User manual

Table Of Contents
116 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
ODBC and JDBC
You can exchange FileMaker Pro data with ODBC- and JDBC-compliant applications. For example, you
can chart FileMaker
Pro data in Microsoft Excel.
Methods of importing data into an existing file
When you import data into an existing file, you can:
1 add new records to an existing table
1 create a new table from imported data
1 update existing records in an existing table
1 update matching records in an existing table
Important The import options that update existing records and update matching records both overwrite
existing data during the import process and cannot be undone. To safeguard your data, choose File menu
>
Save a Copy As to make a backup of the file before you perform an import that updates records.
The file you import records from is the source. The file you import records to is the target.
About adding records
When you add records, you import all records from the source file to the target file or table. A new record
is created in the target file for each importable record in the source file.
About updating existing records
With this option, you replace data in your file with data from the source file. For each field you import into,
data from the first importable record (or row of data) in the source file overwrites fields in the first record in
the target file. Data from the second importable record (or row of data) in the source file overwrites fields in
the second record in the target file, and so on. When you replace data, FileMaker
Pro doesn’t examine or
compare the data in the files.
You can choose whether to replace or not replace data on a field-by-field basis.
Records in the target file are replaced with the same number of records from the source file. If there are more
importable records in the source file, data from the extra records in the source file will not be imported unless
you also choose Add remaining data as new records. If there are more records in the target file, data in the
extra records in the target file will not be replaced.
What do you want to do? How do you do it? See
Use FileMaker Pro as a data source/
share FileMaker
Pro data
1 SQL queries
1 JDBC
FileMaker ODBC and JDBC Guide
Use FileMaker Pro as an ODBC client/
access ODBC data
Interactively via the relationships graph “Working with external data sources”
on page 120 and FileMaker Pro Help
1 One-time, static via ODBC import (or File
menu > Open)
1 Import Records script step
1 Execute SQL script step
FileMaker Pro Help