Filemaker Pro versus MS Access

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Does anyone know if Filemaker Pro files can be imported to MS Access?

And I'd also like to hear comparisons of the two databases...



[ 03-02-2003: Message edited by: O-Mac ]</p>
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    jimdadjimdad Posts: 209member
    Not even the PC loving computing dept. in our school have a good word to say about Access <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 2 of 26
    well, can you even run Access databases on a mac? Things that aren't cross platform kill me....



    I can sync FileMaker Pro databases with my plam, so I'm a big FMPro fan...
  • Reply 3 of 26
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    No Access is PC only.



    Non cross platform DB makes no sense really. If I had my druthers I'd be going FMPRO.
  • Reply 4 of 26
    keshkesh Posts: 621member
    To answer the question: no. You might be able to import the data from an Access DB, but not the scripts/structure/layout. You'd be better off making a new FM DB, exporting the Access data to Tab-Delimited Text, and importing it to FM.
  • Reply 5 of 26
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    My dad is a FileMaker developer and has been for years. I don't know a whole lot about them but he does tell me that FileMaker is basically the exact same on the Mac and on Windows. He also says that FileMaker is easy enough to use that a clever individual can make databases on their own. The problem is, they often do, so when he is hired by a company he often has to either scrap or overhaul their old database because it's a thrown-together mess. The other problem is that FileMaker doesn't allow for multi-user applications... there are limitations built into it to prevent you from making a killer database, binding it, and selling it. You can do that but only if it's going to be used on just one computer. Not sure exactly how that works, he just told me that one day.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    dave k.dave k. Posts: 1,306member
    All depends on what you need. You can get to Access databases via ODBC.



    [quote]Originally posted by M3D Jack:

    <strong>well, can you even run Access databases on a mac? Things that aren't cross platform kill me....



    I can sync FileMaker Pro databases with my plam, so I'm a big FMPro fan...</strong><hr></blockquote>
  • Reply 7 of 26
    dave k.dave k. Posts: 1,306member
    It appears that your school's PC department is useless. Access is way better than FileMaker Pro. I am not trolling. I am just stating a simple fact.



    [quote]Originally posted by jimdad:

    <strong>Not even the PC loving computing dept. in our school have a good word to say about Access <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>
  • Reply 8 of 26
    o-maco-mac Posts: 777member
    I think Apple would definately thrive in the databse business if they could find a way to easily cross-platform MS Access to the Mac.



    With MAC OS X's stability don't you think a great database software would kick butt?
  • Reply 9 of 26
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    FMP is a subsidiary of Apple (or whatever you call it)
  • Reply 10 of 26
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    [quote]Originally posted by Dave K.:

    <strong>It appears that your school's PC department is useless. Access is way better than FileMaker Pro. I am not trolling. I am just stating a simple fact.



    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well it's more powerful, but compared to the real big DB systems, it's just awful.
  • Reply 11 of 26
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    FileMaker Pro is made by FileMaker Inc, which used to be called Claris until Apple got all of Claris's stuff other than FileMaker. Actually I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but it used to be Claris FileMaker Pro and now it's just FileMaker Pro.
  • Reply 12 of 26
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Access is more powerful than FM Pro, but I'd say that FM Pro is more useful simply because it's easier to set up and build applications with.



    In the grand scheme of things, they're both toys, but we've had terrible problems with Access databases in particular (in other people's products) losing and corrupting data. We've also had some serious performance issues with Access. So we neither use it ourselves nor recommend it for anything. If the database can't even store data reliably, what's the point?



    Nevertheless, and alas, there's a huge stable of applications built on Access, and some of them are even sold for money.
  • Reply 13 of 26
    resres Posts: 711member
    [quote]Originally posted by Dave K.:

    <strong>It appears that your school's PC department is useless. Access is way better than FileMaker Pro. I am not trolling. I am just stating a simple fact.



    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    No, trolling or not, that's an opinion, not a fact. And I'm not sure what you are basing you opinion on -- why do you think it is better?



    I've just finished moving yet another database from that Access to FileMaker Pro. I can't see why anyone in there right mind would use Access with elegant solutions such as FileMaker Pro and the fast and powerful open source SQL variants available.



    The only reason that it ever became popular was its inclusion with MS office.
  • Reply 14 of 26
    o-maco-mac Posts: 777member
    I'd like to know what the BEST database software product is out there...mainstream that is..
  • Reply 15 of 26
    resres Posts: 711member
    There is no one database program that is perfect for every situation.



    I use FileMaker Pro for most projects because it is cross platform (it even has a mobile version for PDAs). It is also easy to set up and more then powerful enough for most jobs.



    For web databases I use PosgreSQL or MySQL. That is one of the many reasons I love OSX -- I have an apache web server complete with a MySQL database running all the time on my powerbook to test out my scripts and websites. Talk about a time saver.



    The only time I use Access anymore is when I'm trying to port it to something else. Which can be done using ODBC, but it still a lot of work.



    If you trying to figure out which database program is best for a particular project we can probably help you if you give us a description of it.
  • Reply 16 of 26
    o-maco-mac Posts: 777member
    Coming from a PC background I thought everything used a MS Access databases in some way or form...A lot of applications I see have Access as their main database in the background. I actually never really knew what Filemaker was until a little while ago.



    But now after looking at Filmaker's website it looks like lots of places don't use Access. I mean, there are a zillion books in hte bookstore on Access and only a few for Filemaker...
  • Reply 17 of 26
    Res&gt;



    A relative of yours?



  • Reply 18 of 26
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    [quote]Originally posted by Dave K.:

    <strong>It appears that your school's PC department is useless. Access is way better than FileMaker Pro. I am not trolling. I am just stating a simple fact.



    </strong><hr></blockquote>





    No, you're stating a simple opinion.



    My opinion is that Access is crap. I have formed my opinion based on having been using it for the past academic year in my computer science coursework.



    Amorya
  • Reply 19 of 26
    jimdadjimdad Posts: 209member
    [quote]Originally posted by Dave K.:

    <strong>It appears that your school's PC department is useless. Access is way better than FileMaker Pro. I am not trolling. I am just stating a simple fact.



    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    That'll be why its not even part of Office for the Mac? <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[oyvey]" />
  • Reply 20 of 26
    o-maco-mac Posts: 777member
    Wow...I may have to start deprogramming myself form thinking MS Access is any good...I have the Filemaker Pro demo and I'm going to try it out...



    If there are people out there who have horror stories about Access I'd like to hear them...
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