External Data Sources

How does one get ESS data into an FM table, by using a server schedule? FM can import ESS data , when a script is run from a client. This can be done ssh/FM9adv/open remote/fmnet, or ssh/rdc/TS/FM9/OR. The import step is not web compatible so the server can’t do it; even though the former approaches work. I find this incongruous, but then I know zip about the bts logic. My revised approach is to push the data from the ESS table into FileMaker via an acrr rel. This doesn’t work either. A very simple test setup: 2 tables: A. TestESS (MySQL) B. testFM the script: test - push ESS Go to Layout [ “testESS - table” (TestESS) ] Show All Records …

Hi everyone, I've been attaching some SQL tables (external data sources) and displaying them in my graph. FM requires a unique field (or fields) but not all of the tables have one uniqueID (and yes, I can't imagine why they don't either). Here is my question and I'm asking because I can't test it and I'm hoping someone knows the answer for me: I have this fear that I've specified several fields as the unique identifier in a SQL table and it is when I add it to the graph (because FM lets me) and it all works well but later that SQL table has a duplicate come through!! I cannot control what I am attaching to; it is data coming in from People Soft and various so…

I have FM 8.5 Advanced, running on an Intel iMac with OS version 10.5.1. I have Parallels running XP, and I have a Microsoft Access database open in XP. I have added the ODBC System DSN in XP, but I can't get FileMaker to recognize the ODBC data source. How do I connect the two? Thanks, Tony

Hi, I'm using FMP as a front end for MySQL over ODBC. It was working fine then it started doing something weird. When I enter data in a field only the first character gets saved to the database. Type in "cat", click out of the field, now it says "c". It stated doing this when I added a second ODBC source for a second FMP database. Other connections to the MySQL database work fine - so it's either FMP or the ODBC system. Any ideas? Is this a known bug? Anybody know if there is a log file I can look at? Thanks OS X Leopard FMP 9.0 v2 MySQL 5.0.45 MySQL Connector/ODBC 3.51

I have my ODBC connection to Mysql setup fine but every time I launch Filemaker and open my FM file there is no data in it. I was expecting that once it was setup and working that the connection would be 'live' to MySQL but the only way I can get data in for editing is to File-Import it?! I can then edit the data in FMPro and it updates MySQL Live, BUT, once I close FMPro I loose the whole data in FMPro (it's OK in MySQL) What am I doing wrong? I have used the Actual ODBC DEMO version here: http://www.actualtechnologies.com/product_opensourcedatabases.php

Hi! I have got an FM9 server up and running and I also made the odbc connection work so now I can drag in tables from my MySQL database. Now to my problem, We have for example field called name in a database Customer. We have the same table in Filemaker and what I want to do is that if a user changes in the field in Filemaker it should "flush" this to the mySQL database. Is his possible and how? Regards Joakim

I have to import data via odbc from Ibm iseries db that use a period as decimal separator. My fm solution use a comma as separator. Can I convert the period with a comma during import operation? Tahnks, Massimo :confused:

Hello This is way out of my league, I am a mac guy and very little experience. But I would like to write a database/ which somehow could get upgraded from the web. I would like to make a script within the database that could summon the internet and somehow upgrade ( add or delete records from the local database. Is this possible . Are there examples or training for this type of thing? Thanks Dave

I was curious if anyone has converted their Filemaker database to an SQL back-end, it's something I'm considering. I was looking for information on the size of the database you converted, how long it took, and most importantly if there have been improvements in the speed of querying the database? I would like to convert our client-server Filemaker system to a web-based system with an SQL back-end, but I don't like Filemaker's instant web publishing. Thanks for any info you can provide.

I have successfully linked a FM9 database to a MySQL database and am able to add the MySQL fields to my layouts but the images stored in the database are stored as binary data. Is there any way to view the stored images in a filemaker layout? Maybe through a web viewer? Thanks!

I'm making an Invoicing front end in FM from an SQL data source. The invoice line items table has a related table called Actions. Each line item has an action type, and there are about 30 different actions. I need to add some extra fields on the action table, for grouping and sorting the line items on the invoice under different headings, but FM won't allow me to add fields (except calculation and summary fields), and I would prefer not to add the fields on the SQL table. The field headings I need to sort / summarize on are not on the actions table (ie several actions need to be grouped under each heading), so I need to add them. I want to create a n…

Hi, I hope I am posting this in the right place. In my email this morning I got a link from Filemaker with this quicktime movie: http://fmdl.filemaker.com/MISC/fmp9/external_sql_sources.mov Does this really mean what I think it means? Can Filemaker finally separate the data from the presentation? Can you build a database application in Filemaker with the same quick pace and nice front end while having the data stored elsewhere? I am sure there are limitations in the sense that MySQL for example, is not as robust in the types of data it can hold as filemaker is natively. I can tell by some of the messages in this forum that people are already doing this, but…

Hi, I am new to FMP. I have created a database for one department I work for (free of charge of course cause I'm a sucker). Now I have been asked to build another database for another department I am involved with. It is a hospital department. There already exists a database of patients that the hospital manages based on appointment times. the individual departments can access this database to find out who has appointments on certain days. My question is whether or not there is a way to create a script that would run at startup that would import records of all patients coming that day. The secretaries would then enter additional info but the name, age, etc, would be …

