Beyond Scripting... Professional Programming for the Web.
What People are Saying
We use Lasso for the additional security and flexibility that the combination of Lasso and FileMaker offer.
We made the transition to Lasso from using just CDML essentially for the additional security and flexibility that the combination of Lasso and FileMaker offered.
FileMaker was identified as our preferred database option because of its ease of use, and web publishing capabilities.
We have a fully Microsoft network and have found the FileMaker / Lasso combination to be very stable.
1. Ease of deployment (non-developers)
2. Already using FileMaker as data source and Lasso was directly compatible
3. Wanted more security and flexibility than available with FileMaker CDML or Instant Web Publishing
4. Both FileMaker and Lasso have excellent email lists / forums / support
5. Relatively low cost
Rick Draper
We needed to make our records easily accessible via the web and after a bit of research, we found that Lasso was the way to go.
I am an avid FileMaker/Lasso fan. I work on for the Ohio Dept. of Education, our staff has been using FileMaker for years to keep their records. We needed to make our records easily accessible via the web and after a bit of research, we found that Lasso was the way to go.
Lasso helped us integrate already complex FileMaker solutions easily on our web site. Today we hanlde all of our school, teacher, student, and program registration information on-line via FileMaker/Lasso. Our teachers LOVE it, and our office staff can easily keep up-to-date with data remotely in FileMaker. They never had to learn a new system to manage their data, and have saved an enourmous amount of time with this combination.
FileMaker for us is easy to interface with our educators and students over the web, and we can easily process labels and reports with FileMaker on the back end. I couldn't imagine going to anything else, especially after beeing an ASP/Access programmer!
John Torres
Ohio FFA Association
www.ohioffa.org
That Lasso works so well with both (MySQL and FileMaker) is perhaps the single major selling point for us.
Almost all our lasso solutions access both MySQL and FileMaker databases. That Lasso works so well with both is perhaps the single major selling point for us.
We use MySQL exclusively where we can, but in some cases, needed data is stored in FileMaker databases used by our admin staff which allows us to do some very cool auto-email generation, report generation, statistics, letter-generation, etc etc with minimal effort.
I recommend building solutions with MySQL for speed, but where you've got data that needs to be in FileMaker, Lasso is up to the task... so use both!
Duncan Kincaid
MIT
I looked at CDML, PHP, and Lasso. I ended up learning "LDML" in a matter of weeks and created a web based scheduling solution.
I have been building Lasso/FileMaker applications for the last 3 years. I started with Lasso 6/FileMakerU 6. Currently I use Lasso 8.1 and a combination of FileMakerSA7/MySQL.
I went the FileMaker route originally because it was an easy to use RAD tool. I could build really great work flow applications very quickly. Then I asked myself how to bring access to these via web. I looked at CDML, PHP, and Lasso. At the time CDML was my first choice, then of course looking to PHP, then I found Lasso. I ended up learning "LDML" in a matter of weeks and created a web based scheduling solution. This solution worked very well for a while but of course as memberships grew and online usage increased FileMaker was again not holding up. I guess its a good thing FileMaker released version 7 server! So I migrated the entire solution to 7 (34 FileMaker 6 databases, 800 Scripts, 536 layouts) into 1 file (intro to tables). I saw a big increase in web usability.
I do like creating run time solutions in FileMaker and using MySQL as a back end. I do syncing via XML import through FileMaker. That works very well. I have had much luck with that scenario!
I have much smaller e-commerce sites running a FileMaker backend and those work very well. Still, slower then MySQL, but people can open up there stores in FileMaker and have an application to manage web orders. Building those applications takes no time at all. It's an attractive option for the budget conscience.
Angelo Luchi
I have no formal programming background, or desire to go that route. Filemaker and Lasso have a "reasonable" learning curve that I can tackle, knowing...there is more power than I will ever utilize.
We have been developing with FileMaker and Lasso since 1997 since we published our first MacTalent.com searchable database on the web. It is the ease of use that is the key for me. The fact that I can develop a solution that is useful for both web and desktop.
I am now trying to learn the basics of MySQL. I am excited with the idea of the speed of MySQL for some applications, but we will continue to use Filemaker for many projects where there is a desktop component to be considered.
I have no formal programming background, or desire to go that route. Filemaker and Lasso have a "reasonable" learning curve that I can tackle, knowing I can put something together fast and there is more power than I will ever utilize if I am building my own solution. Whereas I just would not know where to start with PHP.
There are lots of people similar to me that could become heroes for their company by implementing a FileMaker/Lasso solution themselves, as opposed to having to put in a request to the IT dept to do it for them.
