Editing FileMaker (section)

== History ==
FileMaker began as an [[MS-DOS]]-based [[computer program]] named Nutshell, developed by Nashoba Systems of [[Concord, Massachusetts]] in the early 1980s. Nutshell was distributed by [[Leading Edge Hardware Products|Leading Edge]], an electronics marketing company that had recently started selling [[IBM PC]]-compatible computers.<ref name=dancing>{{cite web | author = Glenn Koenig | title = The Origin of FileMaker | url = https://www.dancing-data.com/history-of-filemaker.html | date = August 7, 2015 | access-date = August 7, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.briandunning.com/browse/browse0399.shtml |title=Nashoba Systems and the Early Days of FileMaker Pro |publisher=[[Briandunning.com]] |access-date=October 10, 2011}}</ref>

With the introduction of the Macintosh, Nashoba combined the basic data engine with a new forms-based [[graphical user interface]] (GUI). Leading Edge was not interested in newer versions, preferring to remain a DOS-only vendor, and kept the Nutshell name. Nashoba found another distributor, [[Forethought (company)|Forethought Inc.]], and introduced the program on the Macintosh platform as FileMaker in April 1985. When Apple introduced the [[Macintosh Plus]] in 1986, the next version of FileMaker was named FileMaker Plus to reflect the new model's name.

Leading Edge published Nutshell 2.0 until September 1986, after which Nashoba marketed the software itself.<ref name="warner19870615">{{Cite magazine |last=Warner |first=Edward |date=1987-06-15 |title=Leading Edge Combines Its Hardware, Software Support |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31 |access-date=2024-12-31 |magazine=InfoWorld |page=31}}</ref> In mid-1987 Forethought was purchased by [[Microsoft]] for the former's [[Microsoft PowerPoint|PowerPoint]] software. Microsoft expected to continue distributing FileMaker and deprioritize the competing Microsoft File,<ref name="keefe19870803">{{Cite magazine |last=Keefe |first=Patricia |date=1987-08-03 |title=Microsoft buys Forethought |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oNqVCaMq9mUC&pg=PP101 |access-date=2024-11-01 |magazine=Computerworld |page=81}}</ref> but Nashoba decided to self-publish the next version, FileMaker 4.<ref name=dancing/>

=== Purchase by Claris ===
Shortly after FileMaker 4's release, Apple Computer formed [[Claris]], a wholly owned subsidiary, to market software. [[Claris]] purchased Nashoba to round out its software suite. By that point, Leading Edge and Nutshell had faded from the marketplace because of competition from other DOS- and later Windows-based database products. FileMaker continued to succeed on the Macintosh platform.

[[Claris]] changed the product's name to FileMaker II to conform to its naming scheme for other products, such as [[MacWrite]] II, but the product changed little from the last Nashoba version, with several minor versions following.

In 1990, the product was released as FileMaker Pro 1.0, and in September 1992, [[Claris]] released a cross-platform version for both the [[MacOS|Mac]] and [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]. Except for a few platform-specific functions, the program's features and user interface remained the same.

By 1995, other than ClarisWorks, FileMaker Pro was the only well-performing product in Claris's lineup. In 1998, Apple moved development of some of the other Claris products in-house, dropped most of the rest, and changed Claris's name to FileMaker Inc., followed by a concentrated development of FileMaker alone.

In 2020, FileMaker International Inc. changed its name (back) to Claris International Inc. and announced the Claris Connect workflow software.

=== Later updates ===
Version 4.0, introduced in 1997, added a plug-in architecture much like that of [[Adobe Photoshop]], which enabled third-party developers to add features to FileMaker. A bundled plug-in, the Web Companion, allowed the database to act as a web server. Other plug-ins added features to the interface and enabled FileMaker to serve as an [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] client, perform external file operations, and send messages to remote FileMaker files over the [[Internet]] or an [[intranet]].

