User manual

Chapter 4
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Sharing and exchanging data 87
5. Choose File menu > Import Records > File, and choose the name of
the file that contains the data you want to import (the source file).
6. In the Import Field Mapping dialog box, if necessary, select a table
from the Source drop-down list.
7. Accept the table shown in the Target drop-down list, or select New
Table
to create a table with the same schema as the source table.
8. Select the type of import to perform. See “Methods of importing
data into an existing file” on page 85.
9. Map the fields in the source file to the fields in the target file.
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 85.
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.
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
Select a table
to import from
= indicates match fields
Import to
Current Table
or New Table