u/ReviewerCon

(Reprinted in full, with permission, from https://notemakerdatabase.com)

PREFACE

Our review is from the perspective of two amateur-hobbyists who create data processors free of charge to download on the local drive of a laptop or desktop computer for anyone around the world who has access to FileMaker 18+. In that sense, our review may be said to be from a specific point-of-view. There is also specificity in another way: the starting point is version 18, at which we are still at.

PREVIEW

FileMaker has always been a fantastic piece of software; latest-release FileMaker 2026 continues the tradition of wonderfully supporting developers in their efforts to create competitive business systems and for amateur-hobbyists to create perhaps innovative data processors. In our opinion, based on what little we have explored of Microsoft’s powerful Access and some of those choose-and-click online offerings, FileMaker beats them “hands down”. It comes down to the marvellous way software engineers have structured FileMaker.

FileMaker comprises three beautifully executed levels.

1. The Shopfront (Front-End). FileMaker has incredible design tools for developers to create attractive, guiding user-interfaces: the look-at for users. NoteMaker, for example, was designed solely by us using the various tools; however, ScriptPlanner’s colour-scheme was done by selecting one of the themes provided by FileMaker – and we concede the provided themes are superb.
2. Programming (Middle-Ware). FileMaker has an internal programming language which in many ways is similar to C++ but much more restricted – and thus much, much more friendlier. Please do not be afraid of FileMaker’s internal programming language: it’s where the magic lies. We often call it an APL, an Attachable Programming Language, because much more often than not the coding modules you write will be attached to database or layout objects such as fields, buttons, text blocks, tooltips, layouts (as triggers), to menus as commands, to just about any object you may find**(1). The language comprises script steps and calculations, the two often work together(2)**.
3. Storage (the Back-End). Wait for it … FileMaker can store … brace yourself … 64,000,000,000,000,000 records. Translated to NoteMaker it means one file of our data processor can store 64 quadrillion notes! There’s more. What about those tables that make databases possible? 1,000,000! Sure, in practice, none of those figures will come into play, but it’s comforting to know we as developers don’t have to worry too much about storage limitations.

There you have it: the three magnificently structured levels of FileMaker. Even the big database “dudes” in the world of Enterprise Resource Planning such as Oracle and SAP don’t offer the three levels, seamlessly, in the one piece of software.

WHY WE LOVE FILEMAKER!

FileMaker is sometimes labelled as “database software”. It is. But it’s more accurate to classify it as a “database-creation software” or even as an “application maker”. FileMaker enables developers to create databases, data processors and applications – all three mean the same thing: programs. With our version 18 of FileMaker we have created NoteMaker (users write and manage notes) and ScriptPlanner (a preplanning tool for screenwriters).

Our creating NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner brings into question another assumption commonly made about FileMaker: that it is primarily a platform for creating business systems (a collection of programs for tracking and managing invoices, customers, sales, inventories, employees, suppliers and finances). The amazing thing about FileMaker is that it isn’t just for businesses – which is why it draws in amateur-hobbyists from around the world.

FileMaker is dear to our hearts. One member of the two-member Team has been with FileMaker since version 5, released some 20 years ago. With every new release (v6, v7, v8 … v18) he would wait with excitement for “What’s New”. For example, wonderfully shocking was the release of version 7 with the introduction of multiple tables in the one file. No longer do developers need create additional files for each additional table; one file can hold hundreds of tables. The breakthrough triggered an explosion of flourishing activity. Then, one-excellent-upgrade-after-another, FileMaker 18 came along and gave us the wonderful While function with which NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner are littered (it has even found its way into tooltips!)