I just sat down for the first time to try and add a MySQL database into FM using the new External Data Sources features in FM9. I've created my MySQL DB, I also created a System DSN for it on my local machine. I then went into FM and went to File-Manage-External Data Sources. I clicked New, then selected ODBC, but when I click on Specify for the DSN the only things that show up in the list are Access and DataDirect sources. The MySQL DSN doesn't show up in the list. I checked the documentation which states that MySQL is supported. What am I missing here? I've attached a screenshot of my System DSN tab showing the DSN configured and also of FM's dialo…

I have a database and I'm looking to split it up into a front and backend... IE one side all GUI, and the backend all data. Is there and easy way to do this in FM? The way it looks now I have to relink all my relationships and scripts! I have 60 some relationships and 100+ scripts all with file references. There has to be a way to do this? Added: Note: right now I just want 2 fm databases... one with backend data, one will all gui stuff

Hi, I have a multiple relationship filemaker files running on a Windows XP machine (FP5)This connects using ODBC to grab data from an external website SQL dababase, and performs calculations, every 30 mins. Meanwhile i have other users connecting remotly to these databases. I am having problems with users loosing connections and not being able to recconnect, without me rebooting the XP machine. There seems to be a general problem with stability when there are multiple remote users, especially whilst running scripts on the XP machine. Any Ideas where to start?

Hello. I am collaborating with an associate who uses an Oracle database. I currently have FMP 8 running on OSX. I would like to set up a new FMP database that uses the same schemas as the Oracle database. My questions are: 1. Do I need to be running FMP 8 Advanced in order to import database schemas? 2. Can someone recommend a format that Oracle can export to and FMP (Advanced) can import? Thank you, Gwen

Hi all-- The question I tried to post earlier today seems to have vanished into the ether, maybe because the forum shut down for backup right about the time I hit the "submit" button. So here goes a second try... This topic was addressed in a previous post (Topic #190513), but I don't think it was ever really resolved, at least not publicly. I'm trying to write a FMP script to send data from a FileMaker Pro 8.5 table to one in a SQL Server via ODBC. I seem able to connect to the database OK, but I can't seem to figure out the proper syntax for getting the data from my FMP table fields into the execute SQL text. (SQL Query Builder isn't much help, either.) …

Does anyone know if there is any issues using FM 9 Pro to call a stored proceedure in MySQL? I am not getting an error, but I don't get any results either. call update_takedown_status (327192, 'UP - Reactivation Notice')

I want to access FM7.03 data from Excel 2004 via ODBC, with everything on the same machine (running 10.3.9) - no network involved - and am getting nowhere. The ODBC driver from filemaker never manages to connect to the database, and when I try a test connect I get an error "HY000 [DataDirect][ODBC Sequelink driver][sequelink Client] TCP/IP host is not specified". I believe I have the driver and DSN correctly configured via the iODBC Data Source Administrator, and have followed the guidelines set out in FM's "ODBC and JDBC Developers Guide": The Host value is set to 'localhost', and have also tried 127.0.0.1 with the same result. Port is set to 2399 Serv…

I have gotten shadow tables to work successfully on several machines by setting up external data sources with system DSNs for MySQL databases using Actual Open Source Databases driver. For some reason, there are two machines which, when set up exactly the same way as the others, no DSNs show up in the "Select ODBC Data Source" list in FileMaker. I have dug deep into the configuration of these machines and can find no differences that would cause this. I have tried several different drivers and set things up in different orders and it is always the case that on certain machines, it just works, on others it does not. One of the problem machines is running Mac OS 1…

Hi, is there a way you can insert into an oracle table more than one row through the FileMaker Execute Sql script step? my sql is as follows: insert into emp(empno,ename,job) values('1234','Constance','guru') / Insert into dept(deptno,dname,loc) values('12','Accounting','Calgary') / I keep getting an error that either that there's an invalid character (when I use the ";")or that the Sql command not properly ended (when I use the / to represent a new sql insert command) Thanks for your help in advance! Constance

Hi, I have a FM database that uses MySQL tables. I need to import thousands of records from a CSV file, but don't really know how to because when you go to import records, it doesn't seem to allow you select the mysql table you want to import to. Is there a way to do it? Cheers.

I have installed Actual ODBC connectors and setup a System DSN to a MS SQL 2000 server. It works because I can see the schema as shown in SQL Manager on the server itself. I have managed to retrieve a limited amount data from some tables but these do not hold the information I want. When I browse the tables of interest only one record is displayed and all the fields contain a message: "ODBC Error: [Actual][sql SErver] Unicode data in a Unicode-only collation or ntext data cannot be sent to clients using DB-library (such as ISQL) or ODBC version 3.7 or ealier." Anyone come across this before or got a suggestion for might be the problem? Using Actual …

Hi, I hope someone can point me in the right direction, I want to connect 3 shops with the same database tables (Customers, line items and products) so if someone enters a new customer in to the system it would show up at the other shops. I did try and host the database online but due to the amount of graphics it was extremely slow and not usable in a day to day enviroment. I then thought of having the interface files at the shops and the data sent via external tables at a server that is hosted via the web - Just wondered how the pros would approach the situation. Many thanks in advance. Roy

Hi, I need to connect realtime to Oracle but so far can only do imports. How do you setup a constant db connection so I can use FileMaker as a front end to Oracle. Is it possible. Thanks, Tom

Using FM9 and Excel 2003. I would like to have fields in FM9 scripted to export to specific cells in an Excel file running macros(plugins)/formulae; then have the cells that contain the calculation results import back into separate FM9 fields of the current record. If this is possible, I am having trouble getting this set up. Anyone have an easy or at least viable solution?

