What is the crowd's opinion of Claris FileMaker?

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For the most part they will be fine. The current script workspace was introduced in 14 and hasn't changed much. Version 15 was not too interesting IMHO. Version 16 introduced JSON and card windows and some other good stuff but it's just additional, in general it's very similar to 14. 17 not real interesting with the exception of the new master detail portal. This may help:

https://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-pro-advanced/version-comparison.html

What version is the server you are trying to connect to? We have seen this behavior if the server is not one of the 17 supported ones, which are FileMaker Server 17, 16, and 15 (https://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-pro-advanced/17-technical-specifications.html).

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In addition to a server version mismatch we have also seen this when the install of 17 was bad, a reinstall fixed it in those cases. Make sure you are installing 17v4.

FileMaker 18 can still connect to FM Server 16 hosts. Is there a problem hosting a file for development on triple8?

https://www.filemaker.com/products/filemaker-pro-advanced/18-technical-specifications.html