Version 5 introduced a new file format, which came with the file extension {{Not a typo|.fp5}}.

Version 7, released in 2004, introduced a new file format with the extension {{Not a typo|.fp7}}, supporting file sizes up to 8 terabytes (an increase from the 2 gigabytes allowed in previous versions). Individual fields could hold up to 4 gigabytes of binary data (container fields) or 2 gigabytes of 2-byte [[Unicode]] text per record (up from 64 kilobytes in previous versions). FileMaker's relational model was also expanded, offering multiple tables per file and a graphical relationship editor that displayed and allowed manipulation of related tables in a manner that resembled the [[Entity-relationship model|entity-relationship diagram]] format. Accompanying these important changes, FileMaker Inc. also introduced a developer certification program.

In 2005 FileMaker Inc. announced the FileMaker 8 product family, which offered developers an expanded feature set. These included a tabbed interface, script variables, [[tooltip]]s, enhanced debugging, custom menus, and the ability to copy and paste entire tables and field definitions, scripts, and script steps within and between files. Version 8.5, released in 2006, added an integrated web viewer (with the ability to view such things as shipment tracking information from FedEx and Wikipedia entries) and named layout objects.

FileMaker 9, released on July 10, 2007, introduced a quick-start screen, conditional formatting, fluid layout auto-resizing, hyperlinked pointers into databases, and external [[SQL]] links. FileMaker 10 was released on January 5, 2009, before that year's [[Macworld Conference & Expo]], and offered scripts that can be triggered by user actions and a redesigned user interface similar to that of [[Mac OS X Leopard]] (10.5) applications.

FileMaker 11, released on March 9, 2010, introduced charting, which was further streamlined in FileMaker 12, released April 4, 2012. That version also added themes, more database templates (so-called 'starter solutions') and simplified creation of [[iOS]] databases. FileMaker Go 11 (July 20, 2010) and FileMaker Go 12 for iPhone and iPad (April 4, 2012) allowed only the creation, modification, and deletion of records on these handheld devices, whereas design and schema changes had to be made within the full FileMaker Pro application. FileMaker Go 12 brought with it multitasking, improved media integration, export of data to multiple formats and enhanced container fields.

FileMaker 13, released after the launches of [[iOS 7]] and [[OS X Mavericks]] (10.9), first shipped in December 2013. The client and server products were enhanced to support more mobile and web methods of data access. FileMaker Go 13, the parallel iPad–iPhone product, became a single client for both devices, and the Server Admin tool now ran in [[HTML5]], no longer requiring a [[Java (programming language)|Java]] app.

The FileMaker 14 platform released on May 15, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.claris.com/s/article/FileMaker-Pro-operating-system-requirements-all-versions-1503692917754 |title=FileMaker Release History|access-date=2021-01-18}}</ref> It included FileMaker Pro 14, FileMaker Pro 14 Advanced, FileMaker Server 14 and FileMaker Go 14. This was followed by version 15 in May 2016 and version 16 in May 2017; both including equivalent Pro, Pro Advanced, Server and Go versions.

In late 2016, FileMaker began annually publicizing a software roadmap of incoming features already being worked on, as well as identifying features they are moving away from or may deprecate in the near future.<ref>{{Cite web | url= https://luminfire.com/2016/12/05/filemaker-shares-their-product-roadmap/ | title= FileMaker Shares Their Product Roadmap |access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref>

FileMaker Inc. had always had a hard time describing what FileMaker software was, because it covered a plethora of ground unrelated to databases; user interface, security, rapid application development tools, etc. At their annual developers conference in August 2018, FileMaker Inc. initiated a new marketing program called "Workplace Innovation Platform" to address the problem of its self-described software category.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woodhouse |first=Stuart |date=10 Nov 2018 |title=Workplace Innovation Platform |url=https://www.sie.net.nz/blogs/workplaceinnovationplatform/ |access-date=6 Jan 2024 |website=digitalfusion}}</ref>

=== FileMaker Cloud ===
On September 27, 2016, FileMaker Cloud was introduced, including a Linux server ([[CentOS]]), which was offered exclusively through the [[Amazon Marketplace]]. In November 2019, FileMaker Cloud was reintroduced as a [[software as a service]] product offered directly from Claris for FileMaker Pro 18.0.3, using the FileMaker Server Cloud 2.18 service on Amazon servers. Despite this, it was managed by Claris instead of through the Amazon Marketplace, and made use of the new FileMaker ID authentication.