“COMETH DARKNESS”

Then came FileMaker version 19. Darkness fell upon some amateur-hobbyists. We belong to the “some”. We were stunned: we touched the terra firma we stood on to make sure we were still on planet Earth and not in some mysterious way transported to Mars. Then came v20 and v21: things got worse. No, not Mars, perhaps we were further away: on the former planet known as Pluto. We no longer could understand the new language spoken about those three releases … immediate terrible alienation followed. The result: we hung onto our version 18 as if our “dear creative lives” depended on it. Anything that may have arisen in those releases that we considered worthwhile we would eventually emulate it in v18: for example, the wonderful calendar add-on from v19 (about the only thing that could have been of real value to us during that time). We would like to describe this period as the “Dark Ages”. It was, in practical terms for some amateur-hobbyists, close to a wasteland.

“COMETH LIGHT”

But something unexpected happened. And it came with version 22. It was a turning point. It’s as if Claris, owners of FileMaker, slowed down in their mad rush toward things json, server, WebDirect and the cloud – enough so for them to afford a look-back to see some amateurs and hobbyists fall by the wayside … almost wasted if it weren’t for v18. But perhaps more alarming, Claris may have felt rumblings from its class of professional developers: its primary source of income. We suspect, though we have no evidence, some from the professional class may have begun expressing discontent at the paucity of new developmental tools. If that is the case, Claris responded and began to speak something of a dialect that was reminiscent of the language spoken up to and including v18. Purely developmental tools became polite topics of discussion. And v22 had quite a few tools to offer such as collapsible code for the If and Loop modules to help declutter the Script Workspace. There were folders. There was in an increase in comment fields in relation to the schema. There were a few other handy stuff.

For us, the showstopper in v22 is the dynamic duo: GetRecordIDsFromFoundSet function and Go to List of Records script step. With the two working together, developers can easily enable their users to capture found sets and then to reload them. We desperately wanted that for our NoteMaker users, so much so that we came that close to upgrading – just for the dynamic duo alone … but our faith in Claris has “wilted” – the feeling of alienation is a powerful negative force. We just felt they were no longer speaking to us, caring about us … we were in a state of rebellion that only caused our embrace of v18 to tighten over the years. The result: instead of upgrading to v22, we emulated the dynamic duo within our beloved v18! Users of NoteMaker 2.5.9 may have encountered our 13 Personalised Found Sets whose encampment is at the bottom of the Directory on the home page. In sympathy with other amateur hobbyists still on v18 we have posted only a few days ago (back-dating from today, 29June 2026) a tutorial on how to replicate the dynamic duo.

Nonetheless, v22 succeeded in lessening our feeling of alienation and caused our rebellion to falter. Though we ultimately bypassed v22, we were hopeful for more to come with v23. More did come. This month’s (June 2026)release of FileMaker 2026 (aka v26 – read v23) brought to the attention of amateur-hobbyists and to the professional class double the number of improvements to developmental tools than in the previous version. Wow … our eyes opened widely. This was really beginning to sound like our lingo: it made us listen and, more importantly, understand.

This may appear strange to other amateur-hobbyists, but from among the many improvements, our eyes fell onto the humble Show Custom Dialog script step. We always had a problem in NoteMaker’s Link popover where the role of this script step is to show the contents of the proposed note for linking to the current note. When the dialog box appeared, it wasn’t a certainty users would realise there might be more content – it just depended on the size the dialog box that happened to be going around at the time. The Good News: no longer is that the case with the improved Show Custom Dialog’s dialog box whereby if there is more content than is in view a scroll bar cues the user of the certainty of more. Developers can also configure the size of the dialog box and its position. For our Link popover in NoteMaker, the improved Show Custom Dialog is the feature from v2026. There are other goodies …

• Persistent Data. Think of this one in this way. A local variable normally has a single dollar sign ($) as its prefix and whatever value is stored disappears at the end of the script that uses it. A global variable must have two dollar signs ($$) in front of it and its content survives until the work session comes to an end or the file is closed. Well, now, Persistent Data could have three dollar signs ($$$ – but it doesn’t). One could say it is “universal” because it survives session to session. So, to recap, you have sort-of three levels of variables: local, global and – with v2026 – “universal”, if we can call it that.
• A new sort option. When ascend-sorting, blank fields, before, would go to the top of a list. Now there is an option to reverse the order to make blank fields go to the bottom.
• Smart Inspectors (Mac only). Which of the four Inspector tabs appears or if all appear depends on the type of layout object selected: is it a field, button, checkbox, text box, shape, image?
• Collapsible comments and collapsible disabled lines of code is possible in order to help declutter the Script Workspace.
• Then there is generative artificial intelligence and agentic AI.