I have been experimenting with FM9'S ESS with mixed results. Over all I am please with the response time when perfoming finds. There are times, however, when the response time to a simple query takes an unacceptable amount of time. Since I am unable to see the query generated by filemaker I asked our DBA to intercept the query on the backend. The find I was performing was simple. If I were to write the query it would have looked like... SELECT mttk, mtmatter, mtper, mttkst, mthrwkdw, mtdowkdw, mtdocodc, mthrwkdb, mthrbidb, mtdobidb, mthrcodc FROM son_db.dbo.mattimhs WHERE mtper = '1206' What filemaker did was to generate (iterations) dozens of queries like …

Greetings, I am using Fm 9 advanced to import data from a MS Sql server, process it and return updated info to the Sql Server. The problem I have run into is when trying to update a field with information that contains a "'". Example being LastName is O'Hare. When using the executeSql script step to update the info (Sql Query is from a calc field) I get an error 5. The calculated script looks like this UPDATE Passes INSERT Last = 'O'Hare' WHERE PASSNO = '1234565' If I change the last name to "O Hare" it works fine. Obviously the problem is not the SQL server not being able to process it because the "O'Hare" came from the Sql database. Th…

Hi, It seems to me that one should be able to set up a DSN on a FM8 server, and connect to it from an FMP9 client in order to use the ESS feature of 9. Is that way off base? I set up the DSN on the server, but when I go to "Manage External Data Sources" in my FM9 file, it can't see the DSN. I would have thought that since the server only hosts the file, if you can open it with the ver. 9 client, you should be able to utilize the ESS feature. Any ideas? Thanks, Jeff

I have a reasonably simple application that links to a SQL Server database. I am trying to update a single field in SQL from a portal and get the message: ODBC Error For Update cannot be specified on a READ ONLY cursor. I cannot see anywhere that I have declared the connection to be read-only. I'm aware of all the statements that FM should not be used as a front-end to SQL, but this is a pretty simple app. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

hello i have a very big problem, we've got a solution written in fm6 pro and the solution is restricted permissions that means that each fm-file of the solution restricts the user who was logged in without password not to gain the full access of this file. what i wanted to do is make simple sql-query from an web app (asp.net 2.0) to the fm6. this seems to work fine as long as the 'default' user (without password) has full access/permision to the file. when the access to the file is restrited i'm able to access the file but the resultset is empty. i tried to work arround this problem using the webcompanion with the same result. somehow i'm not able to declar…

http://www.filemaker.com/products/fmp/sql.html Is anyone using this new feature already ? I'm curious if you connect to an MSSQL data base with unknown structure, tables, relationships etc if Filemaker magically figures all this out and will allow for simple import of the data... I'm especially interested in steps needed to do this from an OS X Mac over the local network. I drilled around at this for a few minutes while still at the office with no luck. We currently run an application that runs on top of MSSQL on a PC. That application uses xsl/xml templates for getting data and reporting that far exceeds my skill level and or attention span. I hope FM …

Is there a way to get the import script command to work with ess so a client DSn doesn't have to be created?

I'm stuck on what I think should be a simple issue. I have a small database (FMP9 adv) in which I want to use a SQL view for a value list. I have my one table defined. I have my one SQL view connected. View contains: id, section, year, term Table contains: student name, request, gender, etc. FMP table has one field "request" in which I would like to display/select from the values from the above view for selection. If I hard code the view data into a value list, I'm good. What I'd like to do is define a value list to pull fields from my view. My SQL view is not selectable when I choose" use values from field". Why is it greyed out? I know I'm miss…

I am new to SQL setups - however, I was successful in opening my SQL database on a seperate server from my FMSA, however, only by using a standalone version of FileMaker. When I attempt to get into it from a shared file via FMSA I am faced with a "login" screen. I have tried avery possible login and I am not sure what "login" it is looking for. Again, If I access this same database from a standalone version of FileMaker on the same machine as the FMSA, I can get in without any additional login. I do have the DSN set up as "system". Any suggestions/help would be appreciated!

