The fmSpark screencast that Ernest and Mike did with Matt Petrowsky at DevCon 2008 is now available on the FileMaker Magazine website. This is an in-depth, real time demo of fmSpark functionality, and a perfect introduction to what fmSaprk can do. Ernest and Mike did a very nice job showing it off!

Ernest, Mike and Steve spent 30 minutes yesterday with Dan Weiss of Adatasol recording a podcast interview that is available here and on iTunes. We covered a wide range of topics, including our journey with fmSpark, our relationship with SeedCode, and in an unplanned but fun moment, our first public announcement of some of our upcoming products (near the end).

Wow. That was cool... This morning Andy Lecates, the Systems Engineer Manager for FileMaker, Inc., featured fmSpark among a handful of great examples of the cool things that can be done with FileMaker 9 during his portion of the opening keynote address. He spent several minutes showing off how fmSpark can be used to create and send an HTML email, save templates, and manage recipients.

If you are like most FileMaker users you use your database to produce merge letters. In fact, I think that the ability to easily produce documents with merged data is one reason many people choose the FileMaker platform. And it works great. Except when you need to have the same letter but with a different paragraph. Or a different sentence. Or a different addressee. Then you are headed for layout mode. Duplicate the layout and change it. Or change the layout with the intention of changing it back. Or create a new one and rename it, say Steve's letter...

Wow. It has been fun watching fmSpark get started. The response to our initial announcement and press releases has been awesome. We have seen the fmSpark release published all over the place. We have received several supportive emails from other developers congratulating us on fmSpark.