Claris have just announced the launch of FileMaker 2024, and there are a whole bunch of exciting new features, including:
- Approximately 200 new issues fixed, to improve performance, compatibility and reliability
- Improved JSON functions and Data API script steps to further simplify integration with other systems
- Support for managing SSL certificates via industry standard Let’s Encrypt, so no more yearly SSL fees
- Enhanced mobile support for FileMaker Go
- Better OData 4.01 compliance to make integration simpler
However, as with all major FileMaker releases, there is always one particular feature that really grabs our attention and makes us excited about continuing to use the platform to deliver amazing results for our clients, and FileMaker 2024 is no exception. In this blog, we’re going to take a closer look at the new feature that we’re most eager to use.
Semantic search using AI
FileMaker 2024’s new Semantic Search features have put the burgeoning power of AI in the hands of end users, by enabling them to ask natural language questions of their apps to get more relevant answers, more quickly.
No longer do users have to try and second-guess how their colleagues might have phrased the data they have entered. No more will they have to cobble together complex queries with multiple find requests or wildcard searches to account for every permutation of a potential search term. With semantic search, they can now enter a single request and allow the power of AI to do the heavy lifting.
How does semantic search work within FileMaker?
With previous FileMaker searches, you were reliant on end users knowing exactly what they wanted to search for. Crucially, it also relied on data being entered consistently into the database in the first place. This is where Semantic Search could prove enormously useful. By using AI to rank data, based on semantic similarity, you can retrieve a more useful set of search results, by also returning records that have a similar meaning to the original search term.
For example, a user might type “military” in a search box and semantic search will not only find records where “military” has been used, but also where any of “army”, “navy”, “air force”, “marines” and “special forces” have been entered, as they are all semantically close to one another.
Under the bonnet – expanding FileMaker’s capacity to leverage AI
From a developers’ perspective, to facilitate this, FileMaker have expanded on the existing capacity for leveraging AI, by releasing a host of new features.
New AI script steps:
- Configure AI account
- Insert embedding
- Insert embedding in found set
- Perform semantic find
- Set AI Call logging
New AI calculation functions:
- CosineSimilarity GetEmbedding
- GetEmbeddingAsFile
- GetEmbeddingAsText
- GetTableDLL
- GetTokenCount
- Get (LastStepTokensUsed)
New FileMaker Server features:
- Support for installing Conda for OpenLLM
My favourite 3 features of FileMaker 24
Here I share my favourite 3 features.
You don’t have to change your workflows
The beauty of all of this, is that you don’t have to do anything to change your company’s workflows, in order to leverage Semantic Search capabilities. You can even access data stored in documents, such as PDFs, by making them searchable with embeddings.
Once Semantic Search has been set up, it will allow FileMaker to query the dataset you already have without any additional hoops to jump through for your end users. And with support for both public or local LLMs, you can have even greater control over your data security and privacy.
Claris have made another giant leap forward in terms of empowering their users to get the most out of their data, more easily. We are incredibly excited to see the benefits that rapidly developing AI tools can bring to our customers, and as usual, Claris have been listening to the development community and have outdone themselves, by enabling us to access these capabilities from within our favourite tech stack: the Claris platform.
This also means that once you set up the Semantic Search functionality, as the AI improves, so does your system.
Comparing FileMaker features across releases. What are you missing out on?
If you haven’t upgraded FileMaker for a while, these are the features you might be missing out on.
You can find more information about version comparisons here on Claris’ website.
Our team have been testing and trialling the new features
Some of our associates have been intimately involved in trialling, testing and refining Claris’ new Semantic Search features, so we’re ready to hit the ground running, now it’s more widely available. If you’d like a free consultation call, to discuss how we can work with you to implement Semantic Search for your data, sign up for a free 1-hour consultation call now.
Need help with licensing? Interested in flexible payments for a hosting and licensing bundle? We can help.
If you need help, we can manage your licence at no extra charge. We also offer a monthly support package for your Claris FileMaker system. This means you can benefit from having your license fees, hosting and support all in one place. Simplify the process, by having only one contract to manage for your system.
If you want to discuss licensing or hosting then give us a call on 020 3744 2580.
For more information about the new release, visit the FileMaker 2024 page on Claris’ website here. If you’re keen to try out the new features, you can download a free trial version of FileMaker 2024 here.
If you want a deeper dive into the new features of FileMaker 2024, Claris will be setting up some free webinars, which will cover Semantic Search and some of the other generative AI features. Keep an eye out for further announcements soon.
We Know Data is a Claris Business Alliance Platinum Partner
We Know Data is a Claris Business Alliance Platinum Partner with a team of Certified FileMaker Developers. If you need help with an existing FileMaker System or you are looking at a new digital solution for your organisation get in touch. We offer a Free 1 Hour Consultation.
