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What other software do you need to run one of Polytrope's database solutions?

NOTE: This page contains some time sensitive information and you should confirm details about software versions by writing to Polytrope Support directly. To run a database built by Polytrope, you need the following software.

1. The database files that you will get from us. You will get one copy of these files and install it on just one computer. Even if you have many users accessing the database over a network, you will still only have one copy of these files.
2. FileMaker Pro. You will need a copy of FileMaker Pro installed on every computer that will use the database. Our database solutions are built on the FileMaker Pro "platform," which means that the database needs FileMaker in order to run, just as you need a web browser to use the World Wide Web, or a copy of Microsoft Word to open .doc files.
3. Your computer will need to meet the operating system (and hardware) requirements of FileMaker Pro. As of late 2009/early 2010, this means Windows XP SP2 or SP3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, or one of the latest versions of Mac OS X. For more precise info, consult FileMaker Inc's web site.
4. OPTIONAL: If you wish to share your database on your office network, and further, if you will want more than a couple users to access the database OR you simply want to make sharing as safe and secure as possible, then you will also want to buy and use special database sharing software from FileMaker Inc called FileMaker Server. For more info on FileMaker Server's advantages, see the article here on sharing your database files.

This article is mainly about software, but check out the specs for FileMaker Pro and make sure that your hardware meets them. We recommend reasonably up-to-date computer hardware, large and fast hard drives for storage, and good amounts of memory.

What version of FileMaker Pro do you need?

The info in this section is current as of February 2010 but things are likely to change later in 2010, so contact us by email for updates.

In general, new versions of our databases are designed to run under the latest versions of FileMaker Pro available. You can figure out what the latest version of FileMaker Pro is by visiting FileMaker Inc's web site. As of January 2010, the latest version of FileMaker Pro is version 10 (released January 5, 2009). If you are buying CMAssistant 6.x or Goodbooks 2, you will want to run it in FileMaker Pro 10.

The current version of CMAssistant will run more or less satisfactorily under FileMaker 9. Even so, if you are currently using FileMaker 9, we urge you to consider upgrading to 10.

You only need to worry about buying older versions of FileMaker Pro if you are adding a new computer to a network that's running an older version of one of our databases. In that case, figure out what version of FileMaker Pro the existing computers are running and try to find a copy of the same version.

If you have been using an older version of one of our databases - say, CMAssistant 4 - and you wish to upgrade to the latest version of CMAssistant, you will need to upgrade to the latest version of FileMaker Pro, as well.

Keep in mind that FileMaker Pro 10 itself has certain requirements with regard both to the operating system running on your computer and to your hardware. You can read about FileMaker Pro's requirements on FileMaker Inc.'s Web site, here.

Where to buy?

If you are purchasing a new database from us, we will be happy to purchase the correct copies of FileMaker for you. We charge a very small fee for doing this and we will save you some trouble. Purchases made by us on your behalf must be paid in advance and all purchases are final.

If you wish to purchase FileMaker Pro yourself, however, it's easy, you can save yourself a few dollars, and third-party vendors may allow you to return unopened packages if that becomes necessary. We recommend purchasing from online stores like CDW.com or Amazon.com. We have found that Amazon.com usually has a very competitive price. Buying directly from FileMaker Inc is also possible, although if you do so, you will pay full price. If you want the software this afternoon, the best thing to do is download the fully-functional 30-day demo from FileMaker's web site, and enter a licensing code later.

Regrettably, we cannot recommend buying from a local bricks-and-mortar store. In our experience, brick and mortar stores often keep old software on their shelves and the sales reps may not know what the latest version is so caveat emptor ("buyer beware!"). If you do feel the urge to buy FileMaker from a local store, make sure you're getting the latest version.

If you wish to purchase a very large number of licenses (10 or more), contact us first. We are able to put clients in touch with an internal rep at FileMaker, Inc. who can provide a volume licensing agreement (VLA) at a significantly reduced cost to you. If you wish to purchase only 1 or 2 licenses, it is usually more efficient to purchase directly from your favorite software reseller.

For users of earlier versions of "CM Assistant" and EXTRA!

Versions 3 and 4 of CMAssistant were styled "CM Assistant" (with a space in the middle). Before CM Assistant 3, there was EXTRA! versions 1 and 2. All of these solutions ran under FileMaker Pro version 6. To share your EXTRA! or CMAssistant v3 or v4 files on a network using FileMaker Server, you must use FileMaker Server version 5.5 ( there is no Server version 6).