I want to export my filemaker data to a .dbf file that I will then
import into an Excel spreadsheet. Using this spreadsheet, I can generate
labels using Avery label Wizard. The difficulty is that some of the text
data are too long to fit on the label. I just want to truncate them or
limit the length to say 20 characters so that they will fit on the
label. I don't see any way to do this in either filemaker before or
during export or in excel. Does anyone have a solution for this problem?

create a calculated field

cExportField < result = text >
Left ( Myfield ; 20 )

And use this field for export. (And by all means have a look at the
helpfile)

Ursus

<nospam (AT) pacbell (DOT) net> schreef in bericht
news:AN9%g.16958$vJ2.3270 (AT) newssvr12 (DOT) news.prodigy.com...

Why not use filemaker for the labels... most avery products are listed in
layout setup

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"Ursus" <ursus.kirk (AT) wanadoo (DOT) nl> wrote

I agree, I make labels from Filemaker all the time. Most of the Avery
templates are available. And, when they are not, it is not difficult
to format for the template you need.

Also, if you do make the labels from Excel, why go through .dbf file
type? Just go from Filemaker to Excel.
TK

nospam (AT) pacbell (DOT) net wrote:

Thanks for your help. I looked at the help, several books, Internet,
etc., but this issue didn't seemed to be addressed anywhere. I was
hoping there was a way to do this without adding fields to my database
but your solution works at any rate.

Ursus wrote:

These are good questions! Unless I missed something, it is not possible
to export to Excel 2003 from Windows version of FilemakerPro 7, nor is
it possible to import a FilemakerPro file of any kind into Windows Excel
2003. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

Good idea on printing labels from within FileMaker. I didn't know they
were there. However, I need to generate additional labels by hand that
are part of the set and not based on records in the database. I can add
these very quickly in Excel. These are inventory labels for a static
inventory, and will only need to be generated once or twice. I will try
label generation in FM though, just to see what it's like.

Thanks for your help,

David



TKnTexas wrote:

OK, I tried labels from within FileMaker, and for my particular
purposes, label generation is far better using Avery Wizard via Excel.
I'm using a 6 pt. font on small labels, and like many other UI display
problems in FM for Windows, rendering is very poor, in fact illegible,
especially when zoomed big enough to read. I have no problem
reading/zooming Times New Roman 6 pt using MS Office and Avery Wizard.

TKnTexas wrote:

nospam (AT) pacbell (DOT) net wrote:
Hi Nospam! You are doing it wrong. Don't do data entry on your label
layout, silly. Make a data entry layout for data entry, then make a
label layout for printing your labels.

As a bit of general, yet very valuable advice: If at any point in your
FileMaker career you are thinking that it is easier and better to
export your data from FileMaker to Excel for the purpose of printing
labels, you are doing something very wrong.

I sense some FileMaker hostility in your wording, which as a long time
FM developer I can understand on some levels. And as a Mac developer to
boot, I can definitely sympathize with your rendering comment. However,
even I as primarily a Mac-based FM developer cannot complain too much
about FM's Windows rendering, so you may have something else going on.
Certainly doing data entry on a layout with 6 point type could be the
complete source of all your frustration.


Also earlier you said:
You are definitely wrong. There are many FileMaker export options that
will import into excel. Tab and comma delimited at the very least. I
think maybe you are trying to import directly from your FM file into
Excel which is incorrect. You must of course export from filemaker to
one of these interim formats, then import that file into Excel.

Microsoft, as only one of their many sins, has much of the entire world
thinking that it is logical to be able to directly import a spreadsheet
file into a word processing document, or a word processing file into an
adventure game, or any number of other ridiculous combinations.

Paul Bruneau wrote:

Ahh, pardon me, I see now that you were replying to an earlier post
from someone else regarding import/export issues. Nevermind. I do still
like my little MS rant, though.

Did I mention it before? Stick to FM for labels and avoid all this
trouble with importing/exporting. Oh yeah, also, doing so will let you
make the field the exact pixel size you want on the label without
having to create those additional calculated fields that you want to
avoid.

David,

I somehow am missing on my news server the post someone wrote about the
"many export options." Maybe it was backchannel?

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that beginning with FileMaker 8, we now
have native support for Excel (that yes, works with Excel 2003 on Windows):

File--> Save/Send Records As...--> Excel...

It will even do some basic formatting so that the Excel cells resemble the
data in FileMaker. If you do a lot of this thing -- either because you have
Excel templates that do exactly what you want, or you are just more
comfortable with Excel -- upgrading to the current version (8.5) will save
steps and might make your work with FileMaker more pleasant/productive.

Of course, everyone who's mentioned the business about doing the labels
within FileMaker is correct. You would have one "data entry" layout that was
normal text sizes for on-screen work, and a separate "label layout" that was
optimized for printing. You could even set FileMaker up so that the
label-printing process was a script that took care of the whole task with
just one keystroke. I'm not sure why you would have labels that are "part of
the set" yet not part of the database, but there are techniques that would
make that a snap in FileMaker, as well.

Finally, I was curious, even concerned, about your "UI display problems in
FM for Windows" and legibility comment. When I zoom in, Times New Roman and
other fonts look just great on my screen. If yours is not readable, perhaps
there's some kind of corruption issue with the font? As Paul mentioned, the
power of FileMaker layouts relative to Excel/Word is that you may size and
position fields precisely. This often lets you fit more information in a
tiny space, and obviates the need to trim field contents to a particular
number of characters.

"Paul Bruneau" <paul (AT) ethicalpaul (DOT) com> wrote