User manual

Chapter 5 | Sharing and exchanging data 130
Importing and exporting data
You can exchange information between FileMaker Pro and other applications by importing and
exporting data. You can:
1 import data into an existing FileMaker Pro file, either into a new table or into an existing table
1 convert data from other applications to new FileMaker Pro files
1 export data for use in other applications
Saving and sending data in other formats
You can save FileMaker Pro data as a Microsoft Excel worksheet or a PDF file, allowing you to
give your record data to users who don’t have FileMaker
Pro.
FileMaker Pro lets you email the Excel worksheet or PDF file when you save it. You can also
create scripts to save records as Excel or PDF.
In order to save files as Excel, you need the Allow Exporting Access privilege. To save files as PDF,
you need the Allow Printing Access privilege.
Note The saved file will only include fields that are on the layout when you perform the save. If
you want to include other fields (for example, fields on tab panels that are not in front), use the
Export Records command instead of Save/Send Records As.
Sending email messages based on record data
You can use FileMaker Pro to send one message, or multiple messages, to one or more
recipients. Generated email is sent using your default email application or directly through SMTP
(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a set of criteria for sending and receiving email). You can enter
values, or use values from fields or calculations. You can also create scripts to send email.
Supported import/export file formats
Every application stores its data files in its own file type or file format. Most applications can also
exchange information in certain other formats.
FileMaker Pro can import and/or export files in these formats, followed by their filename
extensions: Microsoft Excel (.xlsx), tab-separated text (.tab, .txt), comma-separated values (.csv,
.txt), FileMaker
Pro 12 (.fmp12), Merge (.mer), HTML table (.htm), and XML (.xml). You can also
import Bento data into FileMaker
Pro. If you’re exchanging data with another program, check the
documentation that came with that program to determine a common intermediary file format that
both FileMaker
Pro and the other program support.
Most file formats support data conversion only and do not import or export formatting such as font,
size, style, and color.
For information about supported file formats for importing and exporting, see Help.
Setting up recurring imports
You can set up a FileMaker Pro file to automatically update data imported from another
application, such as Microsoft Excel. A recurring import occurs automatically the first time you view
the layout containing the data from the external file. Later, you can run a script to update data.
Keep the following points in mind:
1 Data imported via recurring import is read-only in FileMaker Pro.