=== Linux and Docker ===
In October 2020, Claris released a Linux version of FileMaker Server, first on [[CentOS]] (19.1) then on [[Ubuntu]] (19.2).

=== Version history ===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width: 90%;"
|-
! style="width:70px;" data-sort-type="date" | Date
! style="width:200px;" | Version 
! style="width:70px;" | File Ext 
! Comment<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lowendmac.com/software/f/filemaker.html |title= FileMaker History |work=Low End Mac | author=Mike Weber |date=September 15, 2008 |access-date=October 10, 2011}}</ref>
|-
| 1985–04 || FileMaker v1.0 || .fp || Published by Forethought Inc.
|-
| 1986–08 || FileMaker Plus || .fp || Published by Forethought Inc.
|-
| 1988–06 || FileMaker 4 || .fp || Published by Nashoba Systems
|-
| 1988–08 || FileMaker II || .fp || First version to be published by Claris Corporation
|-
| 1990–10 || FileMaker Pro || .fp ||
|-
| 1992–10 || FileMaker Pro 2 || .fp || Windows version added
|-
| 1993–08 || FileMaker Pro 2.1 || .fp ||
|-
| 1994–07 || FileMaker Pro Server 2 || .fp ||
|-
| 1995–12 || FileMaker Pro 3 || .fp3 || Relational architecture, [[TCP/IP]] networking introduced
|-
| 1996–01 || FileMaker Pro Server 3 || .fp3 ||
|-
| 1997–09 || FileMaker Pro 4 || .fp4 || Plug-in architecture introduced
|-
| 1998–05 || FileMaker Pro 4 Developer Edition || .fp4 || Last version to be published by Claris. Aimed at expert/professional FileMaker users.
|-
| 1999–06 || FileMaker Pro 4.1v2 || .fp4 || First version to be published by FileMaker, Inc.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://filemaker.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5584/~/filemaker-pro-version-history |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630211203/http://filemaker.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5584/~/filemaker-pro-version-history |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 30, 2012 |title=Custhelp.com |publisher=Filemaker.custhelp.com |date=November 19, 2010 |access-date=October 10, 2011 }}</ref>
|-
| 1999–09 || FileMaker Pro 5 || .fp5 ||Introduced a new file format (file extension {{Not a typo|.fp5}})
|-
| 1999–11 || FileMaker Server 5 || .fp5 ||
|-
| 2001–04 || FileMaker Pro 5.5 || .fp5 || Native support for [[macOS|Mac OS X]], Windows 2000, Windows 95/98 and ME.
|-
| 2001–07 || FileMaker Server 5.5 || .fp5 || [[Windows 2000]], [[Windows NT]], [[Mac OS X Snow Leopard|Mac OS X]], [[Mac OS 8|Mac OS 8.6]], and [[Red Hat Linux]]. LDAP Support. Red Hat was short–lived and dropped support in the next version. 
|-
| 2002–09 || FileMaker Pro 6* || .fp6 || Last version to support Mac OS 8 and 9
|-
| 2004–03 || FileMaker Pro 7 || .fp7 || Multiple tables/file architecture introduced;<br />multiple windows; relationships graph; calc variables;<br/>Improved security with individual accounts and passwords;<br/>introduced new file format {{Not a typo|.fp7}}; Mac version requires Mac OS X.
|-
| 2005–08 || FileMaker Pro 8* || .fp7 || Scriptable creation of [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] reports;<ref>{{cite book|last=Cohen|first=Dennis R.|title=FileMaker Pro 8.5 Bible|year=2006|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470109618|page=354}}</ref> script variables; tabs on layouts
|-
| 2006–01 || FileMaker Mobile 8 || || FileMaker Mobile line discontinued
|-
| 2006–07 || FileMaker Pro 8.5* || .fp7 || Mac OS X Universal Binary support, embedded browser (Web Viewer), object names
|-
| 2007–07 || FileMaker Pro/Server 9* || .fp7 || Native support for the SQL databases MS SQL Server, MySQL, and Oracle. Conditional formatting
