FM19 cancelling the expired password reset dialog LOGS YOU IN!

There are plenty of times I'd still use an external micro-service for file I/O:

1. Reading/Writing Objects to files. (FileMaker doesn't support data structures.).

2. Handling large files. I routinely write 1 GB+ plus files without needing to do anything different in code. The 64 MB restriction in FMP is, IMHO, another design goof as it dumps into the developer's lap running a script "multiple times", slicing the file, keeping track of how much has been written, etc., but whatever.

3. Having more than 25 files open (an often requirement)

4. Performance? I haven't tested this with FMP 19's file functions, but historically, Java's file functions are much than most other environments.

5. Other considerations? I've only used FMP's file functions once and they were quite good for the small amount of data I wrote.

Thanks,

I definitely don't disagree with you here. At the same time, if it was the difference between getting them in the product or waiting a year or two...I'm fine with it. ( these were actually an 18 feature )

It often feels to me that some new features like these are only half implemented as most developers would want them. And, they don't seem to progress from there from release to release. ExecuteSQL is another example.

I can work around most product shortcomings with external services (and add my own features that aren't even there yet -- like Regex.)

In any case, I'm fine with FMP 19. It's much better than 16. :slight_smile:

There is hope that the change in their development cycle actually helps with this problem.

How does new development cycle affect people who bought 19? At what point would people need to buy a subscription to stay current?

I'm not a subscription fan and currently only subscribe to all the JetBrains developer products (which continue to work if you stop paying).

I guess the short version for your use-case is, you won't have to wait until 2023 to see movement in the features. I don't believe maintenance is included with single licenses.

Overall, Claris can't sit idle on 19 ( and isn't ), and will support 19 for 2 years. The self-imposed limits on engineering efforts is essentially lifted. There are business limits, but that's a different discussion.

My guess is that some sort of maintenance is (was) included included. In the past, say you bought 17, you would get all 17 updates, but no upgrades. But now that annual releases are no more, that sure changed.

@bobino do you have the answer to that question.

1 Like

So I'm stuck at the version I bought with 19? No updates, no bug fixes???

Remember that FM's personality will always be split. It caters to the absolute beginner tinkerer as well as to the high-end developer. That's unlike other platforms and their IDEs.

eSQL() is a good example of that. The plugin API can do things like alter the schema or insert data. But Claris is reluctant to put that into the product through the eSQL() function because it is a given that beginners will shoot themselves in the foot with it. Developers that need it can get it through one of the APIs or a plugin.
A lot of these things are not 'half baked' for lack of engineering skills on the FM side but conscious choices. And they won't go away because of how FM positions the product.

1 Like

In the past, you would get any updates ( point releases of the same version ). Going forward, I have no idea what they are going to do with that, since 19 is the last version release.

So I'm stuck at the version I bought with 19? No updates, no bug fixes???

Check your license agreement.
I believe the model going forward is that you get all releases for the 12 months after purchase. Which should be 4 of them.
Which is a fairly standard model.

2 Likes

I'm not aware of how / if this has been documented.

I only have things that I expect, but would need to be validated.

I like @WimDecorte's answer above.

It aligns with my expectations.

Right. I never really gave it a second thought. To buy a software product and not receive at least a year's updates (bug fixes) would be unheard of not to mention unacceptable.

Good point. I suppose this goes to my wish list I published on the forum for some kind of expert mode (for example, you now have to turn on the debugger in 19, so why not be able to enable other behaviors?).

Thanks,

In the past you could buy upgrades for single licenses of FMP, for example to upgrade FMPA 16 to FMPA 18. That was possible while the version being upgraded from was not in end of maintenance. But the new point releases changed the game, so my guess will be that it will possible to buy maintenance instead of upgrade

Time will tell !

1 Like

I really meant bug fixes. Sorry for any confusion. :slight_smile:

Buying 19.0.1, would allow you to update bug fixes, for sure ( like installing 19.0.2, etc ). With the new model, as Wim pointed out on the official community forum, likely comes with a year of maintenance.

2 Likes

I tried to look at license terms but did not find information about single license updates. But even if the current version is 19.0.something and next one probaly will be 19.1 there will be 20.0 at some point. Marketing is just different now.

For single licenses it would make sense (And user friendly) to have similar licensing as intellij products. Like @anon45965781 said it’s a good and fair license strategy. I guess most active users renew their intellij license because it will have important language specific updates. Let’s hope that Claris will do it like that as well. But you never know. Claris (or FMI) is not known for having a solid and long lasting license strategy. And for sure single licenses are just hanging there for legacy reasons. It could still be a solid option for developer. But being partner is practically more useful and cheaper.

1 Like

Make sure to post the idea to the "product ideas" section and include some specific examples, otherwise it may be too abstract.

I've been lobbying for this for years, going back to FM3, back then I even implored them to license VBA so that we can have two ScriptMakers (the old term for the script workspace): the default one for those who which but also a full-blown text-based one like VBA. They took it seriously too but the jump was too big for them.

In the short term, I don't think their focus will be on something like this, I think they want to solve the installation issue (fat client) first, which is a huge undertaking.

3 Likes