Thread: Please Recommend a Front End App
Newbie - please help me choose a direction. I want to know what would be the best front-end app/language to use for postgresql for exact form replication and ease of use. PHP, Python, Java, Rekall (the Kompany), other? All suggestions welcome and appreciated. Background------------------- I am coming from Filemaker Pro 5.0 and Mac OS 10.2.8. I am the newest of newbies to postgresql. I just downloaded the database today. I have not started the database and do not even know if I can run it on my computers. I have a few old WinTel machines at home but run mainly Macs at the office. One important solution I created in Filemaker Pro requires very detailed and exact replication of official court forms with database data entered on the forms. Imagine a form with small type, boxes and spacing that must be exactly as on the official form and data from the database on the form as printed to pdf. One nice thing about Filemaker is that its reporting ability is very flexible. I also have an extensive solution with approx 50 tables/databases to run my small business. I built a calendar, contacts, clients, timelog, and billing solution. I have been bumping my head against Filemaker Pro's 50 database limit for years - server would allow you 125 databases for about $1000. For those of you with no experience with Filemaker, a database is a table. Each file only has one table and all layouts/reports/forms and scripts are in the same file. This setup has pros and cons that are irrelevant now. I am trying to migrate to linux and postgresql. I love the MacOS but they just upgraded to 10.4 (tiger) and made 3 of my iMacs obsolete because they do not have on-board firewire so are not supported by 10.4. Funny how Linux can be compiled to run on a 386 intel chip from a floppy drive but MacOS cannot now run without firewire on a 4 year old computer. Filemaker.com created Filemaker Pro 7 which adds great features and removes the 50 table limit - with a $1000 price tag for 3 units and a 5-simultaneous-user limit. The upgrade to 7 may require extensive changes to my solutions. Now would be a natural time to change to a new system since I have to relearn/change everything anyway. Additionally, I can only assume that I will be in for more of the same treatment as I and people like me get our data more entrenched in their proprietary business models. Thanks for your help.
On May 12, 2005, at 7:06 PM, Kurt Gibson wrote: > One important solution I created in Filemaker Pro requires very > detailed and exact replication of official court forms with database > data entered on the forms. Imagine a form with small type, boxes and > spacing that must be exactly as on the official form and data from the > database on the form as printed to pdf. One nice thing about > Filemaker is that its reporting ability is very flexible. > > I also have an extensive solution with approx 50 tables/databases to > run my small business. I built a calendar, contacts, clients, > timelog, and billing solution. I have been bumping my head against > Filemaker Pro's 50 database limit for years - server would allow you > 125 databases for about $1000. For those of you with no experience > with Filemaker, a database is a table. Each file only has one table > and all layouts/reports/forms and scripts are in the same file. This > setup has pros and cons that are irrelevant now. I'm not familiar with FileMaker, but my understanding is that it can communicate with other databases via ODBC. Would it not be possible to keep your investment (at least for a while) in the front end forms and convert to PostgreSQL as the data store? John DeSoi, Ph.D. http://pgedit.com/ Power Tools for PostgreSQL
>> with Filemaker, a database is a table. Each file only has one table >> and all layouts/reports/forms and scripts are in the same file. This >> setup has pros and cons that are irrelevant now. > > > I'm not familiar with FileMaker, but my understanding is that it can > communicate with other databases via ODBC. Would it not be possible to > keep your investment (at least for a while) in the front end forms and > convert to PostgreSQL as the data store? I don't think FileMaker is quite as flexible as say Access in that way. However they may want to look in to Paradox? Sincerely, Joshua D. Drake