|-
| 2009–01 || FileMaker Pro/Server 10* || .fp7 || Status area now horizontal; script triggering
|-
| 2010–03 || FileMaker Pro/Server 11* || .fp7 || Charts, snapshot link, filtered portals, and recurring imports
|-
| 2010–07 || FileMaker Go 1.0 || || FileMaker for [[iOS]]
|-
| 2010–09 || FileMaker Go 1.1 || || PDF creation, photo support, import from FileMaker Pro
|-
| 2011–04 || FileMaker Go 1.2 || || Printing, signature capture, charts, enhanced PDF creation
|-
| 2011–09 || FileMaker Pro/Advanced 11.0v4* || .fp7 || Lion compatibility, fully implemented by October 2011
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2012–04 || FileMaker Pro/Advanced 12 || .fmp12 || Integrated themes (Pro/iOS); floating and modal windows;<br />execute SQL; enhanced container field; improved charting; introduced new file format .fmp12
|-
| FileMaker Server 12 || || 64-bit, faster WAN, progressive backups, rewritten web publishing engine, support for external container storage in files outside of the database
|-
| FileMaker Go 12 || || iOS client is now free. Supports the .fmp12 file format.
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2013–12 || FileMaker Pro/Advanced 13 || .fmp12 || WebDirect and HTML5 features; better mobile app development;<br />enhanced GUI design tools, themes, and behaviors; more dynamic data refreshing, "Hide object when..." layout object option based on calculation, encryption at rest (EAR 256bit AES) data protection, new summary list feature, enhanced ExecuteSQL expressions, perform script on server script step, 256bit SSL client server connection
|-
| FileMaker Go 13 || || Free universal client for iPhones and iPads supports iOS 6 and iOS 7. Supports barcode scanning from the camera.
|-
|| FileMaker Server 13 || || FileMaker WebDirect, Perform Script on Server, Platform Security; new HTML5 Admin Console replaced the need for Java
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2015–05 || FileMaker Pro/Advanced 14 || .fmp12 || Script workspace, Button bar, Tooltips in layout mode, Launch Center
|-
| FileMaker Server 14 || || Standby server, FileMaker Pro auto-reconnect, WebDirect support for Android
|-
| FileMaker Go 14 || || Improved signature capture, iOS 8-style interface, Video/audio controls, Keyboard control, Rich editing
|-
|rowspan="3"|2016–05 || FileMaker Pro/Advanced 15 || .fmp12 || In-Product Updates, Portal In-line Progress Bar, Concealed Edit Box, Script Workspace highlighting and unlimited undo
|-
| FileMaker Server 15 || || External SQL Support extended to DB2 and PostgreSQL, SSL Certificate installation made easier, eliminated shared hosting, Licensing for Teams
|-
| FileMaker Go 15 || || iOS SDK, Touch ID and 3D Touch, App Extensions and iBeacons
|-
| 2016–09 || FileMaker Cloud 1.0 || || FileMaker Server via Amazon Web Services (AWS) running on CentOS Linux
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2017–05 || FileMaker Pro/Advanced 16 || .fmp12 || Layout Objects window (control layers in layouts), Cards feature (better control of prompts), cURL support added for "Insert from URL" function (HTTP/S methods such as POST/GET), JSON text manipulation functions, data viewer auto calc
|-
|FileMaker Server 16 || || REST-based FileMaker Data API, WebDirect browser support scalability up to 500 concurrent users, PDF generation on server and WebDirect, OAuth 2.0 support (Amazon, Google, Microsoft) at the Security layer
|-
|FileMaker Go 16 || || Enhanced signature capture, geofence, plugin compatibility, animations, and transitions
