Casual fans of the Star Wars films may be unaware that George Lucas's creation has spawned a vast expanded universe of books, comics and games that generates the same passion among followers as the movies themselves do. For authors and designers adding their own contributions to this universe, one of the main challenges is maintaining internal continuity. In order to ensure that there are no contradictions, Lucasfilm operates a massive FileMaker database of all relevant information.
The Holocron is named after a repository of mystical Jedi knowledge and, although the real-world version is more pedestrian, the amount of information that it includes is staggering. Every character, location and notable object from every existing piece of Star Wars fiction is in the database.
"Characters, planets, droids — everything from the movies, from what we now consider 'legends' material, which is all the books that came out before this year, comics, games, trading cards, stuff we've done online, stuff we've done for role-playing games, stuff for toys — that's what I'm tasked with compiling," said Leland Chee, the "Keeper of the Holocron," to NPR.
Lucasfilm higher-ups have only provided the public with glimpses of the Holocron's internal operations. The full contents are strictly secret, since they include information on upcoming works, such as the highly-anticipated sequel trilogy. Chee does point out that there is one higher authority than the Holocron: Lucas himself, who is free to alter continuity at will.
Professional FileMaker database development is a useful asset for any organization that needs to keep track of large amounts of information, no matter how complex. Just as writers must consult the Holocron before making any major additions to the Star Wars universe, businesses can benefit from the insights of a comprehensive FileMaker database.
