What is the fastest and easiest way to learn the program "FileMaker"?

I know a moderate amount of Microsoft Word, a little of Excel and now ( for a new job, I will be starting soon) I need to learn FileMaker. I am afraid that at the minimum the prerequisite for "FileMaker" would be to be proficient in Word and Excel.


Not sure which would be the best route to take.....buying the software program and trying to teach myself at home....try to find a place that offers the course locally (although the timing for when these classes start may be off for me).....find a tutor ( don't know where to start with that)....????


Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks


Cindy

What is the fastest and easiest way to learn the program "FileMaker"?
FileMaker is an old "database" program from Apple. More recent versions (8.5 seems to be the latest) have more complex features.





Learning FileMaker is really two things: how to use a database built with it AND how to be a "programmer." The later isn't really programming, but in learning how to create new FileMaker databases.





If you're someone that can learn from a book, I'd suggest getting a book. Try amazon.com. The www.filemaker.com web site has an offer for a free eBook, as well as a free trial of the software. I'd suggest exploring that web site and taking advantage of any free downloads.
Reply:Jay's answer is excellent!





The only thing I would add is that I found FileMaker much more intuitive, especially in basic data entry than Access. However, I found that generating some of the more advanced Reports was not very user friendly.





I found "FileMaker Pro - The Missing Manual" by Geoff Coffey %26amp; Susan Prosser (Pogue Press) and Creating a Database in Filemaker Pro by Steve Schwartz (sort of a quick-start guide) both pretty helpful.