User manual

Chapter 5 | Sharing and exchanging data 134
5. Choose File menu > Import Records > File, and choose the name of the file that contains the
data you want to import (the source file).
6. In the Import Field Mapping dialog box, if necessary, select a table from the Source list.
7. Accept the table shown in the Target list, or select New Table to create a table with the same
schema as the source table.
8. Select the type of import to perform. See “Methods of importing data into an existing file” on
page 132.
9. Map the fields in the source file to the fields in the target 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. The converted
file will contain:
1 The data from the file or source you convert
1 Two layouts for displaying the data
1 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.
1 Converted field types if they are available in the file or source you convert. Otherwise, all fields
are text fields.
To import data into a new file:
1. In the source application, save the data you want to import in a file type that FileMaker Pro
supports. See
“Supported import/export file formats” on page 130.
2. Choose File menu > Open.
3. In the Open File dialog box, for Files of type (Windows) or Show (OS X), specify the type of
file, 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.
Fields in the
source file
Fields in the
target file
Arrows show that data will
import into the fields at right
Select an import action
Select a table to
import from
indicates match fields
Import to the current
table or a new table