Today, Claris announced the newest agile release of FileMaker, and made it immediately available to the FileMaker community. The FileMaker 19.4.1 release includes the complete Claris production line—Pro, Go, Server, and Cloud 2. It emphasizes OS compatibility, security, and UI/UX design.
Windows 11, macOS Monterey, and iOS 15 Compatibility
Microsoft’s Windows 11 OS became available on October 5 while Apple’s macOS Monterey was released later in the month on October 25. FileMaker Pro 19.4.1 is compatible and supported with both of these operating systems. Additionally, FileMaker Server 19.4.1 is supported on Monterey.
Similarly, iOS 15 was released on September 20. It included deprecating of TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols with a switch to OpenSSL 1.1.1l for security purposes. FileMaker Go 19.4 is supported on iOS 15 with this new protocol.
Automation on macOS Monterey
With FileMaker Pro, users are now able to automate scripts and workflows on macOS Monterey. Both the Shortcuts app and Siri voice can be used to run shortcuts. Tasks enabled through this include searching for records, running reports for specific dates, sending attachments through email, updating inventory, modifying files stored in container fields, and more.
Customizable OAuth Identity Providers
FileMaker 19.4 includes three predefined OAuth identity providers. It also has easy customization for four additional providers (Ping, OneLogin Auth0, and Okta). And if your organization uses a different provider, oAuth2 and OpenID protocols allow the implementation of that.
Session Identifier
Developers now have the ability to implement a session identifier script step. The information it gathers will be available within the Admin Console and Access log file on FileMaker Server. Administrators with access to those functionalities will have more information about users and their sessions.
Faster SQL Queries
A new FileMaker_BaseTableFields allows for faster SQL queries about fields defined within FileMaker Pro. It is differentiated from the FileMaker_Fields table in that it only includes source or base tables. This should enable easier optimization, improved performance speed for some functionalities, and ultimately a better user experience.
Fixes and Updates
This release included fixes for more than 50 bugs through the complete FileMaker 19.4 product. Notable highlights include:
Container fields (Windows)
Tested on: Windows 10
FileMaker will now not allow you to drag-and-drop into interactive container fields; this is an improvement from previous versions where you were able to drag-and-drop, but FileMaker wouldn’t actually save the file. Interactive container fields are still always the top element on a layout regardless of stack order.
Drag-and-drop for regular container fields triggers script triggers. Stackig them on top of interactive container fields allows drag-and-drop to work and lets the PDF be displayed. You won’t need to use hide conditions, unless your environment includes both Mac and Windows users.
Non-editable containers are truly non-editable.
Potential Bug: We’ve noticed that on Windows, newly created records don’t show up on other devices until you change records, go to a new layout, or quit FileMaker. We first noted this in 19.3.1.
OnLastWindowClose (Mac)
Tested on: Big Sur
This problem seems to be completely resolved.
Miscellaneous
“Malicious software” warning no longer appears when opening FileMaker Pro 19.4.dmg on macOS.
Web Viewer cookies and local storage now persist after quitting FileMaker Pro.
Unstored calculations placed beyond the right edge of a layout no longer automatically evaluate on layout load, but still evaluate when called.
What’s Unresolved
Based on our testing, we believe these bugs have carried over and still exist in 19.4.1:
Apex Theme second style missing in selector (Mac)
Web Viewer memory leak (Windows)
Known Issues
These issues are new to 19.4.1:
Interactive container fields (Windows): Clicking a PDF file doesn’t select t container field. Click the area between the edge of the PDF file and the edge of the field to select the field.
Interactive container fields (Windows): Right-clicking a PDF file doesn’t display a context menu. Select the field, open the Edit menu, and select Export Field Contents to export. Select the field, open the Insert menu, and select a command to insert a file into the field.
Window maximization (macOS Monterey): Option-clicking the green maximize button will resize the window to fit the current layout. However, if you close the file and then reopen it, the window opens at its original size.
Script workspace scroll bar (macOS Monterey): If the Script Workspace displays a scroll bar in a script, the line numbers aren’t displayed correctly after scrolling.
Full Release Notes
THIS IS AN ONGOING STORY AND WILL BE UPDATED AS MORE DETAILS (SUCH AS BUGS AND WORKAROUNDS) ARE DISCOVERED.
PK Information is a FileMaker-certified development agency serving the Tampa Bay, Miami Lakes, and Knoxville regions. We believe software should work the way you do, with business priorities first and technology second.
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