Filemaker Bento 1.0v2

Bento - Fields, Relational Databases, and Form Design

Bento’s FileMaker parentage is easy to spot, especially in the versatility of its fields. Fields are the individual containers that make up a complete record. Fields usually hold text-based information, such as a name, address, or date, but Bento offers a large collection of field types to choose from. Besides the basics like Text, Number, Time, Currency, and Date, Bento includes a Media field that can store pictures, video or sounds, and a Rating field that lets you assign a star-based rating to an item. There are also fields for Internet-related items, including URL, Email, and IM Account.

Bento uses fields not only for basic data storage, but also as a way to add easy controls for working with a record. You can use the Choice field to create a pop-up menu of pre-defined choices; the Checkbox field to set the status of an item; and the File List field to store a list of files on your Mac. Double-clicking a file on the list launches the associated application in its own window.

One of my favorite fields from FileMaker Pro made its way into Bento. The Calculation field displays the results of a calculation. Think of it as a spreadsheet cell, where the resulting display is based on the values of other fields specified in the calculation. You can also use calculation fields to combine text from multiple fields. For example, you could combine the First Name and Last Name fields and display the result as a full name.

Relational databases have long been considered difficult to set up and use by anyone who isn’t a database junkie. Relational databases let you create relationships between different databases or libraries, in Bento’s nomenclature. Relationships are a great way to keep data up to date. For example, take two libraries. The first is a library of all your contacts, essentially your Address Book. The second is a library of your home inventory. Within your home inventory, you include a set of fields to store your home insurance agent information. At the same time, your contacts library also includes your home insurance agent information. In a non-relational database, these two databases would be independent of each other. If you change insurance agents, you would have to manually update both databases. Forget to update one, and you could end up with outdated information.

Bento makes creating relationships between libraries a simple process. You can manually create Related Records List fields, just like you can create any other support field type. But Bento has an even quicker, easier way to add a related record field to a library. Simply hold down the shift key and drag the library from the source list you wish to use to the records pane. Bento will add a Related Records List field to the home inventory library, and create a relationship between the two libraries for you. If you change information in one library, it will be automatically updated in the other library.

Bento includes 23 pre-configured templates and a blank template. Templates define a library’s data structure, how records will display and the fields used for each record. The templates cover many of the obvious uses for a database, including projects, to do lists, event planning, inventory, billing, and expenses.

You can use a template as is, but Bento makes it so easy to customize a template that starting a new library based on one of the predefined templates is the way to go. Once you select a template, the record and field panes will display the library’s data structure. You can add or delete fields, change field names or attributes, or redesign how the record pane displays the resulting data.

Bento has a palette of design tools that make creating new record forms as easy as point and click. But FileMaker may have gone a little overboard in terms of making it easy to design a form; in other words, too limiting. You can’t specify fonts, and text is limited to five sizes (Largest, Large, Normal, Small, and Smallest). There also appears to be no way to add an image to a form, beyond what would be display in a media field. The only items I could find to add to a form were a text box and a spacer.

Even though form design possibilities are very limited, the forms Bento produces are attractive and well organized, and will easily meet the needs of most individuals.

Bento may be one of the most user-friendly relational database applications I have ever encountered. It’s a good solution for many Mac users looking to keep track of family information, or even a small home business.

Bento’s weaknesses - its single-user approach and its limited form design capabilities - should not deter most users. For a remarkably low price of $49, FileMaker has created a truly easy-to-use database product, and reopened a niche that FileMaker Pro once occupied.

Bento earns its four-star Focus on Macs rating primarily because of its ease of use, both in using a finished database and in creating or customizing a template. Its integration with Address Book and iCal is very welcome, because it prevents the duplication of data. It actually makes using Address Book and iCal easier, because of the new views it provides of their underlying data.

If you’re in need of a personal database and organizer, download the Bento demo from the FileMaker web site, and try it on for size.