ODBC and JDBC Guide

Chapter 2 | Accessing external SQL data sources 11
Working with ODBC tables in the relationships graph
When you add an ODBC table to the relationships graph, you can connect to and work with data
in external SQL data sources in much the same way that you work with data in the current, active
FileMaker database file.
When you use FileMaker Pro Advanced or FileMaker Server as the host for a solution that
includes ODBC tables in the relationships graph, you configure the ODBC client driver for the
external SQL data source on the host machine.
Data sources supported
As an ODBC client application, FileMaker supports external SQL data sources such as Oracle,
Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL Community Edition as ODBC tables in the relationships graph.
For information about the supported external SQL data sources, search the FileMaker
Knowledge
Base.
Adding ODBC tables to the relationships graph
To set up a FileMaker Pro Advanced database to access data in supported ODBC data sources:
1. Install and configure specific ODBC drivers for the external data sources you want to access.
2. On the computer that hosts the current FileMaker Pro Advanced file, define a system DSN for
each ODBC data source you want to access.
3. Determine any additional considerations for ODBC data sources you want to access (for
example, whether users are prompted for a user name and password).
4. Add one or more tables from the ODBC data source to the relationships graph in the current
FileMaker Pro Advanced file.
5. Add fields to layouts in the FileMaker Pro Advanced file to display external data.
6. Optionally, add supplemental fields to external tables and layouts to display calculation and
summary results based on data stored in external ODBC data sources.
See FileMaker Pro Advanced Help for detailed steps and additional information on configuring an
ODBC client driver, connecting to ODBC data sources, editing ODBC data sources, and setting
up an ODBC table in the relationships graph.
SQL data
source
Driver
manager
FileMaker Pro
Advanced
user
Client
driver
FileMaker Pro
Advanced
user
FileMaker Pro
Advanced
user
FileMaker Pro
Advanced,
Server, or
Cloud host