Replacing FileMaker with Free Software?

jhealy1024 asks: "I'm looking for a way to replace our FileMaker DB solution with an open-source RDBMS. Problem is, FileMaker's GUI and report design tools are pretty darn good, and I can't find a suitable replacement. Anybody out there have a solution that doesn't require me to take a year off to hand-code a replacement solution?" "I'm the netadmin for a small private school. Since we're Mac-based, we've grown up storing all our data in FileMaker, including student information, grades, class assignments, gifts, inventory tracking, and just about anything else you can think of.

FileMaker is coming out with version 7, which is going to require us to tear all our databases to pieces and build them up again from scratch. While the new FileMaker is an improvement, it's still a toy as far as "real" databases go. (The latest update just introduced relational tables, for example). Also, data lock-in is becoming a problem; I'd like to have access to all our data from non-FileMaker interfaces (to populate our LDAP directory, for example). While we can work an export from FileMaker, it would be much better if the data were available in an open, standard database instead.

I figure, so long as we're rebuilding everything from scratch for version 7, why not use a "real" RDBMS (no flames about which, please). Problem is, FileMaker does two things very well:

1. Rapid development of front-end data entry screens (using a GUI for layout)
2. Ability to create printable layouts for reporting (mail merges, report cards, etc)

I can program data entry screens myself if I had to (either on the web or on the clients directly), but the printable layouts would kill me. Does anybody know of any package that will allow me to replicate FileMaker's easy interface for use with a RDBMS package such as PostgreSQL or MySQL?

Thus far, the only solution I've found is to use some kind of SQL access plug-in for FileMaker. This way, I get to keep the FileMaker interface but ditch its lousy relational model. Unfortunately, I'd still have to pay for FileMaker, and the SQL plug-in requires tons of extra coding to pass the data from FileMaker to SQL and back again.

I know other people have had to move from small, proprietary systems (FileMaker, Access, etc) before; what have you done to keep the simple user interface alive?"

Comments

Re:Recode for Filemaker 7

[SQLz]

Well, I'm glad the marketing folks from FileMaker decided to grace us with a reply. Thanks!

Postgersql

[Theatetus]

I work as a consultant for several fortune 500 companies, and I think I can shed a little light on the climate of the open source RDBMS community at the moment. I believe that part of the reason that open source based startups are failing left and right is not an issue of marketing as it's commonly believed but more of an issue of the underlying technology.

I know that that's a strong statement to make, but I have evidence to back it up! At one of the major corps(5000+ employees) that I consult for, we wanted to integrate the shareware version of Postgersql into our server pool. The allure of not having to pay any restrictive licensing fees was too great to ignore. I reccomended the installation of several boxes running the new 7.2.5, and my hopes were high that it would perform up to snuff with the SQL 2000 servers which were(and still are!) doing an AMAZING job at their respective tasks.

I consider myself to be very technically inclined having programmed web frontends for SQL 7 and SQL 2000 for 8 plus years. I don't believe in "big iron" apps like oracle or ingres because, contrary to popular belief, SQL 2000 is just as scalable and enterprise-ready. Plus, now that Ingres is shareware GPL any apps you wrote querying the database would have to be GPL also, and our proprietary content-management and human resources systems are just too valuable for that!

So I set up Postgersql on a Linux mainframe running the new 2.4.22 kernel (I had optimized it myself with gcc 3.1). I knew Postgersql was not remotely ready for true enterprise-level applications, but I thought it would be good for the intranet this division was running. Sadly, I was disappointed.

First off, Postgersql requires that it be run as root. This is a definite security problem, and I'm not sure why it's set up this way; MS SQL has been able to run as a less priviledged account for more than a decade now. What's worse, postgersql requires a full reboot of the server just to do something simple like alter a table.

Once we had that figured out, I was surprised at how slow and non-responsive postgers was. After only a few minutes with only one database added, the server started swapping and ground to a halt. I had to log on from a serial console and kill all the processes by hand. When I started it back up (very cautiously), it turns out that postgersql does no transaction look-aheads, so all the data we had entered was lost!

As things stand now, I can understand using Postgersql in academia to run simple "SELECT * FROM 'employees'" style queries, but I'm afraid that for anything more than a hobby RDBMS, SQL 2000 is your only choice.

Cloudscape + Eclipse?

[ninejaguar]

Using Eclipse as a basis and embedding Cloudscape, someone who knew you what they were doing could build a FileMaker clone. Sounds like a project waiting to happen.

= 9J =