Mac Database advice

[David Haynes]

Hi John,

I, on the other hand, am new to the PTG scene but long in the tooth
regarding Macs and Filemaker. I like Filemaker for three reasons: first, I
know the software; second, I can share files pretty seamlessly with Windows
machines; third, it's pretty easy to use - "easy" being relative. (see the
review at pcmag.com) $300 for this software is pretty cheap, given what it
can do.

So, to your question, what can it do? The short answer is, just about
anything you want it to. What it should do is another question altogether.

I'm not new to business but I am new to the technician's world so I'm not in
the best position to answer that question - I'd appreciate everyone's
insight. Most of my time is being spent in awe of how much you all know and
how much I have yet to learn - I've been a player and piano owner for
several decades and had no idea what my technician - one of the best in the
area - had to know (perhaps there's a lesson there).

My vision was to incorporate historical data about client's pianos
(including photos and maybe even sound files), problems, "watch out for that
loose...", estimates, quotes, invoices, mailings, labels, letters, special
offers, maps, personal data, as well as a collection of connected thoughts
about dealing with specific problems -"What was that idea about dealing with
loose pins...?"

My problem is that I have no idea if the effort is worth the return.
(Although I've already discovered that dumping maps, and noting phone
conversations, onto my PDA is a wise thing to do.)

I fear I've already bored most of the people here (sorry) so perhaps you'd
like to contact me directly and we can "talk" about possibilities.

David

On 4/5/07 1:30 PM, "John Formsma" <formsma at gmail.com> wrote:

> David and others,
> 
> I'm new to the Mac scene (had my new iMac for just a week and a half,
> and am totally loving it!). Therefore, I can't offer any advice at
> this point. However, what about the possibility of a collaborative
> effort among technicians to blend the best of database things into
> either FileMaker or the open source Open Office database program?
> Maybe several of us working together could come up with something that
> would really serve us well. Sort of like an open source thing among
> piano techs.
> 
> I haven't had much time to look at my trial version of FileMaker...how
> is it different from MS Access?  I can see the power of relational
> databases, but with Access, the learning curve was so steep that I
> just couldn't see the point devoting so much personal time to learning
> that just for my business needs, especially when PTBiz met most of
> them, and was already a fully functional program.
> 
> By the way, I'm running PTBiz on the Mac in a virtual XP machine using
> Parallels. It works fine, and when I figure out how to get the XP
> virtual machine to work with my printer, it will be perfect. I still
> have my XP laptop that I use in the field, but when I'm at home, I
> like to be able to sit at the desk.
> 
> Is there any interest in sharing like this? Maybe if someone could
> send me an example of what FileMaker can do...like a template?  It
> would be nice to see a real-life database "up and running" to know if
> it's going to be worth my spending $300 on the program.
> 
> John Formsma
> 
> 
> On 4/5/07, David Haynes <david at pianogrammar.com> wrote:
>> If you really need a database application, Filemaker Pro is a true
>> relational database that's reasonably ("reasonable" to me at least) easy to
>> use. The issue, as you point out, is that earlier versions don't port very
>> well into the new version IF you have multiple files that you're trying to
>> relate. It can be done but it's a fair amount of work depending on how many
>> files you're working with and how big your database is - nonetheless, the
>> result can certainly be worth it. You can publish directly to a web site,
>> interface with a PDA, network, create forms, integrate photos, sound files,
>> graphics, even use bar codes, all the stuff you'd like a DB to do.
>> 
>> 
>> On 4/4/07 3:05 PM, "David Andersen" <david at davidandersenpianos.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> For just one computer---it doesn't network well---Outlook for Mac is
>>> good---actually great, really easy and easily, effortlessly
>>> customizable, with all the appropriate flags and archiving and
>>> capture facilities ya need.
>>> If you're ever going to grow, and add any computers to your network,
>>> the Now software, linked with Mac Mail, is the way to go. Elegant,
>>> simple, user friendly, instantly updated (from the master calendar in
>>> the office computer) any time my laptop goes online, and then
>>> instantly synchronizable via Bluetooth to my Treo. Slick. When it all
>>> works right, which is, so far, 99% of the time. And, with the
>>> DrivemyMac software, my computer guy can fix stuff anytime, anywhere.
>>> It's important to my dreams to set up the architecture for a bigger
>>> operation, and to always stay pretty darn current.
>>> It's what good, smart, upscale people expect, and are pleased by when
>>> it's done excellently. So there.<g.>
>>> xoxxoDA
>>> 
>>> On Apr 4, 2007, at 10:15 AM, William Morton wrote:
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 4, Apr 2007, , at 6:47, Dave Doremus wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Anyone have any Mac database suggestions? Im about to upgrade my
>>>>> creaky G3. Ive been using Filemaker 4, just at a quick glance the
>>>>> newer versions (8 and 8.5) get really mixed reviews and mention
>>>>> all kinds of problems importing from older editions. Are there
>>>>> better options? Any help appreciated as always.
>>>>> --
>>>>> ----Dave
>>>> 
>>>> I went through the same process when I first got my MAC.  After
>>>> looking at
>>>> a bunch of different options, including Filemaker (which I thought
>>>> was expensive),
>>>> I settled on MYSQL.   It is free.  You have to learn how to write
>>>> SQL to use
>>>> it; no fancy screen-oriented user interface.  But it handles quite
>>>> large databases
>>>> very well, provides full backup facilities, and, when coupled with
>>>> a scripting language
>>>> such as PHP, it builds web-page displays of data very easily, which
>>>> you can then
>>>> access from your browser.   It also runs on a wide variety of other
>>>> hardware
>>>> so is "portable".  (I am not associated with the MYSQL folks--just
>>>> a user).
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>