[FX.php List] FileMaker 7/8 and PHP WITHOUT FX.php?

[Elleni B Fellows]

Thanks Matt. You all are giving me more information to use in my 
discussion. My biggest reason to continue to use FileMaker is that users 
want to have desktop interactions with their data that are not via the 
web! While they need to share some amount of information on the web 
outside of their core groups, they really like being able to do "stuff" 
to their systems on their own with or without IT assistance. The web 
team's php/MySQL solutions do not allow the end users to be flexible and 
create reports on the fly, etc., let alone change their minds over time 
and re do things.

Any other tidbits from this group's experience will be much appreciated!

Thanks again,

Elleni

Matt Simpson wrote:

> Hey Elleni,
>
> I'm a pretty experienced PHP developer and I use many different 
> databases (PostGreSQL, MySQL, Oracle and FileMaker). Each database has 
> it's uses and target audience, and I understand why your lead 
> developer may not like FileMaker... because it's different and 
> definitely not targetted at database developers.
>
> Your developers have two paths ahead of them, tell them to pick their 
> poison wisely:
>
> 1) If your lead developer doesn't want to use FX.php then not only 
> does he/she have a sick amount of work ahead of him but he probably 
> will not succeed in the project, plus he/she will end-up hating 
> FileMaker even more.
>
> 2) If your lead developer says "fine, we'll use FX.php"; he uses it, 
> makes your web-application work in a day or two and will end-up being 
> impartial towards FileMaker in your environment.
>
> You will not likely get a developer to love FileMaker after they use 
> PostGreSQL, MySQL, etc. They don't really compare in speed and 
> function, but that doesn't mean that FileMaker is useless to them. It 
> keeps you happy and saves them a silly amount of time for interface 
> design. I can bang out a fairly complex database with interface in a 
> few hours using FileMaker and everyone's happy. The equivilant in PHP 
> / MySQL would take at least a few days by the time all is said and 
> done, albeit the PHP / MySQL solution would be way faster and suitable 
> for a busy site.
>
> Tell them not to hate on FileMaker. Yes it's quirky, but once you 
> understand it how it works (don't eve try to understand why it works) 
> it's a fast solution to get something done you otherwise wouldn't have 
> time to do.
>
> Best Regards,
> Matt Simpson
> Web Developer
> Queen's University / MEdTech Unit
> 82 Barrie Street 2nd Floor
> Kingston Ontario
> Canada, K7L 3N6
>
> Phone: 613-533-6000 x78146
> E-mail: matt.simpson at queensu.ca
>
> Elleni B Fellows wrote:
>
>> So, I work in an environment that has both FileMaker lovers and 
>> haters. I had hoped our web developers would work with us and our FM 
>> databases to get them on the web with php. They currently use lots of 
>> php with MySQL. Today the lead developer told me he doesn't really 
>> want to use FX.php and wants us to find a way to use the XML out of 
>> FileMaker without the FX library. Don't ask me what his deal is... I 
>> come from the old CDML school of FM on the web and am just starting 
>> to get interested in using php instead. I had hoped we FileMaker 
>> folks could use FXForge to create to basics of our sites and get the 
>> "web team" folks to help dress them up later. Anyway, I need to meet 
>> with him next week and explain why I want to use FM and FXphp for our 
>> solutions. My answer right now would be because that's what most of 
>> the FM community is using! But I don't think that will be enough for 
>> him.
>>
>> Thanks for any advice!
>>
>> Elleni
>>

-- 
<http://www.elleni.com> 	*Elleni B. Fellows*
/IT Professional/, CLA-OIT <http://www2.cla.umn.edu/admin/claoit/>
612-625-3881
257 19th Ave S
110 Anderson Hall
Minneapolis, MN 55455
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