I am using filemaker server 9 advanced on windows XP. I have a filemaker file that contains a MySQL shadow table. The ODBC connection is done on filemaker server. All connects well and I have the correct username and password to connect to the MySQL data source. And in the filemaker file the datasource is set with the correct username and password. When I open my published filemaker file and go to a layout for the shadow table it prompts me for a name and password for the ODBC data source. I have tried every combo of password/username to no avail. If i just press OK with no username and password it just connects anyway. I only have one ODBC datasource and I have…

Hello, We are trying to implement a connection between Filemaker and a MySQL database at the small business where I work. Filemaker 9 got us feeling very optimistic because of its ability to make the MySQL tables appear as normal tables alongside other tables in a Filemaker database, but after using this feature for a while, we have run into a couple of bizarre problems. The most annoying problem is that Filemaker seems to truncate text fields to 8 or 16 kilobytes, depending on the installation, which is just unacceptable for almost any kind of database application and so out of line with Filemaker's normal abilities that I am really hoping there will be an easy so…

I'm trying to use the Execute SQL command to update or insert records into an Oracle database table named TEMP_INSERT and am having trouble referencing the FMP fields from the layout. My fp5 file is named FETC-Supervisors.fp5 and the fields are Q1, Q2, and Q3... I've tried variations on '" & Q1 & "' and "' & Q1 & '" and even without quotes but no go... I've been trying to get this working now for what seems like forever and I simply cannot find the answer... It works fine if I hard code a value in the SQL stmt... but it needs to take the value of Q1, Q2 and Q3 from the FMP record the user happens to be on. Can someone tell me how to q…

Is there a way to create a value list that will auto populate from an ODBC data source table. Currently when I attempt to create a value list, it shows the ODBC data tables in my list, but they are greyed out. I have access to these tables working for most other functions, but they will not allow me to select them as a source for seeding a value list. I've also noticed that Command i will not show indexed field data for ODBC data sources, as it does with FMP tables. Anyone have any thought on this? Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone I've not been on here for a while... used to be a regular in the FileMaker 4-6 days. Apologies if this is not the correct section to post in, this question relates to FileMaker 5/6 calculation fields. Anyway, the time is coming to start porting a few of our simple databases over to MySQL. At the moment we have a hybrid solution running over our intranet using PHP and FX.php to access filemaker data, and MySQL for some of the other databases. There are a few databases in our solution that simply store vast numbers of records, and loading them through FX.php is not very efficient so I was going to get those simple databases copied over. My p…

Hey Everyone, I have been using FM to access a mysql database. I am able to connect and view data perfectly, add/delete records. However, I am having a serious problem updating external records. When I change a field's data and commit the record, the entire data gets chopped after the first character. A field that gets "abc123" typed into it and then committed, results in "a". Has anyone had this same problem?? It is driving me crazy. Thanks

Hi, We need to decide to select a database to go with ColdFusion on our Windows 2003 server. Of course, our first choice is MS SQL server because we have been using it for other projects, but for this time we are also considering using FileMaker 9. The main reason for that is because we already have a very complicated content management system on FileMaker for the project. If we decide to use MS SQL, we have to end up managing two databases at the same time and send many duplicate records from FileMaker to MS SQL. Has anybody used ColdFusion with FileMaker? I've tested and know the combination works, but I am wondering if there are any unexpected problems or o…

Ok, forgive me for my newbie-ness. Still trying to get my head around how to execute sql scripts on remote clients when only the machine that the FMS is runnning on has the ODBC conection. Does each client have to have the same connection setup? Was hoping that they would use the server's connection. Hope that I am making some sense.

Hey Everyone, I have been using FM to access a mysql database. I am able to connect and view data perfectly, add/delete records. However, I am having a serious problem updating external records. When I change a field's data and commit the record, the entire data gets chopped after the first character. A field that gets "abc123" typed into it and then committed, results in "a". Has anyone had this same problem?? It is driving me crazy. Thanks

So, I am trying to write a script that performs a find based on user input, then goes to the related filed to pull in the SQL Statment. Below is the script. When I run it, I get the rainbow spinning wheel of death. I have attached a jpg of the script. I am using the GetAsText function to try to pull the query out. I had this working at one time. I am using Actual Technology's driver and I have tested it. I have tested my SQL query in Excel and by doing a straight import into FM and it worked. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Brad

This is my first attempt to connect to a MySQL served database using FileMaker 9 demo: I have installed MySQL on OSX.4.10, plus Actual Technologies driver, and Navicat demos. The sever is running. I have created a database a using Navicat ODBC Administrator is configured for User DSN using driver: Actual Open Source Databases, type: MySQL, connecting to server: localhost, the database created under Navicat is listed in the ODBC Databases to connect to In FileMaker, Manage External Data Source, new, select ODBC, specify >> Select ODBC Data Source pop window has nothing listed to select what might I try to correct this?

Well I just found out that my web server does not allow external connections to my mySQL database. This is horrible since I am trying to get my filemaker database to sync information that is on our website (through mySQL). Is there a way to pass info back forth through php or should I just find another web server. Ideas?

I need some help with getting data from an online form into a FM file. I have an adobe online form and a submit button that I can submit by email now but I would like to have the submit button on the form to send data to my FM database. I can use any kind of online form and have an asp form that I could use if I knew how to connect the two. Any help would be appreciated. I am using Filemaker 7 developer addition.

I just got ESS on FM Pro going and I'm pleased to see that performance is quite good. Now I'd like to tap into the same SQL database through the server. It was advertised on FileMaker's website that this could be done so that you could avoid installing ODBC drivers on every client machine. How is this done? I can't find a place where I can select the DSN inside the FM server config screens.