Kurt, you might want to take a look at OpenRPT (http://pgfoundry.org/projects/openrpt/) - it's a Crystal/Access type reportbuilder for PostgreSQL that works great on any of the feline Mac products. We don't do print to PDF yet, however, someone has raised his hand to work on that with some existing libraries. Cheers, Ned Kurt Gibson wrote: > Newbie - please help me choose a direction. > I want to know what would be the best front-end app/language to use for > postgresql for exact form replication and ease of use. PHP, Python, > Java, Rekall (the Kompany), other? All suggestions welcome and > appreciated. > > Background------------------- > I am coming from Filemaker Pro 5.0 and Mac OS 10.2.8. > I am the newest of newbies to postgresql. I just downloaded the > database today. I have not started the database and do not even know if > I can run it on my computers. I have a few old WinTel machines at home > but run mainly Macs at the office. > > One important solution I created in Filemaker Pro requires very detailed > and exact replication of official court forms with database data entered > on the forms. Imagine a form with small type, boxes and spacing that > must be exactly as on the official form and data from the database on > the form as printed to pdf. One nice thing about Filemaker is that its > reporting ability is very flexible. > > I also have an extensive solution with approx 50 tables/databases to run > my small business. I built a calendar, contacts, clients, timelog, and > billing solution. I have been bumping my head against Filemaker Pro's > 50 database limit for years - server would allow you 125 databases for > about $1000. For those of you with no experience with Filemaker, a > database is a table. Each file only has one table and all > layouts/reports/forms and scripts are in the same file. This setup has > pros and cons that are irrelevant now. > > I am trying to migrate to linux and postgresql. I love the MacOS but > they just upgraded to 10.4 (tiger) and made 3 of my iMacs obsolete > because they do not have on-board firewire so are not supported by > 10.4. Funny how Linux can be compiled to run on a 386 intel chip from a > floppy drive but MacOS cannot now run without firewire on a 4 year old > computer. > > Filemaker.com created Filemaker Pro 7 which adds great features and > removes the 50 table limit - with a $1000 price tag for 3 units and a > 5-simultaneous-user limit. The upgrade to 7 may require extensive > changes to my solutions. Now would be a natural time to change to a new > system since I have to relearn/change everything anyway. Additionally, > I can only assume that I will be in for more of the same treatment as I > and people like me get our data more entrenched in their proprietary > business models. > > Thanks for your help. > > ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 8: explain analyze is your friend > > >
Though I haven't embarked on any expeditions into the world of printing yet, I've found Python to be a terrific language for db access. My solution uses Apple hardware, OSX, postgres, the psycopg programming interface to Python, Python, and my slowboat hacking with wxPython to build a GUI front end. So far so good! (Thanks in large part to useful info from this mail list!) Before you compost your older iMacs, you might want to check out YellowDog Linux. I've run various releases of their OS over the years and it's a great way to keep your hardware viable. Best luck - Scott On May 12, 2005, at 4:06 PM, Kurt Gibson wrote: > Newbie - please help me choose a direction. > I want to know what would be the best front-end app/language to use > for postgresql for exact form replication and ease of use. PHP, > Python, Java, Rekall (the Kompany), other? All suggestions welcome > and appreciated. > > Background------------------- > I am coming from Filemaker Pro 5.0 and Mac OS 10.2.8. > I am the newest of newbies to postgresql. I just downloaded the > database today. I have not started the database and do not even know > if I can run it on my computers. I have a few old WinTel machines at > home but run mainly Macs at the office. > > One important solution I created in Filemaker Pro requires very > detailed and exact replication of official court forms with database > data entered on the forms. Imagine a form with small type, boxes and > spacing that must be exactly as on the official form and data from the > database on the form as printed to pdf. One nice thing about > Filemaker is that its reporting ability is very flexible. > > I also have an extensive solution with approx 50 tables/databases to > run my small business. I built a calendar, contacts, clients, > timelog, and billing solution. I have been bumping my head against > Filemaker Pro's 50 database limit for years - server would allow you > 125 databases for about $1000. For those of you with no experience > with Filemaker, a database is a table. Each file only has one table > and all layouts/reports/forms and scripts are in the same file. This > setup has pros and cons that are irrelevant now. > > I am trying to migrate to linux and postgresql. I love the MacOS but > they just upgraded to 10.4 (tiger) and made 3 of my iMacs obsolete > because they do not have on-board firewire so are not supported by > 10.4. Funny how Linux can be compiled to run on a 386 intel chip from > a floppy drive but MacOS cannot now run without firewire on a 4 year > old computer. > > Filemaker.com created Filemaker Pro 7 which adds great features and > removes the 50 table limit - with a $1000 price tag for 3 units and a > 5-simultaneous-user limit. The upgrade to 7 may require extensive > changes to my solutions. Now would be a natural time to change to a > new system since I have to relearn/change everything anyway. > Additionally, I can only assume that I will be in for more of the same > treatment as I and people like me get our data more entrenched in > their proprietary business models. > > Thanks for your help. > > ---------------------------(end of > broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 8: explain analyze is your friend >
