FileMaker 12 is finally here. We waited 25 months to get the newest version of the FileMaker database. All items of the product line got a new version:

• FileMaker Pro
• FileMaker Pro Advanced
• FileMaker Server
• FileMaker Server Advanced
• FileMaker Go for iPhone & iPad

What is new? What has chanced? What is good? What is missing?

File Format

Many developers already guessed it. FileMaker got a new file format. You have to convert files created in FileMaker Pro 11 and earlier before you can use them with FileMaker Pro 12. A FileMaker Pro 11 client or server cannot access FileMaker Pro 12 files. There are so many changes under the hood that a new file format was unavoidable.

Converting files to the new format is easy. When you try to open a file in the old format fp7, the program ask you if you like to convert the file. After conversion you should review the conversion log file and then test the converted database. FileMaker put a lot of effort into this conversion process. It is a much less troubled process than the switch from fp6 to fp7.

New Layout Design and Controls

Prominent changes are layout themes. Developers might know themes from FileMaker’s little sister Bento. A theme is assigned to a layout and the layout objects. If you change the theme all layout objects will change accordingly. But there is more about objects attributes.
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It is time for a fresh, new look. At first I liked the Carrington Blog theme I used before. But after a couple of months I had more and more problems with it. For example, the comment column becomes very crowded.

I was always looking for a WordPress theme with a liquid design. Columns should adjust with the window size. I found some themes on the Internet, but was not too happy with the overall look. That is why I started to create my own theme. Not knowing to much about the internal structure of WordPress, I started reading and learning the documentation.

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