As you may have guessed by now, I love working in an optimized environment, designed for getting the crud out of the way so that I can focus on development. Just like a carpenter needs to not be thinking about the hammer, or the painter about the mechanics of the canvas, my computer and its operating system need to fade into the background, almost as if they were not really there at all.
Have you ever, in the course of working with a database, needed to do a long import, export or other time-intensive task? For example, I have worked on a very large solution recently that required 4 hours to import the DDR into BaseElements. Not wanting to lose an entire 1/2 day to the task, I needed a solution where I could both perform the import and continue working on other projects.
More Than One Install
The best solution to this conundrum is to simply have more tools available. In this case, since I have two legal licenses of FileMaker 11 available to me, I have installed the application twice on my development machine.
Here are the steps to do so on Mac OS X:
- Rename the current installed version folder of FileMaker Advanced (or FileMaker). I used FMA11-A.
- Rename the installed FileMaker Pro Advanced application. Again I used FMA11-A.app.
- Install FileMaker/FileMaker Advanced again, using the second license key.
- Rename the folder and install application for this new installation. (FMA11-B in my case.)
That’s it! Now both versions can be run simultaneously. Note that when performing an update of the FileMaker software, the updater will ask you which installation you want to update. Select an installation, complete the first update, then run the updater again and it will update the other installation.
Two Tasks At Once
I can run that ginormous DDR import on one instance and be happily developing a solution on the other. It also means you can have two Manage Database windows, two data viewers or two script debuggers open at the same time. Or even two separate logins (Admin and User for example) into the same solution.
Here is a peek at what this all looks like in Finder. Just for fun, I created new icons (download) for each of the installations. In OSX, use the finder info pane to change the assigned icon for an application:
Well, the icons are more than just for fun, as they provide a visual cue in the OSX dock and application switcher. I hope you enjoyed this quick tip for setting up a more efficient FileMaker development environment. I’d love to hear about your super-secret tips and tricks in the comments.
Using multiple copies of FileMaker Pro Advanced can be very useful, but renaming apps in Mac OS X can be dangerous. I am wondering why you don’t rename just the folders. You never know what depends on the original app name, so unless you really need to have them named differently, I suggest you rename just the folders. I remember the last time I have done it I had issues at least with AppleScript.
Anyway, if you have a site license for the company, this is a great way how to utilize any extra FMPA license you may have, such as the NFR copy you get as part of the FileMaker DevCon full conference pass… 😉
HOnza – thanks again for stopping by. By renaming the application itself, I can then open a specific FileMaker install using a launcher app, in my case Alfred. So I invoke Alfred, type FMA, hit return and the Filemaker A instance opens. I would be curious to try to challenge renaming of the application to see if I can get something to break. So far with months of usage I have never had a problem. Do you know of any other risks besides perhaps breaking an apple script?
I had to rename my 11 and 12 installs that (via their respective default installs) ended up with the same name. I couldn’t program any custom keyboard shortcuts for 12 because OS X (Lion) couldn’t tell them apart. Every time I selected 12 to add shortcuts to, it kept presenting me with the 11 icon and would only add them to 11. After renaming to FMPA 11 and FMPA 12, respectively, everything works perfectly.
I had the same reticence, HOnza, but after months of daily use of both apps I haven’t noticed any issues.
Cool! Thanks for posting this tip here Jonathan.
I wonder, though, how the keyboard shortcuts would work in Darren’s scenario. I’m guessing that I’d have to create separate sets for each copy of the app. Gonna have to test that…
Good point. I predict that the keyboard shortcuts for the same version of FileMaker can be the same. An application specific shortcut operates on the app currently in focus, unless you are using some macro program like QuickKeys or Keyboard Maestro.
Sometimes I use FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Pro Advanced together. I think this is sufficient because I’ve never needed 2 script debuggers or dataviewers at the same time. FileMaker Pro can be used for current user and FileMaker Pro Advanced for admin user…
Thanks for checking in, Michal. You are right, it really is pretty rare that I need the features of FM Advanced available in two separate running instances of FileMaker.
Also you’re able to run FileMaker 10 and 11 alongside each other, which I’m sure I couldn’t do with 9 and 10 for example.
Adam – yup that is great to be able to do that as well. I believe that is a Mac only feature. I believe Windows does not allow such unless you virtualize.
It’s on Windows 7 I was running 10 and 11 at the same time, no virtualization.
Thanks Adam for letting us know.
Hi Adam, you are correct. However, Darren means having two copies of the same version of FileMaker installed and running (for example, two copies of FileMaker Pro Advanced 12).
I would add three comments to the discussion:
– This only works on the Mac OS. It is not possible to install two versions of the same application on Windows.
– A work-around for Windows is to use a virtual machine (Parallels, VMWare). Granted you will need another OS license, but it is possible.
– I like having two copies of FMPA 12 installed because, while I may not need two script debuggers at the same time, I might need it in either application at certain times.
Installed the second version of FM12. Wondered about updating the second version. Updater ran and didn’t even ask me what to update, but successfully updated the second version.
Hi Agnes, and thanks for stopping by. Yes, the updater will should give a choice the first time. Select one of the installs to update. Then run the updater again and the process will select the un-updated install. It just works.