Doug Noble
ADWEB Services Inc.
doug@adwebhosting.com
When it comes to 'hybrids' between Desktop and Online Applications, the FileMaker Lasso combination is just great.
I have been using FileMaker for many years and it gave me as a "non trained coder" nor "programmer" the opportunity to put together innovative desktop and online solutions for the very demanding medium size business markets which have normally little budgets. I my opinion, when it comes to "Hybrids" between DeskTop and Online Application the FileMaker Lasso combination is just great. Being more than 20 years in Solution Sales as well as in Marketing it was always important for my solutions to have a full featured GUI for my client but also online functionality.
For me personally, when it comes to a feature reach business application for my clients, the combination of FileMaker and Lasso works just great without having in-depth coding knowledge or lack of programming background.
1. Because I (and my clients) like the combination of FileMaker and Lasso.
2. Great combination between desktop and online application.
3. Easy, fast development and program changes.
4. Easy learning curve
5. The result of the finished application GUI is great.
6. I do not know to code MySQL :)
7. FileMaker has a future (hopefully)
Detlef Hebbel
New Zealand
(Lasso) allowed me to keep the investment made in FileMaker for the networked custom application that we used, while enabling simultaneous or migrated services to the web.
I started with FileMaker. I had already built an application for my company's sales force that provided sales management that rivaled the best systems out there at the time.
We had extensive contact management, appointments, tactical sales process management, customer company/facility/people profiling for strategic sales processes, quote management, etc. It standardized the sales management process, forecasting, and requests for customeized quotes from sales to the factory for about a dozen complex factory capital equipment product lines dealing with robotics and chemical processes. It was made up of over two dozen different databases that were all integrated into one seamless interface.
After building this, I started building the company's web site. When I got proficient enough at it, I started to connect some things we used internally to the web. I built all that in FileMaker and I used Lasso to connect it to the web.
This allowed me to keep the investment made into FileMaker for the networked custom application that we used, while enabling simultaneous or migrated services to the web. Even as I sit today with enough MySQL experience under my belt, I would do much the same thing again. I would explore a mixed use and pick places where MySQL would be better suited (the web-only or high search load pieces), but you simply cannot dismiss FileMaker's contribution to enabling D-I-Y application developers in certain organizations/workgroups.
There are things that FileMaker is a more productive solution for than MySQL because MySQL is nothing more than a data bank, and FileMaker is used for so much more.
So, from that experience and another project I worked on for quite some time...
1) Leveraged existing small-office / workgroup FileMaker solutions for intranet access with remote users.
2) High productivity in putting together custom solutions as a one-man band / very small IT group developing desktop suitable data applications (that leverage FileMakers strengths such as speed when used locally, UI, search, reports, multi-user connectivity etc) with connectivity to the web where needed
3) Chose FileMaker (v3 thru v6) for the obvious reasons -- simply the most developed tool of its kind. I have not shopped FileMaker / alternatives since v6.
4) The many FileMaker-specific tags (Lasso has) to leverage the most out of FileMaker is pretty cool.
5) Lasso and the Lasso community which is famous for its support, tolerance, even embracement of the boot-strap programmer.
Greg Willits
As I got my head around some of what Lasso could do, and how relatively painless it was to work with, particularly in our FileMaker-based company...Lasso is my web development language of choice.
When I took my current job, I "inherited" a collection of Lasso/FileMaker sites, and my initial reaction was something along the lines of "what is this Lasso stuff? Ehh, I'll just convert them to PHP as time allows." Of course, as I got my head around some of what Lasso could do, and how relatively painless it was to work with, particularly in our FileMaker-based company, my desire to switch waned pretty quickly.
Fast-forward 5 years, and Lasso is my web development language of choice. I don't deploy any new FileMaker stuff for the web, but I do still have a few older FileMaker-based solutions running - they're just not broken enough to warrant the switch. If anything, what will cause me to move away from those is a desire to consolidate hardware - that FileMaker machine would scream as a dedicated MySQL box. But we could run for a long time using those FileMaker files.
So for our purposes, FileMaker makes less sense now, but I sure am happy Lasso still supports it, and if we were a different company, we could probably happily ignore all the other data sources out there and keep rolling with FileMaker for the foreseeable future. But it's one of Lasso's great benefits that we've been able to transition to other data sources where they make more sense.
being able to use FileMaker on the desktop, speaking to Lasso/MySQL via XML makes it continue to be viable for our purposes on the client side.
Robert Carpenter
I like the fact that Lasso can do and work with a variety of databases...be it FileMaker, or MySQL or whatever your pleasure. That's where I feel Lasso shines.