Hi, I have an ASP application running. Currently, I am working on a new module where in I have to fetch data from different sources (Oracle, Filemaker, STAR) and generate a report. I am not able to talk with Filemaker through ASP code. Can anyone help me out by explaining the steps in connecting to Filemaker. Code is below: Set conFM = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") conFM.Open("DSN=qlis_metrics;UID=qlis;PWD=Library;") The error I am getting at this line is: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80004005' [DataDirect][ODBC SequeLink driver][sequeLink Server]The specified data source is not defined. One more question on Fil…

I'm moving a java application to a new server. I've been able to connect to a FM8 server using JDBC, but consistently fail connecting to a FM9 server using a similar url. At first I assumed this was a problem with how the database is published, but according to the docs, everything is correct. The error I get is: TCP/IP error, connection refused I can ping the server and can open the file remotely from a FM client. Any Ideas?

Hello Does anyone know of a solution whereby a letter template in MS Word can access Filemaker data through some ODBC driver or some other solution? I know there is no Filemaker database data source that comes with Windows XP. I would rather not use Excel or some other data file as an intermediary. Thanks

Hey all, Is there a way to insert a "folder" or display the contects of a folder on my local drive into FileMaker instead of a "file" so that I can navigate through it. This way when files are added to the folder they will kind of automatically update in filemaker? I am completely new to FileMaker so please understandy my naivety. If there is a way to do this or something similar and you can send me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance, Vincent Seiber

I'm working on developing a app that uses FM to do some importing and data normalization, and then stores the resultant data in a MySQL backend for further processing. FM Server is on a Mac running OS X 10.4.10 server, and we're using the Actual Technologies Open Source Database driver. I have the ESS set up, and am able to read and write from/to it with no apparent problems. However, we've had to add fields to a few of the MySQL tables during development, and these newly added fields are not apparently visible to FileMaker. We added a table, and that table showed up in the data source list- it's apparently only changes to fields in existing tables that cause a …

This is strange to me; but then many things are strange to me ... When I import from SQL query using SQL Server, I end up with a found set of imported records. I import based upon 'WHERE >' calculations (which are stored with FM). But when I perform the same actions using Oracle in Client 10g driver, I do NOT have a found set!! I instead end up with all records. For testing: I show all records (75,000) so I have a total record set, then perform my import. It imports the correct records (another new 500) but status area displays 75500 and puts me on record 1 and it still says 'total' records - no found set. This is the only time I have EVER seen FM…

I'm wondering if anyone can help. I have a client who has a Mac G5 running Mac OS X v10.39 and FileMaker Server Adv. 8.04. In their shipping department, they run UPS Worldship software which has been set up to see the FileMaker Server as a ODBC data source to perform a lookup of the shipping information from a FIleMaker Pro invoice data file hosted on the FM Server. They simply type in the invoice number in Worldship and the customer and invoice information fill in from FileMaker. It worked well when they were using FM Server v5.5 but this has broken since upgrading to Server v8.0x. The UPS Worldship for Windows now returns an error when attempting to connect. When I…

For the Actual MySQL ODBC connector when MySQL makes one? It just seems like Mac clients get screwed once again. $29 is not much money, but when you're dealing with a cheap company with several Mac clients who need a purchase Vs. Windows clients that can have free access out of the box... ;)

Hi All, I'm trying FMP9 out. I was able to query my MySQL db with FMP9 on OSX using a 3rd party ODBC driver no problem. I'm now trying to do same on XP but 1'm in new territory here ... can I check on a couple of points with you? My take on it so far is that I need to look to MySQL corp. for the required driver to install via XP's ODBC Data Source Manager (e.g. MySQL corp. writes the ODBC driver to tell an app on XP how to contact and query a MySQL db)Is that correct ... or should I get the driver from elsewhere? I've tried a couple of drivers so far. They appear in install, but I cannot see them when I try add them in Data Source Manager, and I get no furt…

Hello, I'm currently working with a MySQL backend and is trying to use FileMaker's Web Form capabilities as a front end. From FileMaker Pro's interface, I have used the ODBC to connect my FileMaker database to my MySQL tables. However, when I'm trying to insert text (VARCHAR) data from FileMaker, it blanks out and ends up only inserting a blank (not NULL) into MySQL. Default values set on the MySQL side only take effect if I left that field blank on FileMaker when I create a new record. Default field values set on FileMaker also blanks out upon committing. I could insert fine directly into MySQL via phpMyAdmin. Inserting numerical values from FileMaker also com…

Two quick questions on this: 1. I assume it is possible now with FileMaker Pro 9, correct? 2. Will FileMaker Pro wait for a stored procedure to finish executing, and return the results? Or does it simply execute the stored procedure and continue along?

