The name ‘Bento’ is from the traditional Japanese lunch box that compartmentalizes the food in separate sections of the lunch box and such is the name that Filemaker has selected to describe this relatively new database software program which compartmentalizes information.Bento Image

Bento is a simple attractive data base program for the Mac with a fettered interface. Bento can be easily set up to elegantly store and manage basic information such as recipes and CD collections to addresses and memberships. In September, Filemaker released version 3.1 of Bento which integrates with iPhoto to allow you to store specific information about your photos and link them with contacts, projects and events. ‘Bento 3 also delivers new ways to share your information with other Bento users. Just like sharing iTunes and iPhotos over a local area network (LAN) using Apple’s Bonjour technology, you can now share your Bento libraries with up to five users over a wired or wireless local network. You can also encrypt any field and assign passwords to secure your information in Bento 3’…. ‘Bento 3 boasts a new Grid Display for viewing thumbnails of photos, text and numeric-based information, as well as an improved File Lists which shows image thumbnails, instead of only text.


Using Bento for Mac is a bit of a paradigm shift for anyone used to working with Filemaker and other traditional Macintosh programs.

Take the usual Data files for example. Where Filemaker and most other data files are stored where ever you want to store them and can be clicked on to obtain direct access to a particular data file, Bento data files are , a ‘Bento database file is stored in Home/Library/Application Support/Bento. Files in the file list are referenced – Bento does not move or copy them. For example, if you drag a file from the desktop to the file list, the file list stores a pointer to the file on the desktop.’

There is no point in trying to compare Filemaker and Bento as they are completely different programs with entirely different purposes and features. For example, in Filemaker you could ‘find’ a group of records, then select a particular field in one of these ‘found’ record and and make a ‘global’ change to the contents of that field in all these found records. Global changes is a feature not available in Bento.

Another major inconvenience or annoyance with Bento 3.1 and Bento for iPhone is the fact that the only way sync the iPhone with the Desktop is by way of WiFi. I fully expected to be able to sync desktop Bento with iPhone Bento through iTunes and the dock connector, however syncing is only accomplished over WiFi. According to my contacts at Bento, ‘Apple does not provide the necessary APIs to leverage the iTunes sync. We’d love to be able to support this type of syncing if it becomes possible.’ Hopefully, FileMaker will include dock synching or a Bluetooth option as a way to sync the programs in a future update of Bento.

A  feature you will need to get used  to with Bento 3.1 is the way templates are used. When you choose a template design to store your data you need to be able to accept the entire ‘family’ scenerio. Certain template designs are married to particular fonts and particular colour schemes. You are stuck with the fonts and the colours that have been assigned to each other. The one saving grace is that libraries of templates have been created and uploaded to the internet sites which make available additional predesigned choices that one might find more suitable.

To me, the real value of Bento 3.1 is when it is being used in conjunction with Bento App for iPhone. Information in the desktop version of Bento 3.1 can be transferred to the Bento App on your iPhone for ultimate mobility. On the desktop version of Bento, information can be viewed in fancy predesigned template while on the iPhone version of Bento the same information will appear in a more basic list form. Looking at the same information the iPhone will not be as lovely as looking at the information on the desktop version but at least the information is accessible on the iPhone which is the most important objective and makes the effort all worth while.

Transfering data from an existing Filemaker Database to Bento ranges from being very easy to being a little convoluted, depending upon the complexity of the original Filemaker data base. Ultimately with a little research and perseverance, the relevant information can be transferred from Filemaker to Bento 3.1 and thereby be viewed on an iPhone using the Bento iPhone app by way of WiFi.

combining-fields-in-Bento1

Here is a tip for making Bento 3.1 more useful:

In Bento 3.1, should you have need to combine the data from several fields into one field such as ‘First and Last Name and Address Information’ with proper line breaks, here is how to do it:

Create a new CALUCULATION field and use the following formatting:

Name + ” ” + Address

Now put the cursor between the quotes and press <option> + <enter>.

You should see:

Name + ”

” + Address

See diagram

Bento is relatively new to the Market and at this time is relatively feature limited. If you use currently Filemaker on the Mac, you may be frustrated with Bento’s data manipulation limitations, reliance on WiFi for syncing, its inability to sync through iTunes and the packaged pre-configured template designs. A Bento community is rapidly developing, however many users are uploading useful template designs for everyone’s benefit. With the big fish at Filemaker behind its development.

A genuine Bento meal in a box

A genuine Bento meal in a box

With Filemaker releasing revisions and updates for Bento almost as fast as one can chow down a meal in a fast food Japanese sushi bar, Bento will undoubtedly reach maturity before the salmon reach the ocean. Reasonably priced update paths should spawn a loyal Bento user community. Should you wait or buy now? Ultimately, Bento’s solid integration with the iPhone and its ability to provide a way to view your Filemaker information ‘on the road’ makes Bento a practical purchase today rather than later – to make this work you will need to buy both Bento for Mac and Bento for iPhone. Check out the BENTO FREE TRIAL.

Bento  for Mac

Bento for iPhone – purchase through the iPhone store

Bento – $49 single-user version and a $99 5-user family pack.

andPOP Rating - 3.5 stars






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