These are not all the improvements. And then there are the kind of improvements more suitable to the professional class (like a recovery backup of servers in case of failure).

BUGS?

Given the necessarily limited and narrow use of our trial-version of FileMaker 2026, we have not, to the best of our knowledge, encountered a single bug (correct as at 29June 2026). That’s not to say there aren’t bugs. Extremely rare are the software without bugs. Even our magnificent FileMaker 18 has a couple of bugs, though minor.

RECOMMENDATION

Readers may not be very happy with us when we say that we’re going to sit on the fence. We decided against upgrading to the previous v22 and we haven’t looked back. But with v2026 there is a lot going for it: a lot has accumulated since v18 (we really feel the need for the improved Show Custom Dialog script step – and we should perhaps upgrade). Here are three reasons why we are hesitant in deciding which way to go …

1. We have a strong sentimental attachment to v18; we’ve been with it for years, it kept us going through dark times. It even seems, strange to say, there would be a projected sense of betrayal if we were to ditch v18 for v2026.
2. Upgrading would cost hundreds of dollars: from v18 it would be close to $Aust 1,000 (however, just over $Aust 500 if Claris accepts claims for status as a non-profit).
3. For us, the best from versions 19, 20 and 21 combined is the calendar add-on, of which we have proudly created our own (though it was very “hard” work); the best of v22 for us is the dynamic duo, which we have emulated; the best of v2026 – which we are having difficulties emulating– is the improved Show Custom Dialog’s dialog box whose scroll-bar feature alone is for us a wow factor and a strong temptation to upgrade.

The three above are not reasons for not upgrading, but reasons that have put us in two-minds. Therefore, our recommendation is this: after ourselves having tested FileMaker 2026 for 10 days we say all amateur-hobbyists still on v18 should perhaps take up – as we have – the offer of the no-obligation 45-day free trial offered by Claris. Only you can then decide if FileMaker 2026 is worth the upgrade price and if it is of value for the kind of applications you wish to keep developing and the manner of their distribution that suits you.

(Sorry, bit of a cop-out on our part in terms of committing to a recommendation, but it’s the best we can do and still maintain honesty: we truly, really don’t know which way to go – not at this stage, anyway).

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The latest release, FileMaker 2026, is superb, but then all version-upgrades have in their time been excellent in the eyes of amateur-hobbyists, with only versions 19 to 21 receiving a “fail-grade” but due to their add-ons may be elevated to the status of “not bad”. FileMaker is in our opinion (admittedly based only on a limited experience of other database-creation software and thus biased) the best in the world. It is so good … it’s addictive! If you’re an amateur-hobbyist seeking to create many kinds of applications, you won’t go far wrong in choosing FileMaker 2026 – expansive though it is**(3)**. It is after-all a life-long hobby.

A FINAL WORD

We love FileMaker. What we wish for is for Claris to give things developmental the almost same one-sided attention they gave to things json, server, WebDirect and the cloud during v19 to v21**(4)**. Give us amateur-hobbyists something like a While function which would then make it silly for us to even think of hesitating to upgrade. Admittedly, at this stage, we don’t know what must-have to suggest – that could speak to how brilliant FileMaker already is.

(1) FOR PRACTICE ONLY, we suggest creating two layouts. On the first layout create a button. Create a single-line script with just the Go to Layout step with the option to go to the second layout. Attach it to the button on the first layout. Click the button … MAGIC happens! We suggest take baby-steps and savour every success you have with the “incantations made over the cauldron”.

