Last time, I wrote about my history with CAD software. This time I am going to tell you a similar story about Relational Database (RDB) Software. Both are some of the most difficult software to use. It is easiest to comprehend what a relational database is if you think of an RDB table is the same as a spreadsheet, RDB records are the same as spreadsheet rows and RDB fields are the same as spreadsheet columns. The two big differences are that in an RDB you can layout the fields on the layout randomly and you can easily link data from one table to another. They also have very powerful scripting. All that together and you can create your own applications.

I am sure that I have mentioned before that I bought my first Mac one month after they were launched in April 1984. Very soon after its launch, there were several RDBs launched which included FoxBASE, Omnis 3, Helix, dBASE Mac, 4th Dimension, and FileMaker. I had used all of them but originally settled on 4th Dimension. Which I used for several years. After I bought SIP (originally Universal Gear Corporation) I switched to Filemaker. It was pretty clunky then but I built my first version of Accounting for Manufacturing, AM1. I started working on version 2 when they introduced Filemaker Pro so I skipped right to AM3. This was their first single file, fully relational data base. We used that from 2005 through 2014. The one downfall was that we generated our accounting information in Filemaker but used MYOB software for our accounting, which meant we had to do double entry. So in 2013, I began developing AM4 which would include all accounting functions including payroll and eliminate the double entry. No sooner than I got started, Filemaker had a major upgrade so again I started over with AM5. We used that until 2020 but had to rewrite it as AM6 to accommodate the new Filemaker Server software. Prior to that we shared the file that was open on the accounting department computer. Filemaker removed that feature and replaced it with free Filemaker Server software. This required us to buy a dedicated computer for the server but greatly improved performance. I also made a lot of other improvements. AM6 is the version we are currently using. It has worked well but often enough, I would have to go in and fix bad data because of bugs in the database. That is hard enough for me to do even though I wrote it. It would be impossible for anybody else.

The problem is the complexity of doing the accounting functions, especially payroll. There have been a lot more improvements in Filemaker in the last five years, one of which is scripting and exporting data. This will allow me with one click to export the weeks transactions and then with a few more clicks, import them into an off the shelf accounting package. We decided to return to MYOB now called Account Edge. This will effectively eliminate double entry and allow us to use rock solid accounting software and still have customized software for everything else. This will be a major step in making me expendable.