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Accessing external data sources
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ILEMAKER PRO HELP 555
Limitations on working with ODBC data sources
• You cannot change the schema of external ODBC data sources. However, you can add
supplemental fields to do calculations and summaries on data from ODBC tables. See
Using supplemental fields.
• Fields from ODBC data sources can be used in value lists, but character large objects
(CLOBs) such as long text strings are not supported.
• For value lists with ODBC data, the No access privilege and Limited custom privilege are
not supported. To prohibit a user from seeing ODBC data in a value list, you must enforce
row-level security in the external SQL database. See
Editing value list privileges.
• The SQL Server Timestamp data type is not supported.
• Binary large objects (BLOBs) such as pictures and sounds are not supported.
• When you’re working with external tables in the Fields tab of the Manage Database dialog
box, the following field options are not supported. See
Setting options for fields for
information on field options.
• On the Auto-Enter tab, you can auto-enter serial numbers when you create records,
but not when you commit records. (The external database controls how records are
committed.) When a
lookup is to related data in an ODBC data source, copy next
lower value and copy next higher value are disabled.
• On the Validation tab, Unique value and Existing value are disabled. The Maximum
number of characters allowed in a field is determined by the external data source.
• The Storage tab is disabled.
• FileMaker cannot control validation and other options that ODBC administrators set. See
Updating data between FileMaker and ODBC data sources for information on how field
options are affected in Sync operations.
• FileMaker files linked to ODBC data sources don’t inherent relationships that are created in
the ODBC data sources.
Notes
• You can apply conditional formatting to data from external fields. See Defining conditional
formatting for layout objects.
• When FileMaker Server hosts databases linked to ODBC data sources, FileMaker clients do
not need to set up a DSN to access the external data source. However, the DSN must be
set up on the machine running FileMaker
Server.
• FileMaker does not use SQL set semantics on queries. FileMaker may execute one query
for each related table on a layout. If you want to retain certain SQL join behavior or obtain
the results of SQL predicates such as GROUP BY, create views. Then access the data from
FileMaker through those views. (Views are sometimes called “virtual tables.”)
• Long queries, attempts to scroll the entire ODBC table, or opening a large table can result in
slower performance.
• Microsoft SQL Server: By default, DATETIME, DATETIME2, and SMALLDATETIME data
from ODBC tables is imported as the timestamp field type. You can change the field type of
a timestamp shadow field to either date or time, but the data must be structured in a specific
manner. If the imported ODBC table contains timestamp data and you treat the timestamp
field as a date field, the time portion must equal 12:00 AM (or midnight) for all records in the
table. Likewise, if you import an ODBC table that contains timestamp data and you treat the
timestamp field as a time field, the date portion must equal 1900-01-01 (or January 1, 1900)
for all records in the table.