On Tuesday, April 25th, Claris released the newest versions of FileMaker Pro and Server. FileMaker is an industry-leading custom software platform that has been helping people manage their businesses for decades. Claris continues to innovate, and included many new features released in this version as they also work to move the Claris & FileMaker platforms forward.
The FileMaker 2023 release is intended for professional developers who build custom business apps for a living as well as those citizen developers within organizations who require extra performance. This latest version of FileMaker is packed with new features and enhancements that make it even easier to build custom apps and manage critical business data.
One of the biggest advantages of FileMaker is its ubiquitous deployment capabilities. FileMaker Server can be deployed public and private clouds, on premise using your own hardware (macOS, Windows, or Ubuntu Linux), or via a web browser (WebDirect). FileMaker Pro can be deployed offline, as well as distributed via iOS and iPadOS (FileMaker Go). This level of flexibility means that FileMaker will fit most situations. This is especially impressive as many of FileMaker’s competitors are cloud or hosted SaaS only.
Claris continues to evolve and extend FileMaker’s integration capabilities. The future Claris Platform includes Claris Studio with bi-directional communication with Claris Pro and Claris Connect.
FileMaker 2023 is a stepping-stone release that continues building on the capabilities of the FileMaker Platform, while bridging the way to the Claris Platform, and there continue to be enhancements nearly every three months.
The goals of this release are to:
- Retain their valued customers with many new features
- Re-engage previous customers
- If you have fallen behind with releases now is the time to update!
The era of FileMaker 19.x brought many enhancements including:
- Opening the platform: Javascript, JSON, cURL, Data API (RESTful), OData, FileMaker Server Admin API, CoreML, support for any OAuth2 OpenID provider, and many more additions.
- Claris Connect enables integration with Slack, Twilio, etc.
- Security – SOC2 Type 2 & ISO compliance is available for Claris Cloud and Claris Connect (when hosted by Claris)
- Script transactions, allowing rollback of complex operations if something fails along the way.
Highlights of FileMaker 2023:
User Experience
- Optimizations for stability, performance, scalability, and security
- 45-day trial (previously was 14 days)
- Free tier access to Claris Connect
- New FileMaker naming convention using the year (from 19.6 to 2023)
- Over 500 bug fixes
- New functions to return BaseTableNames and BaseTableIDs
- Webdirect 2023 – Enhancements, scalability, stability, and performance
- Improvements to allow better audit logging and running scripts on the server asynchronously
- No changes in file format, licensing, or pricing
- New Icons for FileMaker and Claris Connect
Deployment & System Administration
- ARM processors are supported when using Ubuntu 22 LTS as the host OS
- Better containerization support — run FileMaker Server in a container on Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, etc.)
- Admin Console URLs for Nginx load balancing machines
- Server Admin Console and DAPI upgrade to Node.js 18
- FileMaker Server now uses Java 17, with improved memory management
- Active Directory support for Ubuntu via Directory Service
- Ability to capture FMSE (FileMaker Script Engine) errors in a separate log
- Admin Console can provide notification when a consistency check fails on backup
- Windows Server config now save when uninstalling – Choose to apply settings to new server install
Integration
- Free tier of Claris Connect available
- New trigger Claris Connect flow script step in FileMaker Pro
- OData 4.01 support
- ReadQRCode function is now available on FileMaker Pro for Windows, as well as FileMaker Server Server on Windows & Ubuntu Linux
- cURL now supports SFTP
- Send mail via FMP now using OAuth 2.0 – for Microsoft 365 business or Google Workspace subscriptions
Development
- Perform Script on Server with Callback – Runs a script on the client after server completes another script execution
- New file-level OnWindowTransaction script trigger will enable new methods of audit logging
Links to more information:
- FileMaker Pro Release Notes
- FileMaker Server Release Notes
- Claris Announcement
- FileMaker Licensing FAQ
- FileMaker Free Trial
- Executive Summary: Introducing the FileMaker 2023 Platform Lineup
We are confident that the new version of FileMaker will help users even more effectively manage their data and create powerful custom apps.
If you’re looking to take your data management to the next level, FileMaker 2023 continues to be a powerful solution. Our flagship CRM software BrilliantHub is a great place to start – it’s solid, reliable, modern code base will save you thousands of hours of custom coding.
Tim Cimbura – CEO, CFO and Software Engineer
Tim is an expert in creating custom business solutions that make businesses more effective, productive, and profitable. He specializes in rapid application development with the Claris platform including FileMaker, Laravel, and WordPress. He also knows Apple macOS technology inside and out.