Import Microsoft Access tables into Filemaker Pro

(For related comments on FMPro 8, see my review.)

This is pretty obscure. The official documentation, Querying an ODBC data source from FileMaker Pro, isn't all that helpful.

If you're ever stuck with this problem, here are some tips.

First create an OBDC data source pointing to the Microsof Access file you're importing from.

1. In XP's control panel you'll find something called 'Data Sources (ODBC)'.
2. Open it and create a new data source, choose Microsoft Access driver.
3. In the driver dialog name the source then use the Database select dialog to select it.

Now, in FileMaker choose File Open:ODBC source then ...

1. Select the data source you create above.
2. Enter username and password for Windows account.
3. Write SQL (for an entire table just do "select * from table_name"). Yes, that's not very user friendly. FileMaker is not the program it once was.
4. FMPro imports the Access data. In my experiment everything came in as text, except a boolean that was translated to a number. Dates in Access were imported as text. The latter didn't impress me.

Wouldn't it be nice if FMPro could just import from the file directly?

Hacking Aperture

How to make Aperture run on unsupported platforms. You may regret it.

macosxhints - Run Aperture on a 12" PowerBook

or

1. Use a package opener to bypass installer.
2. Open the .app package once you have it installed, and get to the Info.plist and open it. Apple stores the minimum requirements there. Like RAM for example, change 1000 to 1 or whatever you want less than what you have.

or

http://macslash.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/12/1542247

or

http://dsiska.wz.cz/blog/?postid=37

Reasons to install Google Desktop and thus Google Desktop search ...

Yahoo Desktop Search, when it doesn't crash and burn, is still the best full text indexing and search tool for XP (I so wish Microsoft hadn't bought and killed "Lookout for Outlook". Google Desktop, and thus Googe Desktop Search, however, is getting very, very interesting. The Plug-In modules are getting clever enough that they significantly increase the value of the product. Consider this one ...

Google Desktop Plug-in: HDDlife plug-in for Google Desktop

Worried about a hard drive failure? Get HDDlife - a real-time hard drive monitoring utility with malfunction protection and data loss prevention features. This hard drive inspector is an advanced proactive hard drive failure detection system that manages all of your hard drive risks. HDDlife runs in the background constantly monitoring your disks. It alerts you about possible hard disk problems before they happen and displays a disk health indicator in the Google Desktop Sidebar.

Iridient RAW Developer: OS X photo tool for $60

Since I've moved to a Canon DR XT dSLR, and learned more about the theoretical advantages of RAW images and the limitations of in-camera processing, I'm thinking of moving to RAW. I'll probably due this using Aperture 1.01 (when it's out), but in the meantime I'm going to play with: Iridient Digital - RAW Developer for OS X. It got at least one impressive review.

Mac Orchard: a place to look for Mac software, classic and OS X

via Macintouch:

Macintosh Internet Software at The Mac Orchard - Welcome!

[Drew Saur] The Mac Orchard always has (and always will) listed and linked any Macintosh Internet software (for *any* vintage of Mac OS) as long as there is an official download link left for it. On top of that, the Orchard also serves as an official (or as an "only remaining") download host for many older applications. As I announced on the Orchard's home page last Friday, I am trying to get permission from Microsoft to host the files for Mac IE after January 2006. So far, I have not received a response.

Content Management Systems: A Macintouch report

Macintouch has a new report on wcontent management systems (cms) . It feels to me as though the functionality of a product like FrontPage 98 is being divided between embedded browser editing and emerging CMS standards. A shame WebDav seems not to play any useful role.

Update 12/22/05: The Macintouch report is becoming a superb resource. Macintouch has always had an extraordinary group of contributing readers, and the combination of their editing and the readership is a magic combination. I'm surprised others haven't fully copied this model.

One of the postings references an article on why CMS solutions fail. That article really clarified for me why company's want CMS solutions, what they are now, and why they may fail. (Hint: you can't eliminate the Editor function.) Indirectly this all helps me understand how modern CMS solutions relate to FrontPage (Vermeer, the brilliant predecessor to FrontPage, was best understood as an kit for building a corporate version of what was then pre-Internet AOL).

Reading this I do wish their was a business model that would support expanding on the original Vermeer/FrontPage vision. Alas, Microsoft long ago took their product down a road that doesn't interest me.

SOHO Organizer: a Palm Desktop for OS X

Wow. I didn't think there was any life left in the Mac Organizer world, but the makers of StickyBrain have a Cocoa build desktop out: SOHO Organizer. It's new and hence likely treacherous, but there's a one month download trial. Costs $100. Hmmm. I'd like to see how well the task management works.