(2) The latter, “calculations”, we refer to as functions, but please bear in mind that script steps are functions too. But we have hesitancy in describing a calculation as a “calculation”, so we use the word “function” in that distinguishing way.

(3) For those of us, amateur-hobbyists, still on v18 we may think of it this way: because we bypassed v19, v20, v21 and v22 we have saved hundreds of dollars, thus making upgrading to v2026 in that sense more affordable – better still if Claris may accept our self-designation to the status of non-profit – there could be an almost 50-percent saving – please note that we don’t know if Claris would accept such a self-designation because we have not yet applied for the upgrade (we believe Claris probably accepts the normal idea of a non-profit organisation as being for example a registered charity).

(4) The problem with an overwhelming focus on connectivity and distribution is to neglect the quality of the product that is being made to connect and being offered for distribution. For all the connectivity and distribution, poor quality products aren’t going to make too big a splash on the world scene. It is the developmental tools that enhance the quality of the product, that makes it worth connecting and distributing. Perhaps it’s time to building even greater databases ever and to be given the tools to do so.

(Reproduced in full, with permission, from https://notemakerdatabase.com)

It’s exciting times. In our solid-state drive we have FileMaker 2026. We are both thrilled and “nervous”. Only three days into the free 45-day trial version of the incredible database-creation software, FileMaker (version 2026), the platform upon which we have built our incredible data processors, NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner, we can present the first draft of our review. FileMaker is the parent of all the databases we have built. Without FileMaker there would be no NoteMaker and no ScriptPlanner(1).

From the start, please know our wish to upgrade to v2026 (aka v26) is intense. We’ve been on v18 for years, surely it’s time to go to v26(2)? But know this: v18 to this day has to be ranked as one of the best-ever releases when it comes to nearly all the metrics that matter to hobbyists (in terms of development tools, not to mention the wonderful While function, but also that in the many years we have been with v18 we have only found two minor bugs). None of the releases since v18 are believed to have bettered v18 in respect to those metrics.

Versions 19, 20 and 21 were virtually dead-in-the-water when it came to offering the kind of developmental tools hobbyists(3) crave after. Instead those three releases were unreservedly mostly about things json, server, WebDirect and the cloud, things that normally are not expected to excite hobbyists, like us, who are keen on developing innovative, presentable applications of value in-and-of-themselves to be housed on the hard-disk drive or in the solid-state drive of one’s laptop or desktop computer. For hobbyists, versions 19 to 21 were the Dark Ages. Possibly many of us were in a state of shock to realise that Claris, owners of FileMaker, no longer spoke to us. Starting with v19, the language used to present the release was alien to us. It was like, to use a metaphor, the language of “Martians” who landed on earth and took over the planet. We were left “gobsmacked”!

Up to and including v18, the owners of FileMaker spoke to both the professionals and to us, the hobbyists: we felt we were family. We remember how we waited eagerly for the new and improved application-development tools: it excited our lives … then came v19. Suddenly – and it was nothing less than sudden – we lost our FileMaker! We were aghast. “What the h*^l happened?” some of the ruder hobbyists may have cried out(4). There was no attempt by Claris for a soft transition: to hold us by the hand and lead us gently into the brave new world. The language was uncompromising: there was no baton-passing between the pre-v19 language and the post-v18 language. It was all-or-nothing: you’re with us on this journey to a new frontier which necessitates a new language or we say our “goodbyes” here and now. To some hobbyists, including us, it was “goodbye”.

But there is a good story. It begins with version 22 (the one immediately before the current v26). Wow, it appears the “Earthians” are beginning to take back FileMaker from the “Martians”.

The language has begun to change: it wasn’t only about things json, server, WebDirect and the cloud. A new dialect crept into the language: a dialect hobbyists such as us could understand. Claris began talking about developmental tools, no longer mostly about connectivity and distribution. Is it possible Claris has finally looked back over its shoulder and witnessed the devastation among the classes of amateurs and hobbyists left behind, struggling, crawling on all fours, trying rather hopelessly to get back their FileMaker? But beginning with version 22, hope could be seen on the horizon: glorious sunlight began pushing away the darkness of the Dark Ages.