I have created a scheduling program in FM (oriignally 5) for a company. I updated the views, relationships and other options when they upgraded to 8. Everything has been working great for years...until.... they went with a standalone estimating, job ticketing and inventory system that uses an SQL database. They still like the scheduling "module" in FM. Now they want me to setup a query that grabs the data from SQL and populates FM scheduling module. However, I have to make it easy for them. In reading the posts here I was able to make the query and popluate the fields...very exciting. How do I get only new data to import. I created a sc ript that makes the que…

I can manually import ODBC from SQL table (using System DSN SQL Server). Whether using the Query builder or entering Query text, the import map opens fine and displays all SQL fields. When I create a script, I can again enter Query text or use Query builder and the Import map opens and displays all SQL fields. Problem: When I build a calculation (by using a global text field which I set via script), the field mapping dialog will not display the SQL field names. All calculations – all queries I’ve written WORK. But calculated queries (even very simple ones) refuse to show the SQL fields in the import map box. I can map the fields (they allow an arrow) and …

Help! I need some guidance in updating a Runtime database with remotely accessed data. Basically, I have several databases which are served using FM Server 8.0. I also have Runtime databases out there and I want to be able to allow users to update their databases with "today's data". I am currently doing this by sending them a CSV email which they then import themselves. Is there a better way to accomplish this? Can I do some sort of remote call from the runtime DB to the served DB's? If I can, please giude me as to how to make this happen! : Thank you!! As always this community is A#1! You guys rock, and we are very appreciative of your insights!

I am trying to link from MSSQL to Filemaker 9 via ODBC (Sequelink 5.5). When doing a Select query from MSSQL I can only select fields that contain numeric characters. When I select a text field I get the error 'Requested conversion is not supoorted'. The ODBC setup works outside of MSSQL (I can import all data into msquery) so I don't think the fault is in ODBC. Any help appreciated! Cheers

Please excuse English errors I make. I hope there is solution to this. I have Filemaker Pro 8.5 database. I want button that will push certain fields from Filemaker database to external MySQL database. I have ODBC set fine; because I know I test with "Execute SQL": insert into REGUSERS (Name) values ("This is test") and it works fine and updates MySQL database. But I need it to update external database with value from current record, not string literal. The field name in Filemaker database is "UserName" is what I want to push to MySQL database. I have tried thises: insert into REGUSERS (Name) values (UserName) insert into REGU…

In an attempt to have my Data warehouse Department use FM, (hooray), I am trying to find out if there is a way to use FM as a front end to modify the contents of a single SQL 2000 table. My proposed work flow is to populate a FM database from the SQL table by importing the data, make additions and modifications to the table data and then reinsert the data directly back into SQL table. I am unsure how to export the data back into the SQL table directly. Can anyone give me some guidance as to how this can be accomplished?

After setting System DSN odbc driver, verify MySQL database connection, and see MySQL tables; I went into FileMaker 9 and added ODBC datasource from my newly created MySQL odbc source. When I selected my tables, all of my field name shows up with comma in front of the field name in FileMaker 9. And in browse mode, all of my fields has "[MySQL][ODBC 3.51 Driver][mysqld-5.0.27-standard-log]Unknown column ',anyfieldhere' in 'field list' I guess the reason for the error because of the comma "," somehow created in front of the fieldname when I added the external MySQL odbc. What am I doing wrong? Any help is greatly appreciated

Hello, RE: ODBC Data Source will not display in FileMaker 9 window I have a configured data source using the Openlink iODBC data source administrator v3.52.4 and a third party OMNIS ODBC Driver. I have previously used this User DSN in the following versions of FileMaker 7, 8 and 8.5 to import data into FMP via the ODBC import. When I recently installed FileMaker Pro 9, I’m no longer able to see/select this data source in the FMP “Select DataSource window” I remember having a similar problem a few years back with the Data Direct drivers that were installed by FMP, and one of the DataDirect ODBC driver managers had to be removed before you could se…

I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to ODBC, so I will explain what it is I'm trying to achieve. What we will have is a Filemaker Pro 9 Advanced database locally hosted on an internal (our LAN) server and a remotely hosted MySQL database which is hosted on a remote server. The two databases will be identical. The MySQL db will be used with our on-line reservations processing, it will store customer details temporarily, will use stored rates data to make booking calculations and also deliver content to our product info pages. Product rates and info will be updated on the Filemaker db. all updates to products on the Filemaker db need to be reflected on the …

I am trying to connect from Windows XP machine to FMServer 8 advanced running on a different PC. ODBC driver installed, xDBC plugin enabled, everything seems to be set correctly. However, when going to 'Test connection' or trying to browse for file, I get [datadirect][odbc sequelink driver][sequeLink client]TCP/IP error,connection timed out. When run netstat on the server PC, I get port 2399 as listening. Could it be that there are some firewalls blocking the connection? We have a separate department taking care of that so I have no idea what they block or how.

I'm trying to make an ODBC connection from Windows to a file on our FileMaker Server (Mac OS). The specs for both are listed below. In Windows' ODBC Data Source Administrator, I clicked the 'System DSN' tab, clicked the 'Add' button, and put in the parameters for Server Host, Server Port (2399), and Server Data Source. When clicking 'Test Connect' I receive the message SequeLink Error: 2306 [DataDirect][ODBC SequeLink driver][sequeLink Client]TCP/IP error, connection refused Port 2399 is not blocked by the OS X firewall, but the server never opens the port. If I move the file I want to connect to to another machine and share it with a FileMaker Pro client…

Now that it's out on FMP's website, I guess we can discuss it. How will we work around the inability to use external data sources in value lists directly? I guess by importing into an indexed field just like before, but not have to query by sql any more....

