U.M. (Windows)

Importing and exporting data 8-3
Understanding file formats
Every application uses a file format, the organization of information
within a file. The following table describes the file formats that
FileMaker Pro supports. For more information about the formats, see
FileMaker Pro Help.
Keep these points in mind:
1 If you’re exchanging data with another application, check the
documentation to determine the file formats it supports.
Format Use to
FileMaker Files (.FP3 or
.FM extensions)
Import data from a FileMaker Pro 2.0, 2.1, 3.0 or 4.0 file,
or export to a FileMaker Pro 3.0 or 4.0 file. (If you import
from a FileMaker Pro 2.0 or 2.1 file, the file is first
converted to FileMaker Pro 4.0 format, then the data is
imported. See the FileMaker Pro Installation and New
Features Guide for more information.)
Tab-Separated Text (.TAB or
.TXT extensions)
Exchange data with most applications, including
ClarisImpact. If you aren’t sure which format to use, try
Tab-Separated Text.
Comma-Separated Text (.CSV
or .TXT extensions)
Exchange data with BASIC programs, and applications
like ClarisImpact. This format is also called
Comma-Separated Values (CSV).
SYLK (.SLK extension) Exchange data with many spreadsheet applications
DIF (.DIF extension) Exchange data with spreadsheet programs, like VisiCalc
WKS (.WK1 or .WKS
extensions)
Exchange data with Lotus 1-2-3. FileMaker Pro can
import .WKS and .WK1 files, but can only export to
.WK1 files
BASIC (.BAS extension) Exchange data with Microsoft BASIC programs
Merge (.MER extension) Create personalized documents like form letters. For
example, in Microsoft Word you can combine variable
data (like names and addresses) in a Merge file with text
in a main document. The FileMaker Pro Merge file is
equivalent to a Microsoft Word data source.
ClarisWorks Files (.CWK and
.CWS extensions)
Import data from ClarisWorks 4.0 database files
HTML Table (.HTM extension) Save data as an HTML table for use on a Web page
DBF (.DBF extension) Exchange data with dBASE III and dBASE IV
Excel (.XLS extension) Import data from Microsoft Excel 4.0 through Excel 97