filePro is a proprietary

DBMS In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases span ...

and

RAD RAD or Rad may refer to: People * Robert Anthony Rad Dougall (born 1951), South African former racing driver * Rad Hourani, Canadian fashion designer and artist * Nickname of Leonardus Rad Kortenhorst (1886–1963), Dutch politician * Radley ...

system originally developed by Howard Wolowitz as The Electric File Clerk in 1978. He licensed it to

Tandy Corporation Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned leather goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Tandy Leather was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store. By the end of the 1950s, under the tutelage of then-CEO Charles Tandy, ...

in 1979 who first published it in 1980 as Profile II. Although there was a Profile for the

TRS-80 The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of ...

model I, model III and model IV, these were unrelated programs. Today's filePro started out on the Model II and was first released by Tandy as "Profile II". After passing through several owners, the code is currently the property of fPTechnologies, Inc.

Current status

A Robust, Cross Platform 4GL Database Development and Management System with exciting new features. It is a perfect choice for small to medium-sized businesses who need a customizable and powerful database package. The product no longer ships with a printed user manual; however, there is a manual available online at fpTech's website. As well, there is a single third-party full reference book available, along with a single third-party quick-reference guide. There are several filePro resources available online including a user maintained mailing list—for more information, visit http://lists.celestial.com/mailman/listinfo/filepro-list

History

; 1978 : Howard Wolowitz develops Electric File Clerk for the

Model II. ; 1979 : ''

The small Computer Company ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' is founded. ; 1980 :

publishes it as ''Profile II''. ; ???? : ''Profile II Plus'' is released. ; 1983 : ''Profile 16'' is released for the

Model 16 running

Xenix Xenix is a discontinued version of the Unix operating system for various microcomputer platforms, licensed by Microsoft from AT&T Corporation in the late 1970s. The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) later acquired exclusive rights to the software, and ...

. ; ???? : ''Profile 16 Plus'' is released. ; ???? : ''filePro 16'' and ''filePro 16 Plus'' are released by ''The small Computer Company'' for non-Tandy computers. (''Profile'' was a trademark licensed by Tandy.) ; 1986 : Version 3.0 released for both ''filePro 16'' and ''filePro 16 Plus''. This was the last version for the non-Plus ''filePro 16''. Further versions also dropped the ''16'' part of the name. ; ???? : ''filePro Plus'' Version 4.0 released. ; ???? : ''The small Computer Company'' is bought by another company (Athena Investment Group), and becomes a subsidiary of that company. Over the next years, the parent company itself changes hands several times. ; ???? : Version 4.5 released. ; ???? : Version 4.8 released. ; 1998 : fPTechnologies, Inc. is founded by the filePro employees, and buys the rights to filePro. ; ???? : Version 5.0 released. ; 2006 : Version 5.6 released. ; 2009 : Reorganized and renamed fP Technologies of Ohio, Inc.

Future

While there is an fpGUI add-on for

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

-based access, filePro is still primarily character-based, which some users assert makes for faster and more efficient data entry. There are several people who have created

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. ...

and SQL bridges that allow cross-communication with legacy systems.

Database Features

Strengths

*Fast data lookups *Short

learning curve A learning curve is a graphical representation of the relationship between how proficient people are at a task and the amount of experience they have. Proficiency (measured on the vertical axis) usually increases with increased experience (the ...

(for programmers, user experience is software dependent). *Data entry system allows for quick familiarity with keyboard shortcuts, and as such, typists do not have to rely on mouse acquisition *Provides version updates and bug releases for operating systems for more than a decade *Ability to create PDF outputs and reports automatically. (filePro version 5.8) *Excellent for performing data imports and data manipulation. *Able to connect to MySQL and utilize the power of filePro to read / write / report data from MySQL data. (Linux filePro 5.7 and higher) *Dual write capabilities. (Redundant mirror backup) (filePro 5.8.01.03) *Data Encryption at field and table level. (filePro 5.8.00.03) *Multi Platform - applications created on one operating system can be converted to other platforms easily. (Support for: Windows (32 and 64 Bit), SCO Openserver Unix/Unixware, Linux (32 and 64 Bit), Sun, HP-UX, IBM AIX, IBM eServer iSeries Linux and FreeBSD (64 Bit)) *26 Available Automatic Indexes with 10 Demand Index options *Mathematical Precision - 16 Places to left. 8 places to right of decimal.

Weaknesses

* fP SQL support is read-only ( fP SQL Query and Report Generator ) *Only supports 24 lines of 80 characters *Maximum print width of 255 characters per line

Trivia

* ''

The Big Bang Theory ''The Big Bang Theory'' is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro, all of whom also served as head writers. It premiered on CBS ...

'' pays homage to one of the founding partners of the small Computer Company by naming one of the characters "Howard Wolowitz". (Showrunner Bill Prady was a business partner of Wolowitz's at one time; the actual Wolowitz has appeared in a cameo on the show.)

References

External links

fPTechnologies Official SitefilePro Developer's mailing listTraining Options

Contact Information

Phone: (800) 847-4740 {{DEFAULTSORT:Filepro Proprietary database management systems