Ok. First of, I apologize if I'm posting this in the wrong forum but I thought this may be a good place since it seems to be getting much traffic. I have developed a FM server based music creative and pitching system which has been running for many years and used in many different companies. On of my clients who has been using it with much success has been bought out by another company. They want to use a SQL based system which, for one doesn't have near the functionality of what my system offers. I have been charged with coming up benefits of FM vs SQL. Other than what my system offers and the ability to rapidly develop features as they need, I need some …

Hello, I have a rather strange problem, for which I cant seem to find a solution. I am using Filemaker 8 with Filemaker 8 Server Advanced. I am also using the DataDirect Sequelink ODBC driver that came with the Filemaker software. I am using this ODBC to connect from an ASP page using ADOB connection. Everything is working fine and I am more than happy with everything. BUt I chave come across a problem that when I try to Update or Create a record in a table (from the ASP web page) - a date field in particular - I am unable to put a 'high' date in for example 21/12/2007 (or 12/21/2007 US). 'Lower' dates like 1/1/2007 are acceptable to Filemaker but when I try the …

So... the integration of external data is one of the most exciting features to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but can we now use FM as a front end to a full SQL backend? I especially like that you can create unstored calculation fields in the external data table field definitions. I think this opens up some really cool possibilities.

Hi Guys, I have 8500 records and 3 text(indexed) fields in my fmp file I need to transfer over to a table in MySQL. WHat is the most effiecient way of doing this in FMP 8.5. I have looped through each record and executed an insert into the MySQL database. Although this works, it is taking about 25 minutes to perform.... So my next concept was to loop through 8500 records and make a list of records with an insert statement as the heading all in a global field. This taking roughly about 7 minutes to transfer..its the loop that seems to be taking its time. Anyone have any other methods they can think of where I could transfer that amount of data quickly from…

Hi all, I'm trying to connect my FM Pro 8.5 to ASP.NET web application. Unlike other posts who were not able to see the FM Client driver, I can see the FM driver. My problem is with the DataDirect SequeLink for ODBC setup. I go to the Data Source, try to add System DSN, select the driver. all is fine up until now. Knowing that the database is on my machine, I add the following: Data Source Name: the name of my DB SequeLink Server Host: 127.0.0.1 SequeLink Server Port: 2399 but when I get to the Server Data Source, no matter what I add the connection fails and gives this message: [DataDirect][ODBC SequeLink Client]TCP/IP error,connection refused. …

Hi Guys, I want to play with having a MySQL backend with a FileMaker frontend. I already have a complete fileMaker solution that I want to disect and place on the web. My Question is FileMaker has 5 datatypes number, text, date, time, timestamp and container. What are the MySQL equivalents? For text you,ve got varchar, text, longtext etc...where on earth do I start?

Hi all. I'm at the cottage with a portable machine on which I installed FM Pro Advanced (8.0v3) just before leaving home. Apparently, the installation does NOT copy all the files that are on the CD. Specifically, it doesn't copy the ODBC driver! Which I need for some work that I'd planned on doing here. I certainly don't plan on driving (no pun, of course!) back home just to get the driver either. And, of course, I didn't bring the FM Pro CD with me... I looked on the FMI site but couldn't find the driver there. Does anyone know where I could download the driver from? What I need is something called "ivslk18.dylib" which is inside the "Seq…

I was wondering if anyone knew if this problem has been fixed before I update my server. I'm running OS X 10.3.9 and FMS 8.02 Advanced on my xServe. I had problems with my ODBC connections when I upgraded to FMS 8.04 (check the link below). I'm just wondering if anyone knew if this problem was fixed in FMS 9. I really don't want to upgrade only to have to reinstall 8 if it doesn't work. Problem with FMS 8.04 Advanced & OS X 10.3.9

Hey, Is it possible to store ODBC settingss in FM? I am creating a custom app in which I would like to run a script for record import, but I want users to only have to run the setup once for ODBC. Then have the script step reference the ODBC settings table. Am I as clear as mud? B

Greetings! I have an SQL file that I'd like to import into an FMPRo database. It was generated by another local program. I tried to download Actual's drivers but I cannot make connection to this file. I have a feeling that I have to set up a local database host (server) on my Mac (right?). Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to do this? :o

Hi, all. Is anyone on the forum actually using Revolution as a front-end (user interface) to a FM Pro database? Thanks!

Hi, all. I'm trying to test using Runtime Revolution as a front-end to a FM Pro database. But I'm not getting very far: apparently, I can't even install the FM Pro ODBC driver... I've tried to follow all the procedures listed in the two FM documents ("FM 8 ODBC and JDBC Developer's Guide" and "Installing FM ODBC and JDBC Client Drivers"). For one thing, when I tried to use the "Browse" button to specify the driver file's location (which is in /Library/ODBC), the file open dialog doesn't get any further than the "SequeLink.bundle". I then thought that instead of using the "Browse" button, I could type the full address (/Library/ODBC/SequeLink.bundle/C…

We have users on our website fill out information that is then inserted into a MySQL DB. I am using Import Records in a script to pull data from that DB, and occasionally a weird bug pops up where records will (seemingly) be duplicated in FileMaker -- like it's adding the data from the MySQL DB twice into FileMaker. Has anyone else experienced something like this? Also, I'm not positive it happens only when I import, or if that's when it really happens at all. I have just noticed it's usually around the same time as importing.

