I am trying to help my wife with a Filemaker database for her job. I
have 10 years of db experience, but have never used FIlemaker. The
database is only 4 tables. I tried unsuccessfully to export the data.
There is not much data in the db. A simple control-c, control-v would
suffice, but Filemaker somehow kills this function. I tried exporting
into .xls, .csv, .tab and .dbf, but I get lots of junk in every export.
How do I perform a simple export of the data out of Filemaker so that
I can get the data into SQL Server. I can see the data in Filemaker,
and if I could get that data into SQL Server, I could do everything I
need in 2 hours or less. I dont have the time to learn the ins and
outs of the Filemaker software.

Thanks.

Archer

Which version of Filemaker?

In Filemaker 8 onwards you can save FileMaker Pro data as an Excel file
in all modes except Find mode. The Excel file will only include fields
that are visible on the layout when you perform the save (including any
related fields). Fields in tab panels that are not in front are not
included. All the records in a repeating field will be exported into a
single cell. If you want more control over which fields appear in the
Excel file, then use the Export Records command instead. For more
information, see Exporting data from FileMaker Pro.

regards
Robert Jackson
http://rjacksonfilemaker.ning.com/













bagman3rd wrote:

Sharing FileMaker Pro data via ODBC or JDBC
FileMaker Pro can serve as a data source for sharing your database
files with ODBC-and JDBC-compliant applications.

Important Prevent data from being inadvertently modified or deleted:
other applications can update and delete unprotected, shared data.
Review the privilege sets you've assigned to accounts that will access
shared database files. As a minimum level of protection, specify
database file accounts and passwords.

To share databases using ODBC or JDBC:

1. Open the database files.
To enable or change a file's sharing status, you must open it with an
account that has Manage extended privileges access privileges. See
About accounts, privilege sets, and extended privileges for more
information.

2. Open the ODBC/JDBC Sharing Settings dialog box and enable ODBC/JDBC.
Windows: choose Edit menu > Sharing > ODBC/JDBC. Mac OS: choose
FileMaker Pro menu > Sharing > ODBC/JDBC.

3. Select the filename(s) to share from the list of open files. Each
FileMaker Pro database file can have one or more tables. FileMaker Pro
fields are represented as columns. The complete field name, including
any non-alphanumeric characters, displays as the column name. Avoid
using spaces in the field names of database files you intend to share
via ODBC and JDBC, because some SQL query tools don't allow spaces in
column names.

4. Choose which users can access the file: Choose this To provide
access to these users
All users Users from any account. Specify users by privilege set Users
with accounts assigned one of the selected privilege sets. Click
Specify to select the privileges that accounts must have to access the
shared database file. Accounts that need access to the database file
require the extended privilege of Access via ODBC/JDBC.Users must enter
their account name and password defined in Accounts and Privileges. No
users
This default setting prevents any user from accessing the database
using ODBC/JDBC.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each database you want to publish.

6. Click OK or choose additional settings.

Each FileMaker Pro database file that is open and set up for access is
a separate data source (create a DSN for each individual FileMaker
database file you want to access).

For details about supported SQL statements, expressions, Catalog
functions, and client drivers, see the FileMaker ODBC and JDBC
Developer's Guide and Installing FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Client Drivers
in the \xDBC\Electronic Documentation folder on your FileMaker Pro CD.
Updates to these documents are available at www.filemaker.com/odbc.

Note In Windows, Microsoft Access can import only 32 or fewer fields
at one time via ODBC from a FileMaker Pro database file.

Important If you disable ODBC/JDBC sharing after it's already been on,
FileMaker Pro stops serving data immediately. No errors are reported,
and the client application must notify users that data is no longer
available and transactions cannot be completed.






















bagman3rd wrote:

- You don't say what version of FileMaker you're using
- FileMaker doesn't "kill" Control-C or Control-V
- You don't say what steps you followed
- You don't mention what so-called "junk" you get when you export
- Exports from FileMaker in all those formats have worked just fine, without
drama, for years
- Problem lies between keyboard and chair

Not only can't you take the time to learn the "ins and outs" of the
software, you apparently can't take the time to formulate a decent question.
Just swap the terms "FileMaker" and "SQL Server" in your original text to
see how ridiculous you're being.