One of the greatest developmental tools ever since v18 is the dynamic duo: GetRecordIDsFromFoundSet function and Go to List of Records script step. We would say this almost ranks with the wonderful While function as a breakthrough feature (though nothing we think can ever beat v7’s revolutionary multiple tables in the one file – to live through that moment was, wow, a never-to-be forgotten moment). With v22’s dynamic duo, developers can give users the power to capture found sets and reload them at will. That enablement deserves a “wow”.

We tried it. We made a copy of NoteMaker and opened it with the trial-version of FileMaker 2026. We didn’t let the dynamic duo replace the 13 Personalised Found Sets we created using the While function and the Loop script step. It was hard work for us to imitate the dynamic duo, but we did in v18! But that’s the point: it was hard work, so hard we’re afraid to re-engage with the process. Yet v22’s dynamic duo makes all this heavenly easy. Had we not replicated the dynamic duo in v18, chances were we would have upgraded to v22 for the dynamic duo alone. We may still do with v26.

Due to the almost outright neglect of hobbyists in versions 19 to 21, we, amateur hobbyists, metaphorically took to the “barricades”. We “revolted” in the only way we could: we did not upgrade to 19, 20 or 21. Because of the “wounds” suffered at the “barricades”, we let the turning point v22 alone as well.

Now before us is FileMaker 2026. Our “wounds” have “healed”. We are coming to see that perhaps Claris does care about amateur hobbyists. It is more and more talking our language of application-development tools. That’s the language we are understanding of and are fluent in.

For us the most promising of improved features in v26, hard as it may be to believe, is the Show Custom Dialog script step. We need the Show Custom Dialog for NoteMaker’s Link popover as its role there is to show the content of a contending note for the current note to consider linking to, so users can decide if the link is justified. What we have done is to greatly increase the size of the dialog box. Now most of the content of a candidate note can be viewed and if not all viewable the scroll bar lets users know there is more. Wow! Exactly what we wanted. That alone, in conjunction with v22’s dynamic duo, just about convinced us it’s time to upgrade.

But … wait … something like a spanner has been thrown in the works. The size we configured for the dialog box in the Link popover became the default size for all the other dialog boxes in NoteMaker (unless they have already been pre-configured). The Link dialog box is far too big for most other dialog boxes that contain only a sentence or two. So, therefrom, each dialog box needs to be configured to a suitable size. A little nuisance. We guess we can survive the one-after-the-other customisation process. But it made us think why not have in the Show Custom Dialog script step the option for “Auto-Size”, whereby the size of the dialog box is determined by – or self-adjusts to – its content, with only configurations for maximum height and maximum width. The positional “Auto-Centre” should also be a tick-box option. But neither is currently present in v2026.

That’s the problem. Had Claris not been so preoccupied with things json, server, WebDirect and the cloud, the improved Show Custom Dialogue may have been introduced in v19 and by v26 (think v23) we may have gotten the more desirable “Auto-Size” and “Auto-Centre” options. What we are saying is that Claris lost ground. We don’t wish to be harsh(5), for Claris is coming to see the other side, our side, but only to point out the cost-benefit analysis of the lop-sided development that went into FileMaker versions 19, 20 and 21. It wasn’t a happy time for amateur hobbyists such as ourselves.

The great news is that FileMaker is coming back to us. And we are grateful to Claris for this turn around. It may never have happened: Claris may have gone on singing the praises of connectivity and distribution forever. It is, however, happening: Claris has looked back to see the damage done in matters of goodwill and good-relations and is doing something about it. We are ever thankful it is trying to make amends.

