User manual

Table Of Contents
Chapter 1 | Introducing FileMaker Pro 12
Sharing and exchanging data
A benefit of storing data in FileMaker Pro is sharing your data with others. You can share your data
with other FileMaker
Pro or FileMaker Go users on a network and import or export data from
another file. In addition, you can use ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) and JDBC (Java
Database Connectivity) to share FileMaker
Pro files with ODBC- and JDBC-compliant
applications, or you can access data from external data sources. If you have FileMaker
Server,
you can use FileMaker
WebDirect to publish solutions hosted by FileMaker Server to share data
over the web.
If your computer is connected to a network, you and other FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Go users
can use the same FileMaker
Pro file simultaneously. FileMaker Pro Network sharing supports the
sharing of files with up to 5 concurrent users.
Note To support more users and web publishing technologies such as XML, PHP, and
FileMaker
WebDirect, you must use FileMaker Server.
You can set up a FileMaker Pro file to automatically update data imported from another
application, such as Microsoft Excel. When you open a FileMaker
Pro file, this recurring import
occurs automatically the first time you view the layout containing the data from the external file.
As you continue to work in the file, you can run a script to update data on the layout.
For more information about sharing and exchanging data, see chapter 5, “Sharing data.”
Saving and sending data in other formats
FileMaker Pro lets you save data in different file formats, such as Microsoft Excel worksheets and
PDF files, so you can give the files to users who do not have FileMaker
Pro. You can automatically
email the files after saving them. For more information, see
“Saving and sending data in other
formats” on page 109.