polytrope > cmassistant >
Note: Some info on this page may be subject to change without notice. Please contact Polytrope Support for the latest and greatest info. Note also that, where we refer below to FileMaker Pro, you should assume that we generally mean "the latest version of FileMaker Pro available from FileMaker Inc." FileMaker Pro 10 was released in January 2009 and is likely to remain the current version for a year or so, at least.
This page is addressed to those who are considering the purchase of a license for CMAssistant.
In order to use CMAssistant, you will need
If you wish to share CMAssistant on a network, we strongly recommend
You will purchase your CMAssistant from Polytrope. You may already have (2), (3) and/or (4); if you are using Pre1's outstanding product SmartPublisher, you probably do, since SmartPublisher, like CMAssistant, runs in FileMaker Pro. If you do need to purchase FileMaker Pro or new hardware, you'll purchase those items separately from your favorite computer software and hardware resellers. Finally, there may be
For information about hardware requirements for the latest version of FileMaker Pro, visit FileMaker Inc's website. For information on the cost of FileMaker Pro licenses, FileMaker Server and compatible hardware, we recommend that you contact your favorite reseller. For information about CMAssistant costs and licensing, read on, and then get in touch with Polytrope Support.
CMAssistant is licensed to a single primary publication, working in a single distribution area. A distribution area is typically a single metropolitan area served by a single distribution office. Dallas and Austin are clearly distinct distribution areas and would almost certainly require separate licenses.
The price you pay for CMAssistant is based on the number of deliveries per month that you will expect to manage with CMAssistant. (This is obviously proportional to your circulation, but is an easier number for us to track.) Although the license is granted to a single primary licensee, CMAssistant does support the distribution of multiple publications, so if you distribute, say, a monthly as well as your weekly, and/or if you do some contract distribution for a couple of small local publications, you can manage it all from within CMAssistant.
Versions of CMAssistant (through 3.2) distinguished between standard (single-publication) and deluxe (multi-publication) licenses. With version 3.5, that distinction was abolished. All users of CMAssistant 3.5 and later may use it to distribute multiple publications, provided you stay within the deliveries-per-month cap from your original license.
If you would like to get a quote, please write to support-at-polytrope.com and provide the following information:
We would also be grateful if you would provide the following information:
The key determining factor for the price is the number of deliveries per month.
The initial cost of the license for CMAssistant includes a one-year maintenance contract that provides you with access to tech support for CMAssistant and "upgrade insurance." "Upgrade insurance" gives you access, at no additional charge, to updates and upgrades released during the subscription period. The maintenance contract is renewable at the end of the term.
NOTE: The maintenance contract resembles something known in the software industry as a "subscription." We try to avoid using the term "subscription" since it has a very different meaning to the publications we are selling CMAssistant to. We also avoid it because a "software subscription" sometimes describes a non-perpetual right to use the software - that is, an arrangement where the subscriber can use the software only so long as he pays his monthly or quarterly subscription fee to the software publisher. That is not how CMAssistant is licensed. You have the right to use the version of CMAssistant that you purchased initially forever, or until that license is superseded by another license when you upgrade to a newer, better version. Because CMAssistant's development has been ongoing, almost all of our licensees have regarded it as beneficial to renew their maintenance contracts year to year and stay current with the software. Version 1 of CMAssistant (then called EXTRA!) was released in late 1999. Seven years later, we are at version 5.8, meaning that there has been roughly 1 major upgrade to the software every year.
As you make your purchase decision, please keep in mind that the costs and licensing terms described here apply to the CMAssistant license alone. There are a couple other costs involved in getting started with CMAssistant.
CMAssistant has been developed on the FileMaker Pro database platform. FileMaker Pro is licensed and sold separately. You will need to purchase one license for FileMaker Pro for each computer on which you wish to use CMAssistant. In addition, if you would like more than one computer on your LAN to have access to CMAssistant, you may want to purchase FileMaker Pro Server software, also sold separately. The cost of the FileMaker software is not included in your quote for CMAssistant.
The cost of your subscription to CMAssistant does not include the costs involved in getting your pre-existing data into CMAssistant. Some of our clients start from scratch with CMAssistant and thus have no data to convert. The rest of our clients have taken advantage of our conversion service, for which a separate charge applies. Updates and upgrades to CMAssistant are self-performing but require a modest degree of technical know-how (mainly, the ability to follow detailed instructions).
The licensing subscription under which you use CMAssistant provides technical support for CMAssistant alone, not for FileMaker. As a convenience to our users, we provide here the answers to frequently asked questions about such FileMaker-related questions as the proper use of CMAssistant on a network, backing up your files and other file maintenance, how to recover damaged files, and the like (see the tech notes listed on the CMAssistant support page). Tech support related to FileMaker rather than CMAssistant will be charged to you at our normal hourly consulting rate. [return to top]
The CMAssistant license is non-transferable. The CMAssistant license is granted to the owner of a single publication and is intended for use by this licensee distributing that publication (or that publication plus one or more secondary publications which may or may not be owned by the primary licensee) within a single geographical distribution area. The full CMAssistant license contains many other terms and restrictions common in software licensing agreements. The version that actually pertains to you will be included with your software when it is delivered.
Quick answer: To get started with CMAssistant, you need just one copy of FileMaker Pro, and you do not need to buy FileMaker Server.
You will need one copy of the latest version of FileMaker Pro for each workstation (user's computer) that you want to use to access the CMAssistant database. At the majority of the publications using CMAssistant, the database is accessed only from one or two computers - one for the circulation manager, one for the assistant circulation manager. CMAssistant is designed with the assumption that, as a rule, only one or two users are accessing the data at a time. If you aren't sure how many licenses to purchase, we suggest that you purchase just one. You can always buy another copy or two of FileMaker Pro later.
If you can start using CMAssistant on a single computer, then you won't need FileMaker Server. You can even share CMAssistant with a second user, simply by buying another copy of FileMaker Pro. If you decide later that more users (say, three or four or more) need to access CMAssistant, we strongly recommend that you purchase FileMaker Server. But you do not need to make that decision at the time that you purchase CMAssistant.
Terms provided on this page are subject to change without notice.