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Saving, importing, and exporting data
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ILEMAKER PRO HELP 526
imported remain in the target file (the import is not reversed). To permanently delete the
records already imported, choose Records menu
> Delete All Records.
• The records you import become the found set. After importing, check the data in the found
set. Choose Records menu
> Show All Records.
• If you’re updating records, be sure your records are correct before discarding the backup
copy of the file.
Converting a data file to a new FileMaker Pro file
You can convert a data file from another application into a new FileMaker Pro file. FileMaker Pro
imports the data and creates a new FileMaker
Pro file. This converted FileMaker Pro file will contain:
• The data from the file or source you convert.
• Two layouts for displaying the data: a Standard form layout and a List view layout.
• Converted field names if they are available in the file or source you convert. Otherwise, field
names are generic: f1, f2, f3, and so on. (Field names convert from Bento, Microsoft Excel,
FileMaker
Pro, DBF, Merge, ODBC, and XML formats.)
• Converted field types (text, number, date, and so on) if they are available in the file or
source you convert. Otherwise, all fields are text fields. (Field types convert from Bento,
FileMaker
Pro, Microsoft Excel, ODBC, DBF, and XML formats.)
For information on importing data into an existing file, see Importing data into an existing file.
Note For information on converting Bento data into a new file, see Importing Bento data (OS X).
To import data into a new 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. Use one of the following methods to open the data file:
• In FileMaker Pro, choose File menu > Open.
• In the FileMaker Quick Start Screen, click Convert an Existing File.
• Drag the data file onto the FileMaker Pro application.
3. In the Create a New File Named dialog box or Open dialog box (Windows) or Open File
(OS
X) dialog box, for Files of type (Windows) or Show (OS X), specify the type of file (if
needed), choose the file to convert, then click Open.
4. If you see the First Row Option dialog box, choose whether the first row of data contains
field names or the first record of data, then click OK.
5. If you’re converting a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the Specify Excel Data dialog box
appears, choose a worksheet or named range from the workbook file, then click OK.
6. In the Create a New File Named dialog box, type a name for the new file, choose a location,
then click Save.
FileMaker Pro converts the data to a FileMaker Pro file and displays the file.
Notes
• If the file you’re converting is large, you may see an Importing dialog box that shows the
progress of the import process. To stop importing, click Stop. However, FileMaker
Pro still
creates a file containing a partial set of the converted data.