FMTouch
Usage and Limitations
Written
By: Adam Rosen
This article was also published in the Adam's
Apple column on Low End
Mac
I recently joined the ranks of the iPhone enabled and am having a generally
marvelous time with my new iToy. One of the best features is how seamlessly
the iPhone works with my Mac’s Address Book and Calendar data,
directly via Apple's Sync Services. No third party data conduit is needed
as with Treo or BlackBerry handhelds, a frequent source of headaches
for many of my clients.
However
on my Mac I use Apple’s Address Book only for email addresses,
and instead keep my personal and business addresses in Filemaker
Pro. I’ve used Filemaker for many years and have
a set of linked databases that manage my business contacts and invoices.
I need a way to get this contact info on my iPhone.
Unfortunately
there’s no iPhone app from Filemaker to address this need. An
older product, Filemaker Mobile, has been discontinued and the company
has made no announcement as to whether they intend to support the platform
or not. Filemaker only suggests using the program’s web
publishing feature and accessing your data via the iPhone
Safari web browser. This can be useful in some instances, but requires
effort to create and host the database and is not the same as having
a local copy of your data on your phone
FMTouch
Fortunately
an enterprising third party has stepped up to fill the void: FMTouch
is a $70 iPhone app available from the iTunes
App Store. With this application on your iPhone, a bit
of data massaging on your computer, and some trial and error, you can
now have full working Filemaker databases right on your handheld.
You
will need Filemaker v8 or v9 on your Mac (or PC) to start. You will
also need to install a sync
plugin for Filemaker on your computer, which talks to the
FMTouch app running on your iPhone. After installing the plugin relaunch
Filemaker, then launch FMTouch on the iPhone. On initial setup there
is a one-time pairing (similar to bluetooth devices) you will first
be asked to do, via entering a code on the handheld to sync with the
computer.
All
layouts in your Filemaker databases will be available on your handheld.
For best results it's recommended you create one or more layouts specifically
designed for the phone. The iPhone screen size is 320 pixels wide by
375 pixels high. A good online
design guide has been provided by the developer. I have
found it helpful to create a 320 x 375 pixel background for my layout
in a graphics program, import that as a JPEG into my Filemaker layout,
then overlay fields and text to stay within the correct boundaries.
Once
your database is ready you need to generate a DDR file, which the FMTouch
application uses to access your database on the phone. FM Web School
has provided an online DDR
creation service to create the necessary .xml file. To
use this service, make an empty copy of your database by using File
> Export > Clone (No Records). Save the file with a .fp7 extension
and use only letters and numbers in the filename, no special characters.
Then use the Finder to make a .zip archive of this file, and upload
the archive. In a few minutes you should get a link to download your
DDR file.
Note:
If you have a copy of Filemaker Advanced on your computer, you can export
the DDR file directly using the Tools menu. See the FMTouch user
guide for full documentation.
Now
you're ready to sync your database to the handheld. Open your database
again in Filemaker on the computer. On the iPhone, launch FMTouch and
create a new database. Hit the button to upload a DDR file, and (on
your Mac) choose the DDR file you just created. Once that’s loaded
initialize the database, then click Sync to transfer data from your
computer. Congratulations, you now have your Filemaker database on your
iPhone or iPod Touch!
Usage and Limitations
This
solution is welcome and useful. Email addresses and phone numbers in
your database act as links for sending emails or making calls on the
iPhone, as they do with Apple's Address Book. Data sync is a two way
process, so any changes you make on the handheld will be transferred
back to the computer at next sync. It took a few rounds of trial and
error to get my layout tweaked appropriately, but all I do now is sync
the database every few days as needed.
Implementation
is fair but not yet ideal, there are some bugs and rough edges. Database
scripts on the computer are not currently supported on the handheld,
though the developer notes they are working on this for a future release.
Layouts larger than a single iPhone screen don’t often scroll
or resize correctly. Each time you make changes to a layout you need
to create a new DDR file and send this to the phone.
For
best results I’ve found it best to completely delete, then recreate,
my database on the phone when updating the DDR file, rather than updating
an existing database. Also syncing must be initiated manually, via several
button presses - not really very hard, but not as convenient as the
auto-push service happening with email and calendar data via MobileMe.
The app has also crashed a few times, requiring reboots of the phone.
Hopefully these issues will get addressed in future releases.
The
creation and layout updating processes can be somewhat labor intensive
and are not for the technically feint of heart. But the developer is
a young company and responsive to feedback. As of this writing (Oct
2008) this is the only way I know to interact with local Filemaker data
on your iPhone. It’s a solution I use daily, and has been worth
the effort to get it working.
Adam Rosen