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2018–05 || FileMaker Pro Advanced 17 || .fmp12 || No more FileMaker Pro without Advanced tools, Pre-made add-on tables to templates, Layout modification tool improvements, sensor support (barometer, GPS etc.), Self-Lookup table for Master-detail layouts, multiple email attachments, new data migration tool (separate application). 
|-
|FileMaker Server 17 || || redesigned server admin console with dashboard, new Admin API, new Data API completely re-written from v16.
|-
|FileMaker Go 17 || || FileMaker Go push notifications, auto-complete, drag and drop, improved iOS app SDK
|-
|-
|rowspan="3"| 2019-05-22 || FileMaker Pro Advanced 18 || .fmp12 || New user interface for importing data, open specific app at launch, file-based script steps, script error logging, while calculation function, SetRecursion calculation function, new managed security access privilege, new manage security dialog box, plug-in security enhancements, default file access protection.
|-
|FileMaker Server 18 || || Page-Level Locking enables multiple simultaneous read operations on the same file, Startup Restoration automatically restores files after a crash, FileMaker Server Admin Console enhancements, server monitoring enhancements, FileMaker Data API enhancements, FileMaker Admin API is now standard, Spanish language support. Page-level locking can be enabled or disabled only together with startup restoration.
|-
|FileMaker Go 18 || || Open specific app at launch, append to existing PDF, enhanced barcode support.
|-
|2020-05-20
|FileMaker 19 (Pro, Server, Go)
|.fmp12
|JavaScript WebViewer Integration, FileMaker Add-Ons (including JavaScript), supports Apple's Dark/Light modes, Configure Machine Learning Models using CoreML, NFC scanning support, Siri Shortcuts, Card Windows now supported in WebDirect, Claris Marketplace, Print Page Numbers, Solution Upgrade Tool, At Start Open File, Minimum version requirement on live hosted files, Claris ID can automatically be logged in each time, Convert to/from FileMaker Paths, On-premise Server on CentOS, in addition, to already supported Windows Server & macOS, and Dates support Common Era formatting. No longer supports Runtimes, 32-bit apps, or Windows 7. Startup Restoration and page-level locking remain but are disabled by default probably because of a lot of problems in version 18 with it.
|-
|2020-10-28 || FileMaker Server 19 for Linux, 19.1.2 stability update || .fmp12 || First production release of FileMaker Server on standalone Linux since the short-lived v5.5 in 2001. The referenced Linux is CentOS Linux 7.8. Standalone Linux Server v19 can be hosted in the cloud and will replace FileMaker Cloud for AWS (formerly FileMaker Cloud 1.x) which goes End of Life on Jan. 1, 2022. Note that FileMaker Cloud is an entirely different product. FileMaker Server 19.1.2 replaces page-level locking and startup restoration features with a much more stable shared lock mechanism.
|-
|2020 || FileMaker Pro 19.1.2 || .fmp12 || JavaScript Enabled Add-Ons, Preview improvements, AD FS support, Get(SystemLocaleElements), Get(FileLocaleElements), improved communication between JavaScript in Webview and FileMaker scripting.
|-
|2020-10 || FileMaker Pro 19.1.3 || .fmp12 || New options for FMP URLs
|-
|2020-12 || FileMaker Pro 19.2.1 || .fmp12 || Plugin control improvements
|-
|2021-03 || FileMaker Pro 19.2.2 || .fmp12 || Preview Enhancements, Get(InstalledFMPPluginsAsJSON), Security improvements
|-