I come from a diverse world of programming and databases. I need to say that I have not touched all languages and databases but will use what I know at that time for my needs.
I'm still learning Lasso, but from what I've seen so far, I like the fact that Lasso can do and work with a variety of databases ...be it FileMaker, or MySQL or whatever your pleasure. That's where I feel Lasso shines. So, I could take a phased approach to converting FileMaker/CDML to Lasso/MySQL with a little bit of help from Eclipse and LassoStudio for Dreamweaver. Those tools make developing work a bit easier to deal with.
I just hope that LassoSoft has gleaned some useful information despite some wild off-spoutings. I just would like to say that many of us should take a step back and breath for a moment and ask yourself ...is the person trying to say something? Should I "argue"? Often times, lists like this are educational as we all help each other. And I would like to see this list stay informational, educational and helpful. I don't need to see all those "attacks" either intentional or unintentional.
Jim Powell
Our clients like this, our staff likes it, and our salespeople like it because they know it will take little effort on my part to get up and running.
Our entire company operations are dependent on FileMaker/Lasso and has been since 1996. I've designed an entire accounting system that our company uses for Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Job costing, Suppliers, Customers, etc.
Lasso comes to play in our ad-specialty division. We sell a lot of corporate merchandise to select companies. Since we use Lasso with FileMaker we are easily able add new products, edit existing products, adjust inventory on our backend and all the data instantly adjusts to the web. Our clients like this, our staff likes it, and our salespeople like it because they know it will take little effort on my part to get up and running.
For the past 2 years, I've been updating our internal system to run on FileMakerSA 7 and our multiple online stores to Lasso 7. It's been a huge undertaking for a one man IT department but I just about have it licked.
Randy Zumwalde
The John K. Howe Co. Inc.
http://www.ehowe.com
We use Lasso to mirror the results to MySQL so that things like...reports that would take from several minutes to hours to pull in FileMaker...are done with ease in Lasso.
As an independent consultant and business owner I have found that the majority of our work comes from people who have been dabbling in FileMaker Pro and then decide that they want to take their database and put it on the internet.
Our flagship application for Pathology and Cytology diagnosis uses FileMaker and MySQL in tandem to utilize the best of both worlds.
Because the database is so large in size it often becomes unwieldy for the numerous reports and government statistics that the laboratories are required to publish. At over 400,000 records in 15 tables it becomes sluggish even on the fastest gear. We use Lasso to mirror the results to MySQL so that things like discrepancy reporting, health care district results summaries, and more reports that would take from several minutes to hours to pull in FileMaker or just aren't possible are done with ease in Lasso.
FileMaker retains it's ease of use for users looking to modify and streamline smaller reporting or mockup what they need done in MySQL. It allows printing and faxing of reports and easily modifiable report layouts so the office staff can change things when they need to.
FileMaker remains an integral part of this solution and part of our business. Although there are things about FileMaker and MySQL that I both hate and love I cannot foresee a time when we will not use it in our arsenal of tools.
Brian Loomis
Lasso Studio is world class for beginners. Lasso's administrative interface is unparalleled. Lasso's direct, built-in connection to FileMaker is far...superior to even the best of the abstraction layers that some of the PHP/FileMaker guys have built.
The FileMaker local application generally exists first, and later a need arises to drive a web site with its live data. In cases where the FileMaker Server can be physically located at the same place as the Web server, then it's a great choice because the users are getting the best of all worlds: Easy, live access to their data via FileMaker, and live data on the web site. These are the cases where FileMaker will become a web database in the real world.
The choice to be made becomes which web programming technology to use, and the de facto choices are Lasso, PHP, and XSLT. FileMaker Inc.'s recommendation, XSLT, is silly as anyone familiar with programming language constructs knows, so cross that off. PHP is perfectly viable, though tougher for beginners, and I think many of the arguments against PHP begin to evaporate for those with more advanced programming skills. But FileMaker's customer base largely consists of users WITHOUT advanced programming skills. Here is where Lasso fits in best. Lasso Studio is world class for beginners. Lasso's administrative interface is unparalleled. Lasso's direct, built-in connection to FileMaker is far, far, far, far superior to even the best of the abstraction layers that some of the PHP/FileMaker guys have built (FileMaker-and-PHP, FX-php, etc.)
Is Lasso a superior technology, and a better solution for FileMaker customers? I say Yes, absolutely. Most people who are truly familiar with both Lasso and PHP will probably agree too.
Brian Dunning
http://www.briandunning.com