On May 12, 2005, at 7:44 PM, John DeSoi wrote: > > On May 12, 2005, at 7:06 PM, Kurt Gibson wrote: > >> One important solution I created in Filemaker Pro requires very >> detailed and exact replication of official court forms with database >> data entered on the forms. Imagine a form with small type, boxes and >> spacing that must be exactly as on the official form and data from >> the database on the form as printed to pdf. One nice thing about >> Filemaker is that its reporting ability is very flexible. >> >> I also have an extensive solution with approx 50 tables/databases to >> run my small business. I built a calendar, contacts, clients, >> timelog, and billing solution. I have been bumping my head against >> Filemaker Pro's 50 database limit for years - server would allow you >> 125 databases for about $1000. For those of you with no experience >> with Filemaker, a database is a table. Each file only has one table >> and all layouts/reports/forms and scripts are in the same file. This >> setup has pros and cons that are irrelevant now. > > I'm not familiar with FileMaker, but my understanding is that it can > communicate with other databases via ODBC. Would it not be possible to > keep your investment (at least for a while) in the front end forms and > convert to PostgreSQL as the data store? > I have some colleagues who have tried to do this, but it seems that this (at least in their hands) is a bit of pie-in-the-sky. I'd love to hear otherwise, but I'm not sure this is a viable solution, particularly using Filemaker 5, which is not truly relational. Sean
Hi Why not take a look at Rekall - http://www.totalrekall.co.uk. Rekall is a RAD tool for building database applications. It is similar to both FileMaker and MS Access but costs a faction of the price. Rekall supports PostreSQL natively as well as several other database engines. An ODBC interface driver is available if needed. Rekall runs on Windows, Linux and Mac X OS ( this a first beta release ). There is also available a Run Time version of Rekall, which allows you to distribute your application, without the need for your clients the buy a full developer edition. The Run Time version prevents people from making alterations to your application. A version of the Rekall Run Time system, which will include on-the-fly encryption/decryption of your application, will be available soon At 00:57 13/05/2005, Joshua D. Drake wrote: >>>with Filemaker, a database is a table. Each file only has one table and >>>all layouts/reports/forms and scripts are in the same file. This setup >>>has pros and cons that are irrelevant now. >> >>I'm not familiar with FileMaker, but my understanding is that it can >>communicate with other databases via ODBC. Would it not be possible to >>keep your investment (at least for a while) in the front end forms and >>convert to PostgreSQL as the data store? > >I don't think FileMaker is quite as flexible as say Access in that way. >However they may want to look in to Paradox? > >Sincerely, > >Joshua D. Drake > > > >---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- >TIP 2: you can get off all lists at once with the unregister command > (send "unregister YourEmailAddressHere" to majordomo@postgresql.org) > --- Regards John Dean, co-author of Rekall, the only alternative to MS Access
Kurt Gibson wrote: > One important solution I created in Filemaker Pro requires very > detailed and exact replication of official court forms with database > data entered on the forms. Imagine a form with small type, boxes and > spacing that must be exactly as on the official form and data from > the database on the form as printed to pdf. One nice thing about > Filemaker is that its reporting ability is very flexible. There's a Python package which allows to create PDFs directly from Postgres: Openreport. It's made by the same company which has also implemented TinyERP (see below). Otherwise, OpenOffice has a nice database interface which allows to fill OO forms from Postgres, among others. > I also have an extensive solution with approx 50 tables/databases to > run my small business. TinyERP? It uses Postgres. > I am trying to migrate to linux and postgresql. I love the MacOS but > they just upgraded to 10.4 (tiger) and made 3 of my iMacs obsolete > because they do not have on-board firewire so are not supported by > 10.4. Ouch. X-( > Funny how Linux can be compiled to run on a 386 intel chip > from a floppy drive but MacOS cannot now run without firewire on a 4 > year old computer. Well, Jobs doesn't want to allow it to do so, because Apple needs to pay the fuel bills for his bizjet, I guess... Sincerely, Wolfgang Keller