Hi again Same problem, but in the reverse way. I can't export a multimdedia field from filemaker into a BLOB field in mysql. In fact, it works a little bit because it shows me that the BLOB field is not empty (approximatively 9 bytes). I don't understand why? Any ideas? The image from filemaker is not stored "as a reference" Thanks

Hello, There is a trick that lets you use a table from another Referenced File in an ODBC Query. I have seen it before. It has something to do with creating a relationship between a local table and the external table. Does anybody know how to get it to work? Thanks Todd

Anyone know a tricky and simple way to display huge amount of records from FM to webage using PHP? I managed to fetch the records (about 98 records in table 1) to webpage using PHP.I use ODBC connection and i use FM pro 8.5 trial version. My problem is that I have a huge records(> 200000) records in a table 2. When I try to fetch it to webpage as i did with table 1, it display fatal error saying maximum execution time exceeded. I try to increase the time in php config file from 50 to 300s, but still getting the error. I know FX.php or FM PHP API beta version could be of help but it require FM advanced version which do not have trial version and my employer …

I am attempting to insert dates using a PreparedStatement. The PreparedStatement is being constructed by an Object Relational Mapper (Hibernate), whereupon I am attempting to set the value of a date field using the methods provided by PreparedStatement for setting query parameters. For example, if the PreparedStatement is obtained by the following code: PreparedStatement smt = con.prepareStatement("insert into Test(testDate) values (?)"); Then, most JDBC drivers will allow you to do the following: smt.setDate(1, new Date(new java.util.Date().getTime())); Unfortunately, this approach doesn't work for inserts, although strangely it does work for updat…

Is it possible to use Filemaker as an itunes friendly podcast server. Ifs so does anyone have any sample databases i could experiment with

In FM5 through 6 it was possible to call a script using JDBC with syntax like -- {CALL script_name(db_name)} Can this still be done with FM8.5, and if so can we pass script parameters with it? I haven't found it in the documentation I have. tx.

Hi, What ODBC driver can I use for FM6 on Windows XP to connect to a remote Mysql database? Free or inexpensive ($30) would be good. This is for a non profit org. On Mac I currently use an Acutal Technologies driver but it's not available in Windows version. Thank you, Omer

Anyone know a good JDBC to Filmaker Pro Tutorial that walks you though the process of connecting and accessing data from the starting point on a windows box. Ex: I have Java installed and build utilities with it regularly. I have a filemaker DB, where do I go from here... I am not really familiar with ODBC/JDBC setups... A tutorial that can get me to a simple java app that pulls data via an SQL statement would be ideal.

hi, all.... I am a new developer in FM, and am trying to develop an application to manipulate the Data of MySql through FileMaker8.5, so,please help me in this matter. please explain me what are steps to be taken to solve this problem.? Which plug-in to be used.? How to handle the ExcuteSql Script step.? Thanks in advance.

I have a complicated question for the list, but I hope someone can help. My project is to build a database for a department within a small community college. My database is to be accessible to about 7 clients using the school’s intranet, so I had them buy Filemaker Server 8 (rather than Advance, to save $$) to host the Database on a Windows 2000 Server. I’ve designed the DB to stand alone and was promised access to the larger school’s student database for data. I have about 20 fields of data that I want updated from the student database on a semi-regular bases (6-8 times a year) (like classes taken, grades, GPA, etc). The MIS manager and I have been discussin…

Hi, I have a simple filemaker database I have created and it has a text field and an image container field. I have managed to display the text field on an ASP page but I can't get the container field (image) to display. I get this in the images place: ??Aa?? So is this possible? If so if anyone could give me an example code or something as I'm not fantastic at writing it but I'm good at taking it apart and learning what each part does I hope you can help Thanks alot Joe P.S I have also read around the forums about not using container fields (you should upload them to the server etc) but I would still really like to know how this wo…

I can only find people using UPS as the shipping provider. I'm trying to integrate Ship Manager so it pulls my shipping addresses from my FM database, but I'm running into some issues. ODBC services is working, but my Ship Manager doesn't want to play nicely with FM so I can map my fields. Anyone have any insight?

I have a script that pushes information in an oracle table. The script step is Execute SQL, it has the "no dialog" option checked, and it's using a calculation to create the query. Whenever i run this command I get error 23000 back from odbc (which is "integrity constraint violation"). HOWEVER if i run the exact command but I don't use a calculation for the query, and i give it the query straight up it works. It also works if I use the calculation query BUT i uncheck the "no dialog" option... then i asks me what query i want to run (and it displays the calculation it came up with) and then what DNS entry i want to use and then username and password and the…

This does not seem to work for me. Does anyone know where I should place the limit property so that I can control how many results are returned? Here is a (basic) MySQL example: "Select 'fieldname' FROM table LIMIT 0,10" This brings back the first 10 records it finds. This causes an error when trying this query with PHP and FileMaker via ODBC. Error is as follows: SQL error: [DataDirect][ODBC SequeLink driver][ODBC Socket][DataDirect][ODBC FileMaker driver][FileMaker]Parse Error in SQL, SQL state S1000 in SQLExecDirect Thanks in advance, Jim.