ODBC and JDBC Developer’s Guide

Chapter 1
Introduction
Welcome to the FileMaker
®
ODBC and JDBC Developer’s Guide. This guide explains concepts and details to
help you share FileMaker data with other applications, using ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) and JDBC
(Java Database Connectivity). This guide also documents how the ODBC and JDBC client drivers, when used
with FileMaker
Pro and FileMaker Server Advanced, support the industry standards for ODBC, JDBC, and
SQL (Structured Query Language).
You can use FileMaker Pro, FileMaker Server Advanced, or FileMaker Developer to create and test your
database solution. You can then share your FileMaker database solution as a data source with ODBC- and
JDBC-compliant applications, or access other ODBC data sources using your FileMaker database solution as
a client application.
About this guide
1 This document contains information to access and share data using ODBC and JDBC with FileMaker Pro 7,
FileMaker
Developer 7, and FileMaker Server 7 Advanced only. For information on using ODBC and
JDBC with previous versions of FileMaker
Pro, download documents from www.filemaker.com/odbc.
1 This guide assumes that you are familiar with the basics of using ODBC and JDBC, and constructing SQL
queries. Refer to a third-party book for more information on these topics.
1 For step-by-step information on FileMaker Pro features, including accessing other data sources via ODBC
and an ODBC import example, refer to FileMaker Pro Help.
1 FileMaker Pro documentation uses the term web publishing to refer to databases that users can access on
the Internet or on an intranet using a web browser.
1 This guide uses “FileMaker Pro” to refer to both FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Developer, unless describing
specific FileMaker Developer features.
1 This guide uses “FileMaker Server” to refer to FileMaker Server 7 Advanced, which supports sharing
FileMaker database files with other applications using ODBC and JDBC.
Important You can download PDFs of FileMaker 7 documentation from www.filemaker.com. Any updates to
this document are also available from www.filemaker.com/odbc.
Using ODBC and JDBC with FileMaker
ODBC and JDBC are application programming interfaces (APIs). These APIs give client applications a
common language for interacting with a variety of data sources and database services, including FileMaker Pro
and FileMaker
Server.
All applications that support ODBC and JDBC recognize a basic subset of SQL statements. Working with
SQL, you can use other applications (like spreadsheets, word processors, and reporting tools) to view, analyze,
and modify FileMaker data.
SQL is passed through the ODBC and JDBC interfaces to the FileMaker host of the data source, performing
queries such as
SELECT first_name, last_name FROM customers WHERE city='Paris' and making
updates such as the creation of a new record with INSERT INTO customers (first_name, last_name)
VALUES ('Jane','Smith').