|2021-07 || FileMaker Pro 19.3.2 || .fmp12 || [[Apple Silicon]] support, improved Microsoft Edge WebView2 control, and few other bug fixes
|-
|2021-11 || FileMaker Pro 19.4.1 || .fmp12 || Shortcuts for Siri voice commands, Customizable OAuth identity provider support, new session identifier, Faster SQL queries, FileMaker_BaseTableFields, Data API improvements
|-
|2021-12 || FileMaker Pro 19.4.2 || .fmp12 || SSL certificate improvements and some general bug fixes.
|-
|2022-05 || FileMaker Pro 19.5.1 || .fmp12 || Security improvements and OpenSSL upgraded to 1.1.1n, some JSON function updates and ReadQRCode function, improved Save a copy as XML, tab order works pasting layouts as expected, performance improvements, some GUI improvements.
|-
|2022-07 || FileMaker Pro and Server 19.5.2 released || .fmp12 || Improved Replace Field Contents, Quote function modified to handle line feeds same as carriage returns.
|-
|2022-08 || FileMaker Pro 19.5.3 released || .fmp12 || Open SSL upgraded to version 1.1.q. and some bug fixes. 
|-
|2022-09 || FileMaker Pro and Server 19.5.4 released || .fmp12 || Quick start removed, in-product notifications
|-
|2022-12 || FileMaker Pro and Server 19.6.1 released || .fmp12 || Script Transactions, Support Sign in with Apple, Clean up cache files from Preferences dialog, Set User Directory script step, Get ( CurrentTimeUTCMicroseconds ) calculation function, Add-on creation from Layout object tree, Controls the enablement of context menu within the interactive container fields, Administrator roles, Log viewer improvements, Supports a second additional database folder, Support Clone Only backup option to clone the database, Restrict access to Admin Console from specified IP addresses, Admin API improvements, WebDirect CSS layout caching, and list view behavior improvements, NodeJS upgrade to version 16.16, OpenSSL upgrade to version 3.0.7, ChartDirector upgrade to version 7.
|-
|2023-04-25 || Claris FileMaker 2023 (20)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://help.claris.com/en/pro-release-notes/content |title=FileMaker Pro Release Notes |date=April 2023 |website=[[Claris]] |access-date=October 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024054005/https://help.claris.com/en/pro-release-notes/content/ |archive-date=October 24, 2023  |url-status=live}}</ref> || .fmp12 || OnWindowTransaction trigger, Send Mail OAuth 2.0, PSOS with Callback, Layout Calculations
|-
|2024-06-04 || Claris FileMaker 2024 (21)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://help.claris.com/en/pro-release-notes/content/ |title=FileMaker Pro Release Notes |date=June 2024 |website=[[Claris]] |access-date=June 4, 2024 }}</ref> || .fmp12 || New AI Script Steps, Configure Local Notifications in FileMaker Pro, WebRTC for Web Viewers, PSOS Callback State Option, Execute Data API Write Operations, Open Quickly Improvements 
|}
<small>* (*) indicates both FileMaker Pro/FileMaker Pro Advanced (Developer Edition in v4-6) or FileMaker Server/FileMaker Server Advanced</small>

FileMaker files are compatible between Mac and Windows. File type extensions are:
* {{Not a typo|.fm}} since FileMaker Pro 2.0
* {{Not a typo|.fp3}} since FileMaker Pro 3.0
* {{Not a typo|.fp5}} since FileMaker Pro 5.0 (including 5, 5.5, 6.0)
* {{Not a typo|.fp7}} since FileMaker Pro 7.0 (including 7, 8, 8.5, 9, 10, 11 and FileMaker Go 1.0)
* {{Not a typo|.fmp12}} since FileMaker Pro 12 (including 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, FileMaker 2023, and FileMaker 2024)

Self-running applications (''runtime'', ''kiosk mode'') are platform-specific only.