We have a turnkey system running on Filemaker Pro 5.0 Server.
The bigger powers that be have decided we need an "enterprise-wide
solution", so it means I need to export all our FileMaker data out, in
a way that a consultant we're working with can easily import them into
the new system. I'll be sad to see FileMaker go, but that's out of my
hands.

Anyway, I initially was doing manual data Exports, then opening the
data files in Excel and cleaning them up. Finally, I'd open them up in
MS Access for the last look-see, and send them off. But this is taking
an enormous amount of time. lots of files, lots of data, I'm no
scripting genius. The consultant suggested I look at ODBC to MS
Access. I looked at it, can't really figure out where to start first,
and most everything I've Googled says that ODBC and FMP 5.0 is really
bad.

So, how can I do this data export better/easier?

<barbie.gee (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

I'm working with a soon-to-be-former client transitioning to a
proprietary SQL system from my FM system. It's actually the
responsibility of the consultant doing the transition to do the data
mapping.

I gave her a test export from the significant data files, including ONLY
data fields and key fields. Don't include all the infrastructure fields
in FM, the calcs, globals, etc. It's up to her (and the client) to
determine which fields in FM go into which fields in her new db. I
exported for her in tab-delimited form, opened in Excel, and then saved
in both formats. It should be a simple enough job, done once for
practice, and ONCE when the final switchover is done.

If for some reason you're having to do this over and over, your
transition process needs to be looked at. If you're going to be keeping
the FM running in parallel with the enterprise solution, look into XML
(maybe upgrading the export machine only to FM6) rather than ODBC.
Writing a couple of XSLT style sheets has got to be easier than trying
to get FM to act as an ODBC source. I've actually heard from people
who've tried it that with anything other than single record inquiries,
getting 5.0 to do it is impossible, and with 6 it's spectacularly slow.

Good luck...and don't hold your breath. Those enterprise systems
typically take 3 times as long and cost 6 times as much as they said
before they get into production. And meanwhile, the crappy old
"obsolete, toy" FM system keeps plugging away....

Lynn Allen
--
Allen & Allen Semiotics www.semiotics.com
FSA Associate Filemaker Design & Consulting