Thing are looking up for amateur hobbyists! There has been accumulation of improvements, even from versions 19, 20 and 21 (though quite minor, most not much to speak of), but the accumulation from v22 and subsequent v26 is great. The decluttering mechanism of collapsible code modules (eg, If and Loop script steps), collapsible comments and collapsible disabled code is good. As is Smart Inspectors. Folders have been introduced. There is generative artificial intelligence with the possibility of agentic AI to come. There are many more improvements. Claris calls the turn-around “Quality of Life”. We love that phrase for it is exactly about the Quality-of-Life improvements we have been begging for. For the professionals, Quality of Life is about being more productive, having less “friction” in their work days. Another piece of wonderful news is that so far, day three of the 45-day trial, given though our current limited use, we have not yet detected a single bug.

CONCLUSION. There is a lot of good news with FileMaker 2026. Claris, owners of FileMaker, have opened up a dialogue, perhaps indirectly, with amateur hobbyists. We may have become at long last an algebraic expression in their equations. Good, if that is the case. Just maybe we are beginning to count, We believe, however, a growing number of professional developers have also become fed up with the dearth of improved application-development tools prior to v22 and some of them may have joined us, the “lower classes” of amateurs and hobbyists, at the “barricades”. The Sheriff of Nottingham (played by Claude Rains(6)) once said to Robin Hood (played by Errol Flynn(7)): “You speak of revolution”. Robin replied: “Fluently”(8).

FIRST-DRAFT RECOMMENDATION. We still can’t decide whether to upgrade or not. It’s only our third of the 45 days given to us to trial FM 2026. We’ll go this far at this stage to say the following: if you’re on v18 and have not yet worked out how to replicate v22’s dynamic duo, GetRecordIDsFromFoundSet function and Go to List of Records script step using the wonderful While function and the hardworking Loop script step, we recommend consider upgrading to v26, but only if you can realistically afford to … as it will cost hundreds of dollars. Please stay tuned to this website for the possible upcoming second draft of our review of our beloved FileMaker at version 2026.

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(1) We promised a final review, but that is not possible as there are more complexities and more mixed feelings than we anticipated. Much more exploration is needed, not only of FM 2026, but also what is in our hearts – our feelings in response to the improvements.

(2) In the previous universe it would have been v23.

(3) We don’t wish to be seen as arrogantly speaking for all hobbyists. When we use the term “hobbyists”, at a minimum we are referring to ourselves (two amateur hobbyists) or we may only be referring to some hobbyists, not necessarily to most or all hobbyists. Every hobbyist is an individual thinking emotional being, not a robotic member of a group labelled “hobbyist”. Some, many or most hobbyist may or may not agree with our sentiments.

(4) We believe Claris’s focus during this time has been to empower its base of professional developers to meet the challenges of having a presence in today’s competitive World Wide Web. We further believe there was a great sense of urgency in accomplishing this, which is perhaps why Claris let hobbyists go by the wayside, a sort-of “sorry, hobbyists, we have no time for you now, we may come back to you later”. Our gripe is that they didn’t speak to us to explain their goals in a clear and sympathetic manner. The perception many of us had was an abrupt cut-off.

(5) Please note the NoteMaker Team is against rudeness of any kind. If as a user of NoteMaker or ScriptPlanner you find anything rude or offensive in either application it is because the copy you have has been reverse-engineered (in plainer words, someone has gotten into the innards of our application and is distributing corrupt copies). Our User Manuals, tooltips and everything else using text is 100 per cent free of foul or abuse language. If that is not the case, please immediately delete the copy and download a copy from here, our website. Please avoid copies of NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner given to you by others. If you can, always download a copy for yourself at the bottom of this webpage.

(6) Claude Rains (1889-1967, age 77) was a long-time British and American actor. A popular character-actor.

(7) Errol Flynn (1908-1959, age 50). Originally an Australian who made it big in Hollywood. Errol’s sudden fame and fortune led him to a life of excess, which may likely have brought about his premature death.

(8) Please note that the depiction of this dialogue is from memory and may not be per verbatim as in the film The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). The sheriff’s line may have been “you speak treason”. But whichever, Robin’s riposte is the same.