Have your wife come online and post her question herself; we'll help her get
it done in FileMaker.

"bagman3rd" <bagman3rd (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

Control-C is copy, Control-V is paste. Neither one have anything to do with exporting anything. If all you need to do is copy and paste the contents of a field, the pair should work quite well.

From Help:

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. (...Snip...) For information about finding and sorting records, see Finding records and Sorting records.
3. Choose File menu > Export Records.
4. In the Export Records to File dialog box, type a name and choose a location for the file. If you're exporting to XML and applying an XSLT style sheet during export, give the filename an extension that corresponds to the transformed file's format, such as .txt, .htm, or .xml, so that different operating systems can recognize the file correctly. If another file with the same name already exists in the same location, the exported file replaces the existing file.
5. Choose a file type from Save as type (Windows) or Type (Mac OS), then click Save.

I (and many others) do the above regularly, both manually and scripted, from both Windows and Mac. I don't get "junk" (quality of data considered).

Matt

On 11/28/2006 13:16:35 "bagman3rd" <bagman3rd (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Bill:

If you are so smart, why are you still using Filemaker, rather than a
real database, such as Postgresql, SQL Server, Oracle or Informix?

Fucking loser! Get a life and a real job where you dont have to defend
your lame-ass software that you consider yourself an expert in.

A


Bill Marriott wrote:

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try them later tonight.

In Access or SQL Server, I can select all columns and rows in a table,
then use control-c and control-v to copy all the data(not just one
field, but all rows and columns) into a text file, which is essentially
exporting the data. As I said, it is only 4 tables with a couple
hundred rows each.

I am using Filemaker 8.0, and the junk I got looked like this:

,"","","","","","Accept","","Carlson","", "","","","","","","","3 .733978688197022","4.3945","3.18450704225352","3.3 699392007784491","Dubuque,
IA","3/20/1978","","","","USA","","3.567","","","","","","", "","","MS","MS","","","","","","","",""," ","","","","","","Seth","","","","","","","",""," ","","","","","","3.73397868819702 2","","","","","","","","481.775","","","" ,"744.5","","","","","","","523.5","","","","Mur ray","E","","","","","","","","","","","","","", "","","","","","","","","",""," ","","","","","","","" ,"","","","","","",""," ","","","","Spring
2002","","Spring 2002","","Male","521-33-3312","","","White, not
Hispanic
Orig","","","","","","","","",""," ","","","","","","","","ME","3.184507042253 52","96-01","BS","3.18450704225352","142","452 .2","","CU
Boulder","","","","","Seth Murray","","",""

when doing a simple export to a csv file.

I tried what Matt suggested a couple of times(.csx, .txt, .xls, .dbf)
already with no luck.

A



Matt Wills wrote:

LOL

Who says I don't use those products, when I want to inflict needless pain
and suffering?

Judging from your other reply, where you actually provide some useful
information, the square symbols are likely to represent returns within text
fields (ASCII 11) or delimiters marking repeating field items (ASCII 29)....
Which you would have found out if you read the documentation/help file.
(Search on "Comma-Separated" for example.)

For the repeating fields, you probably want to split those into individual
records. For the returns, you want to use the Trim() and Substitute()
functions to clean up the extraneous characters prior to export. FileMaker's
going to export whatever is in the fields, junk or not.

Control-C will copy the contents of the entire active record to the
clipboard. To copy all records in the found set, hold down Shift as you
press Control-C (or as you choose Copy from the Edit menu). This is also in
the help file.

As for why I use FileMaker, it for the most part keeps me from having to
deal with self-important IT-types who can't be bothered to read manuals
before they go trolling in newsgroups.

"bagman3rd" <bagman3rd (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

First real jerk I've seen on cdf which has been pleasantly free of
trolls, except for the 300 posts about MI5 today.

You're too nice Bill.

G