User manual

78 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Converting a data file to a new FileMaker Pro file
You can convert a data file from another application into a new
FileMaker Pro file. The converted file will contain:
1 The data from the file or source you convert
1 Two layouts for displaying the data
1 Converted field names if they are available in the file or source you
convert. Otherwise, field names are generic: f1, f2, f3, and so on.
1 Converted field types if they are available in the file or source you
convert. Otherwise, all fields are text fields.
To import data into a new file:
1. In the source application, save the data you want to import in a file
type that FileMaker Pro supports. See “Supported import/export file
formats” on page 76.
2. Choose File menu > Open.
3. In the Open File dialog box, for Files of type (Windows) or Show
(Mac OS), specify the type of file, choose the file to convert, then
click
Open.
4. If you see the First Row Option dialog box, choose whether the
first row of data contains field names or the first record of data, then
click
OK.
5. If you’re converting a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and the
Specify Excel Data dialog box appears, choose a worksheet or
named range from the workbook file, then click
OK.
6. In the Create a New File Named dialog box, type a name for the
new file, choose a location, then click Save.
FileMaker Pro converts the data to a FileMaker Pro file and displays
the file.
For more information about importing data, see Help.
About the exporting process
You can export FileMaker Pro data to a new file, then open it in
another application.
The basic steps for exporting records are:
1. Open the FileMaker Pro file and display a layout that shows the
records you want to export.
2. Find and sort the records to export. See “Finding records” on
page 23 and “Sorting records” on page 30.
3. Choose File menu > Export Records.
4. In the Export Records to File dialog box, type a name and choose
a location for the exported file, and choose a file type.
5. In the Specify Field Order for Export dialog box, select how you
want FileMaker Pro to export the data.
6. If necessary, choose the character set you want the exported file to
use.
7. Select whether or not to apply the current layout’s formatting to
the exported data.
Fields in the source file
Fields in the
target file
Arrows show that data will
import into the fields at right
Select an import action
For FileMaker
Pro files
containing
multiple tables,
select a table
to import from
= indicates match fields