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A new version of the database for the rest of us was released by FileMaker recently. The program, Bento 3, is designed for people who, in most cases, wouldn't touch a database with a fork. Its original version actually made creating databases fun. Its latest version adds to the frivolity.
Chief among the Bento's new features is better integration with Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iLife application iPhoto. More information about photos can be added to them through Bento. What's more, images can be linked to information within the application, including contacts, projects and events. In prior versions of the program, pix could always be dragged from iPhoto into Bento libraries. "When you start up Bento now, all your iPhoto information is just there," Santa Clara, Calif.-based FileMaker Vice President for Marketing and Services Ryan Rosenberg told MacNewsWorld. "Information appears in Bento without moving photos from iPhoto."
When Bento launches, it automatically creates databases, or libraries, from native applications like address book and calendar. So if you click on the address library in Bento, it's prepopulated with data from the Mac address book. Now that's true with iPhoto, too. A library is automatically created with all the images in iPhoto, as well as organizational groups like events. Clicking on a photo will display a form with information in it from iPhoto. Moreover, new fields can be added to the photo. After they're added, they will appear in any iPhoto image displayed in Bento.
Grid View
Another new feature of Bento is the ability to display information as a grid. The grid displays text and visual information from records in an array of extended thumbnails. The method provides a fast and dramatic way to visualize the information in the database, as well as identify relationships in it that might not be as easily identified in typical database views like tables and forms. "I like looking at the totality of looking at my files in grid form and being able to look at an item by double clicking on it," Lisa Fitkin, a video producer for Premier Images in Orinda, Calif., told MacNewsWorld.
FileMaker has also improved Bento's sharing capabilities so they're more in-line with native Apple apps like iPhoto and iTunes. Using Apple's Bonjour technology, Bento libraries can be shared with up to five users on a network. Information in individual fields can be protected through 128-bit AES encryption. Encrypted fields need passwords to access them.
"When it came time to add sharing to Bento, we had to think long and hard about how we were going to do it," Rosenberg explained, "because the type of user who uses Bento doesn't have an IT staff."
Sharing Based on iTunes
Bento's sharing is modeled on iTunes. When the program is launched, it automatically recognizes other users on the network running the software. Users appear in each other's copy of Bento, but to access information in a library, permission must be granted by the owner of the library. Permissions can be granted with a single mouse click.
"File sharing was a major improvement that made the product a lot more appealing to us," Mark Mainville, an administrator with the New Covenant Church in Malone, N.Y., told MacNewsWorld.
Nevertheless, he did find the sharing feature limiting because it only works on a local network and forms can't be created based on a shared library. "It's limiting, but it's a great first step into sharing," he added.
Designed For Comfort
The new Bento also makes it easier to send email to groups of people. "In Bento 2, you could only email one person at a time," Rosenberg explained. "Now you can email a group of people in one step."
Bento 3 sells for US$49.95. Bento 2 users receive a $20 rebate, so they can upgrade for $29.95. For file sharers, a five-user pack is offered for $99.
As with prior versions of the program -- the application is only two years old and is already in its third version -- Bento remains easy to use. "Our goal with Bento is reach all those people who aren't already using a database," Rosenberg noted.
"The idea is to build something that would feel very comfortable to Mac users," he added. "So we tried to make it elegant and stylish, similar to iLife, iWork and iTunes."
Another goal was to make the program a quick start for anyone who installed it. "We wanted critical information that people have on their Macs to just be there so they could start using Bento right away," Rosenberg said.
Cool Flexibility
For information not already resident in a native application, Bento's designers created templates. These boilerplate forms address common needs of database users. Bento 3 has 10 additional templates, bringing the out of box total to 35. In addition, FileMaker has created a Bento Template Exchange. The online service has hundreds of templates designed by users of the program that can be downloaded for free.
"Its flexibility is very cool and designing forms very easy," Maique Madeira, a photo journalist and editor in Lisbon, Portugal, told MacNewsWorld. "It has a very Mac-like way of doing things -- drag and drop everything around until it looks like you want it to."
Recalling his first experience with the program, he observed, "I open it for the first time just to get a feeling for how it worked, and that first try became my first library, because I found it so easy to use that it took me a couple of minutes to have what I needed."
Bento's ease of use has even managed to win over some users frustrated by their experiences with FileMaker's flagship database product. "With FileMaker Pro, I always felt like I was recreating the wheel every time I had to create a new file," Fitkin confessed. "With Bento it's so intuitive to make fields, to make files. It's a joy."
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