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Saving, importing, and exporting data
F
ILEMAKER PRO HELP 512
• Locked records: If one or more records cannot be changed because they are being
accessed elsewhere — either in another window by the same user or (if the file is shared)
by other clients — then these records are skipped during import.
Importing data into an existing file
You can import data into an existing FileMaker Pro file from another FileMaker Pro file or from a file
created by another application. The records you import become the
found set. When you import,
you can add new records, or update existing or matching records.
Tip If you routinely import data from the same source, you can automate the process by setting up
recurring imports. Data imported via recurring import is read-only in FileMaker Pro. See Setting up
recurring imports.
This topic explains how to import from a file that is in a format that FileMaker Pro supports. To import
from other sources, see the following topics:
To import data into an existing file:
1. In the source application (the application from which you're importing data into
FileMaker
Pro), save the data you want to import in a file type that FileMaker Pro supports.
For a list of supported file types, see Supported import/export file formats.
2. If you’re updating existing or matching records, make a backup copy of the target
FileMaker Pro file that you’re importing into.
Important Updating existing or matching records overwrites data in the target file and
cannot be undone. Choose File menu
> Save a Copy As to make a backup copy of the
target file. Make sure you understand how updating records works. See
Methods of
importing data into an existing file.
3. If you're importing records from a FileMaker Pro file and you want to import certain records
and omit others, open the file and perform a find so that the found set in the current window
contains only the records you want to import.
See Finding records. FileMaker Pro determines the found set to import from the foreground
window in the source file. If you import records from a closed file or an open file that is not
displaying any windows, FileMaker imports all the records, regardless of any found set.
4. Open the FileMaker Pro file you want to import records into (the target file).
5. If the target file contains multiple tables, use the Layout pop-up menu to display a layout
from the table that you want to import data into.
The layout doesn’t have to display all the fields in the table. You will be able to specify the fields
that you want to import to in the Import Field Mapping dialog box.
6. If you’re updating existing or matching records, do the following before you import. (If you’re
adding new records, skip to the next step.)
To import See
A folder of image files or text files all at once Importing a folder of files all at once
Bento data (OS X) Importing Bento data (OS X)
XML data Importing XML data
ODBC data Querying an ODBC data source from FileMaker Pro