 16 Platform with new versions of FileMaker Pro, Pro Advanced, Server, FileMaker Go and FileMaker WebDirect. FileMaker 16 is a big release for both customers and developers alike, especially compared to the 15 release last year. This releases marks the third annual release that started with v14 with all new versions shipping in May each year.

The FileMaker platform is all about giving developers the tools to create custom apps that work for your team on iPad, iPhone, Windows, Mac, and the web. The FileMaker 16 Platform has many new features to improve the mobility, development, integration, security, and scalability of your custom apps.

Our favourite new feature by a long way is the PDF support in FileMaker Server and FileMaker WebDirect – you can now generate PDF files (reports, agreements, contracts etc) under FileMaker Server and FileMaker WebDirect, opening up a whole new world of server side reporting options. This is something we have been requesting for many years and we’re very excited to see this ship – we can’t wait to start taking advantage of this with our existing customers (no more robots!).

As developers we’re also looking forward to taking advantage of the new Layout Objects window, Cards, native cURL and JSON functions and the enhanced Data Viewer.

Some of the other new features of the FileMaker 16 Platform include:

• Mobility: The addition of animations and transitions with scripts provide visual cues to help orient users as they navigate through their custom apps on the FileMaker Go app. Enhanced signature capture for the FileMaker Go app allows users to sign documents on iPad and iPhone just as they would on a paper form.
• Integration: Easily exchange data with other web services and applications using enhanced cURL options and predefined JSON functions in FileMaker Pro.
• Development: The new Layout Objects window provides a hierarchical list of all objects in a layout. This makes it easy to make changes to an object without having to ungroup the entire set of objects.
• Scalability: Custom apps accessed via FileMaker WebDirect now can be used by up to 500 users simultaneously, making it easier to share data with an entire team.
• Security: Simplified credential management with OAuth 2.0 using third-party authentication providers improves security and safety of custom apps. Existing Amazon, Google or Microsoft Azure account credentials now can be used to log into FileMaker-based custom apps.

FileMaker Server 16 also includes a number of “trial features” including:

• FileMaker Data API
• Tableau Web Data Connector for FileMaker

that open a number of interesting integration opportunities.

We’re please to report that all Databuzz products are compatible with the FileMaker 16 Platform:

• fmSMS
• fmAccounting Link (Xero Edition)
• fmEcommerce Link (WooCommerce Edition)
• fmAccounting Link (MYOB AccountRight Edition)
• fmAccounting Link (MYOB Essentials Edition)

We’ll be publishing more articles over the coming months looking at some of the new features in the FileMaker 16 Platform in more depth – you can subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when they are released or follow us on Twitter or Facebook.