Chaparral Software has announced an upgrade to Brushfire, its script analysis utility for intermediate and advanced FileMaker Pro users, developers and DBAs at Macworld San Francisco this week. Version 1.5 is now in beta testing, but should be finished by the end of the month.
Brushfire, a cross platform tool, detects and organizes FileMaker Pro script errors, details, and cross-reference information from all files of a FileMaker Pro 5.0 (or above) solution. With Brushfire, users debug, clean-up, and document their FileMaker Pro based solutions conveniently and quickly, Russell Kohn of Chaparral told MacCentral.
“Brushfire is the fastest tool available for analyzing FileMaker Pro Scripts and is the only cross-platform tool that completely traces script calls between all files of a FileMaker Pro solution,” he said. “Brushfire typically processes even complex solutions in under a minute. And it shows rich, detailed reports.”
Kohn said version 1.5 would be a “substantial upgrade” that would let you search all scripts with a script search capability that lets you find text in any script line. The Mac and Windows version will share the same screen interface, and Brushfire will display search results in a permanent list that you can view anytime you want. The new version will sport a mechanism that lets larger solutions to be partially analyzed.
“You can take ‘slices’ of files and analyze them,” he said. “And you can generate specialized reports that can show reports that deal with layout dependent script steps, platform dependent scrip steps, sequel statements, delete statements, color coding in script details, and more.”
System requirements are a Power Mac running OS 8.6-9.x, FileMaker Pro 5.0 or later, and a CSS-1 compatible Internet Browser. Kohn said that a Mac OS X version is under consideration, but there are some technical issues that must be resolved before its feasible. Meanwhile, it will in Classic mode under Mac OS X.
Chaparral is also announcing a new product called Brushfire Lite, which is basically the same as Brushfire 1.04 (the current version), but with script searching added but files limited to five. Also due at the end of the month, Brushfire Lite shares the same engine with Brushfire, but is designed to be less expensive.
Brushfire 1.5 will cost US$249.95, although it’s available for $179 for a limited time; the Lite version will be $79.95. Upgrades and crossgrades will be offered.
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