Download fmdiff

FMDiff Compares FileMaker Pro Files And Lists Differences ^ If your solution suddenly exhibits strange behaviour, how do you find out what happened to the files? How much time would you have to invest to find out? Would it be possible at all?With FMDiff the basic test is done within minutes. Simply compare your backup or "Good Clone" against the solution. You immediately learn whether anything has changed and where, either due to human, hardware, or software error.FMDiff compares your current solution against a previous one and reports the differences. For the first time it is now possible to verify that the internal file structure (tables, fields, relations, etc.) is the same as at the time of delivery. This is especially important for sensitive areas like accounting or healthcare. FMDiff is able to read FileMaker files of type .fp3, .fp5, .fp7, and .fmp12. Files of the same type can be compared against each other. This includes FileMaker Pro 13 files. You are able to document the progress in development or unauthorised modifications by someone else.You even may compare files in environments where the original configuration does not exist, like ODBC, JDBC, ESS, or devices (camera) are not connected.FMDiff Tests For Damages ^ FMDiff knows whether your FileMaker Pro files are still intact. While comparing it checks the file's structure to be "well-formed". The licensed version of FMDiff even performs additional tests for ascending IDs and correct block lengths. This is something that even the native FileMaker Recover command does not

Always straighten out, which may lead to subsequent malfunctions or crashes.The combination of keeping a good copy (one that never crashed) and using FMDiff to compare it against the installed solution can be considered the best possible security measure.FMDiff Unveils The Original Creation Timestamp ^ When was the file originally created? Every file stores an internal time stamp that does never change when a file is Cloned, Recovered or Copied. This time stamp serves to identify "an original" and is a means to prove ownership.FMDiff Unveils The Recover Count and lists System and FileMaker Versions used with the file ^ (Unfortunately this information is no longer logged within the file since FM 12 and hence can't be shown.Has a file ever been Recovered? How many times? This is very important to judge about the quality and sanity of a solution.How many times and with what platforms, system versions, FileMaker Pro or Server versions has a file ever been run? This helps to track down version related errors.Who Needs FMDiff? ^ The short answer is: anyone who is in charge of ordering, developing, hosting, maintaining, or auditing FileMaker solutions will need FMDiff. These include: All database developers Internet Service Providers IT managers or responsible party SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) Compliance AuditorsFMDiff serves to document an ongoing solution development. At one and the same time the programmer and the customer have a means to prove and inspect the progress at regular intervals. It shows the exact number of changes that were applied to specific

Menu bar is easier than clicking and selecting a menu item. We already have this with the original FileMaker Pro Advanced Tools menu, so there would be no difference and no time saving effect. Clicking on an icon that provides the feedback is more intuitive than clicking and then selecting one of the appearing menu items. After all, the main purpose of FMMenulet is to visualize the current state of the Debug scripts menu item, so using the menu would be rather rare, albeit necessary from time to time. I think one quickly will get used to it.When reporting any bugs, please include processor type, system version and language, as well as FileMaker Pro version and language, when describing what exactly had happened - in case something ever should go wrong.Thanks for your very useful opinions. I'm listening!Winfried Any information about FMDiff and FMVis is subject to change without notice.© 2005 - 2015 Winfried Huslik †. © 2025 Jürgen Geßwein. All Rights Reserved. FMDiff and FMVis are trademarks of Jürgen Geßwein, Augsburg, Germany. FileMaker is a trademark of FileMaker Inc., Santa Clara, CA, USA. Other trademarks mentioned are property of their respective owners. This web site has not been authorised, sponsored, or otherwise approved by FileMaker, Inc.

Let's look at a Comparison Report as shown in a browser. The report unveils details you've never seen before: Report Header The header shows the file name, the FMDiff version, the date and time of the comparison, and the elapsed time for the comparison. More fields can be set via preference settings, like who did the test, the machine configuration, location. FMDiff™ Report: “bps_Email.fp7” Files The Creation Time of a file remains permanent, regardless whether the file was duplicated, saved as, cloned or recovered. The Modified timestamp is the same as given in the finder. The file Size (in Bytes) must always be a multiple of 4096. FilesOld: bps_Email.fp7New: bps_Email.fp7Users/winfried/Desktop/BPS/1.0/bps_Email.fp7Users/winfried/Desktop/BPS/3.0/bps_Email.fp72003-11-07 07:17:582003-11-07 07:17:582010-06-02 22:54:022010-04-21 01:16:22864 KB (884736 Byte)1.1 MB (1171456 Byte) Use Counts The FileMaker and OS version counts the file was opened with. Please note that simply opening and closing a file without any kind of modification does not increase the counter. Result In case there are no errors or warnings: No apparent errors or warnings. Errors Problems with the file will be reported here (and possibly no further difference reporting will take place). Errors (indicates some kind of damage)Block 2172 has wrong link to previous block.Orphaned blocks: 622-721, 723-727, 729, 730 What are "Orphaned blocks"? FileMaker files are divided in blocks (elsewhere called "pages") of 4 kB. All blocks belong to one of three linked lists and are either free, contain the internal "table of contents", or are used for the structure and data. Orphaned blocks may appear under certain circumstances. The main reason is testing a file while it is in use by FileMaker. Since FileMaker keeps elements being modified in a separate cache, the file is not complete or links between blocks are not yet updated. The same thing happens when a file is copied or backed up while in use. As a conclusion, life copies of FileMaker files in use are worthless. Only closed files can safely be backed up or copied. The way to go is to use FileMaker Server and only to keep copies of the backups produced by FileMaker Server, while excluding the