User manual

76 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
For more information about sharing files over a network, see Help.
Importing and exporting data
You can exchange information between FileMaker Pro and other
applications by importing and exporting data. You can:
1 import data into an existing FileMaker Pro file
1 convert data from other applications to new FileMaker Pro files
1 export data for use in other applications
Supported import/export file formats
Every application stores its data files in its own file type or file
format. Most applications can also exchange information in certain
other formats.
FileMaker Pro can import and/or export files in these formats:
Microsoft Excel, DBF, DIF, tab-separated text, comma-separated
values, BASIC, FileMaker
Pro 7, Merge, SYLK, WK1/WKS (Lotus
1-2-3), HTML Table, and XML. If you’re exchanging data with
another program, check the documentation that came with that
program to determine a common intermediary file format that both
FileMaker
Pro and the other program support.
Most file formats support data conversion only and do not import or
export formatting such as font, size, style, and color.
For information about file formats and the versions FileMaker Pro
can import and/or export, and importing from sources such as XML
or a digital camera (Mac
OS), see Help.
ODBC and JDBC
You can exchange FileMaker Pro data with ODBC-compliant
applications. For example, you can chart FileMaker
Pro data in
Microsoft Excel. For information about using FileMaker Pro with
ODBC and JDBC, see Help.
Methods of importing data into an existing file
When you import data into an existing file, you can:
1 add new records to the file
1 update existing records in the file
1 update matching records in the file
Important The import options that update existing records and update
matching records both overwrite existing data during the import
process and cannot be undone. To safeguard your data, choose
File
menu >
Save a Copy As to make a backup of the file before you
perform an import that updates records.
The file you import records from is the source. The file you import
records to is the
target.
About adding records
When you add records, you import all records from the source file to
the target file. A new record is created in the target file for each
importable record in the source file.
About updating existing records
With this option, you replace data in your file with data from the
source file. For each field you import into, data from the first
importable record (or row of data) in the source file overwrites fields
in the first record in the target file. Data from the second importable
record (or row of data) in the source file overwrites fields in the
second record in the target file, and so on. When you replace data,
FileMaker
Pro doesn’t examine or compare the data in the files.
Clients do nothing Attempts to close the file after 30
seconds, if it can be closed safely
If FileMaker Pro