ODBC and JDBC Developer’s Guide

Introduction 9
Using FileMaker Pro as a client application
You can use FileMaker Pro as an ODBC client application, interacting with data sources on the same computer
or over a network.
Limitations with third-party tools
Microsoft SQL Server
1 When you export decimal, float, money, or numeric data to a FileMaker database file, the auto-enter field
option Calculated value is set in the database. The option truncates values to zero decimal places using the
calculation
Truncate(fieldname;0). If you deselect the option in the created database and then repeat the
export, the auto-enter field option remains deselected.
1 You cannot export double-byte characters from SQL Server Enterprise Manager to a FileMaker database
file; however, you can import double-byte character into a FileMaker database file.
Updating files from previous versions
FileMaker Pro 7 can open files created in earlier versions of FileMaker. See the Converting FileMaker
Databases from Previous Versions
guide for information.
FileMaker Server 7 can host only FileMaker Pro 7 databases files and cannot host or convert earlier versions
of FileMaker
Pro database files.
If you previously shared a FileMaker database file as a data source
If you used LDAC (Local Data Access Companion) or RDAC (Remote Data Access Companion) to share a
database file in previous versions, you’ll need to make two changes. First, you need to set up users to belong
to an account that has the extended privilege of
Access via ODBC/JDBC (as part of the account’s privilege set).
Then, you need to enable your FileMaker
Server or FileMaker Pro host for ODBC/JDBC sharing (in
FileMaker
Pro, choose Edit menu > Sharing > ODBC/JDBC and turn on sharing).
See FileMaker Pro Help for details about sharing via ODBC/JDBC, and for setting up accounts and privilege
sets.
Note In previous versions of FileMaker Server and FileMaker Pro, you needed to create only one DSN (Data
Source Name) for the host application when configuring a driver for access via ODBC. The one DSN allowed
you to access any of your FileMaker database files as a data source. Now you must create a DSN for each
individual FileMaker database file you want to access as a data source. If you have previously set up access
through one DSN that allows tables to be spread among several FileMaker database files, you’ll need to
consolidate those tables into a single database file (or create several DSNs).
If you previously used FileMaker Pro as a client to access a data source
The drivers you configured to access the data source should still work. However, to take full advantage of new
drivers provided by FileMaker, you need to re-define your driver configurations.
FileMaker includes client drivers for the following ODBC data sources:
1 Text (Windows and Mac OS)
1 Oracle 9i Release 2 (Windows and Mac OS)
1 SQL Server 2000 (Mac OS)
1 FileMaker Pro 7 (Windows)