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Saving, importing, and exporting data
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 510
Notes
• If the source file is a FileMaker Pro file, you can import only the records in the found set and
skip importing the omitted records. See
FileMaker Pro format.
• Match fields in the target file cannot be container, summary, or unstored calculation fields.
The field type of match fields should correspond to the type of data in the matching field. For
example, number fields should not be matched to fields containing text.
• If all specified match fields in a record are empty, that record will not be updated.
• If a record in the source file matches more than one record in the target file, all matching
records in the found set of the target file will be updated.
• If more than one record in the source file matches a record in the found set of the target file,
the target file will be updated with the last matching record in the source file. (During the
import process, the matching record in the target file is actually updated multiple times —
once by each matching record in the source file — so the last matching source record to
update the matching target record determines its final content.)
• The found set after an update contains the records that were updated (those that matched)
and any new records added, regardless of the found set before update.
Related topics
Importing data into an existing file
Setting the import action and mapping fields during import
About creating a new table for imported data
Setting up recurring imports
About creating a new table for imported data
When importing data into an existing FileMaker Pro file, you can import it into a new table based on
the schema of the imported data. This lets you consolidate tables from multiple files into a single
database file without having to manually re-create the table schemas.
To import data into a new table:
• Set up recurring imports so data accessed from an external file refreshes automatically
when you view imported data for the first time during a FileMaker
Pro session or manually
when you run a data update script. Data imported via recurring import is read-only in
FileMaker
Pro. See Setting up recurring imports.
• Follow the procedures in Importing data into an existing file and choose New Table from the
Target drop-down list in the Import Field Mapping dialog box. The name of the imported
table is the same as the source table name. If the file already has a table with the same
name as the imported table, a number is added to the table’s name.
References to fields in the source table
Imported tables may contain broken references to fields in the file they were imported from. You may
have to resolve these references manually.
Imported references will be maintained if the referenced fields are present in the file you imported
the data into. For example, if Table A has references to Table B, import Table B before Table A to
preserve the references. If you import Table A first, the references will be broken even after you
import Table B.
Notes
• Data cannot be imported into fields of type calculation or summary.